A truly emotional effort by Fabio Di Giannantonio at the Italian Grand Prix of the 2025 season of the MotoGP, the Italian clinched a spectacled third-place finish in his home Grand Prix, passing Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia, known as Pecco in the closing moments of the race. The podium of the VR46 Ducati rider was not at any event but at his home track and it was his first podium in premier class top-three, which was made him touch an emotional moment and he was tangibly excited. He told me later, after the race, that going down the start-line he had goosebumps down his leather suit as he heard the roar of the Italian crowd envelop the pit wall.
Having to start in less-than-perfect seventh place on the grid, Di Giannantonio made much ground to catch up on, and the initial laps required him to race full-throttle to keep up with the top spots. The 26-year-old also displayed sheer pace and persistence through the field, stitching through a number of wickets. The podium slots were his focus and the last task of the puzzle was Bagnaia, an easy prey with Pecco having the status as one of the best on brakes.
Yet Di Giannantonio was indefatigable. As Tagliani entered the final five laps in fifth behind Bagnaia, he got into his groove and was not going to accept forth. And I argued in my mind, no P4. Not today. Today is no P4 race”, he replied. Those words propelled him to a decisive and ferocious move to overtake Bagnaia and the Italian crowd went berserk.
The moment became too much to Di Giannantonio. Not only is Mugello one of the racetracks where Italian riders race, but also a sacred ground. You are a big fan who sees Vale, Biaggi and Capirossi on the podium at Mugello. It is a fantasy. Weird to be there myself, in the skin of it, in front of that crowd, special helmet, special color scheme: it was something to behold.
He was unable to overtake Alex Marquez at second place though finishing within 0.198 seconds of the Spaniard, but Di Giannantonio thought that a better qualifying spot could have materialized the situation. He said, we do not do a super qualifying, and that is costly to us. To fight with guys like Marc and Alex when they will be at the top, I must begin at the first two rows.
Nevertheless, the third-place finish was a tremendous morale boost, not only on Di Giannantonio but also on the VR46 team. It was an awesome bounce back, as following two ninth-place finishes in Silverstone and Aragon. Gaining 120 points in the rankings, Di Giannantonio now ranks fifth right behind the teammate Franco Morbidelli.
The podium in Mugello was also an important achievement of the VR46 squad for a total of four podiums in the season- two podiums to Morbidelli and two to Di Giannantonio. The outcome of the game was more than just the points and positions, thoughle, and it supported the fact that the team is evolving, can take hits and is willing to take risks in terms of their young Italian rider.
As the season develops Di Giannantonio is left craving more. This gives us extra motivation towards further races. We are returning, and we will have to keep on in the same way, he said. The goosebumps may pass but the fire is evidently yet to pass.
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