FABIO Di Giannantonio admitted that he regretted his fight with Marc Marquez at the Mandalika GP, Indonesia, which was considered detrimental to the VR4 racer’s race.
Marquez and Di Giannantonio fought hard for seventh position in the first half of the 27 lap race in Mandalika, with Di Giannantonio ultimately emerging as the winner.
Di Giannantonio, who was the only rider on a soft rear tyre, then crashed on the ninth lap when he lost the front of his GP23 at Turn 10.
Also read: Indonesian MotoGP: Winning Sprint Session Podium, Marquez Forgets Qualifying Nightmare
Although their battle was one of the most exciting parts of the Mandalika GP, Di Giannantonio felt it was too dangerous for him.
“We have a lot of information and data from technicians, and since yesterday [di sprint] it is only possible for me to use soft on the back due to my wear and tear [di sprint] not too much,” said Di Giannantonio quoting Crash, Tuesday (1/10).
“So we said ‘okay, we can do it, maybe if we are a little calmer on the gas and also if the speed is not too high, I think we can finish the race’.”
Also read: Mandalika MotoGP Qualification: Jorge Martin at the forefront, Marquez falls twice
“But I also had to recover a lot of places at the start because that’s when you use the soft tire the most.”
“So we managed to do it. It’s a shame we lost a lot of time at the start with Marc, because I was much faster.”
“Yeah, we were fighting too hard in my opinion. Once I overtook him for sure, I was fast, I did a fast lap but – and we still don’t really understand what happened – I just lost the front in Turn 10.
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“It was definitely strong braking, but nothing really out of the ordinary.”
“However, we had a crash, but I think we have to be optimistic. We were fast all weekend and in the race we gave a good performance, so we have to be happy.”
Di Giannantonio was able to gain one point on the Ducati VR46 in the sprint using the soft rear tire. Therefore, he also thought he would be able to use soft tires during the main race.
“For sure, we have data up to the 15th lap because the sprint is 13 laps. As much as I can save the tires in these 15 laps, the race is just a matter of surviving. But I think I can do it because I am very, very calm on the gas,” he said .
“Also before the race I spent an hour and a half looking at the data to understand where I should keep the rear tire temperature. So, I think we are in a very good position to have a good race.” (Z-6)
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