Fabio Di Giannantonio refuses to buy into the narrative that splits MotoGP circuits into “Aprilia tracks” and “Ducati tracks.” For him, riders remain the deciding factor, and Marc Marquez is living proof.
The 2026 season has indeed delivered a fierce duel between the two Italian manufacturers. The Aprilia RS-GP excels in fast, flowing corners, while the Ducati GP26 shines on stop-and-go layouts. Fans and media have started labeling the calendar: which track suits whom. But Di Giannantonio refuses to oversimplify.
“Looking for tracks that favour Ducati or Aprilia is something you journalists are particularly interested in, just as I used to hear people talk about ‘Honda tracks’ or ‘Yamaha tracks,’” he said. “There are incredible riders at both manufacturers, and whoever does the best job wins. That’s the truth. Aprilia is doing a great job and has achieved great results on some tracks, but the truth is that Marquez is silencing everyone. It all depends on how you work on the bike.”
Those words come from a rider campaigning the same factory-spec GP26 as Marquez. Di Giannantonio was Ducati’s best-performing rider for much of the first half of the season, his consistency making him an outside title contender. But since his Catalan GP win in May, he hasn’t returned to the Sunday podium. He now sits 51 points behind joint championship leaders Marquez and Jorge Martin.
At Misano, he qualified fourth but a poor start dropped him to 10th on the opening lap. He recovered to seventh, over 20 seconds behind Marquez. A result that hardly reflects his true pace. “We’re showing good, often excellent, speed at every track. It’s a shame about this weekend, though, because in my opinion we’d done everything right,” he admitted.
Ahead of the Austrian GP, Di Giannantonio admits his mood is mixed. “We’ll arrive in Austria in a negative mood, but only because a series of negative things piled up. In my opinion, morale should be high. We’re fourth in the world championship and we’re doing a great job. So we’re heading to Austria in high spirits because we can do well.”
With Marquez on a run of five wins in the last seven grands prix, the “Aprilia or Ducati track” theory is losing relevance. What remains is reality: the rider and team best prepared technically and mentally will reap the rewards. Austria, with its stop-and-go character, might just be the next test.
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