Latest / Pit Talk / Fabio Di Giannantonio previews the Aragon GP: MotoGP Pit Talk

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Fabio Di Giannantonio previews the Aragon GP: MotoGP Pit Talk · Pit Talk

0:00
Speaker 1: Moto GP is cooking up a feast and with just
0:03
Speaker 1: five points separating our title contenders, we're heading to Aragon
0:07
Speaker 1: for the first time since twenty twenty two. But the
0:10
Speaker 1: pressures on, would you Caddy be the one serving up
0:13
Speaker 1: a masterclass or will another team find the secret ingredient
0:17
Speaker 1: for victory. I'm your host, Rinita Vmulan, and here serving
0:21
Speaker 1: up the latest Moto GP news with the side of
0:24
Speaker 1: expert analysis is none other than the Michelin start maestro
0:29
Speaker 1: of motorsport himself, Matt Clayton. Matt finally got through that intro,
0:34
Speaker 1: but the question on everyone's mind heading into this weekend
0:38
Speaker 1: is Mark going to return to his winning ways at
0:40
Speaker 1: his beloved Aragon.
0:43
Speaker 2: Renita, I don't know about that, But what talk of food?
0:45
Speaker 2: I think I should be wearing a chef's hat or
0:47
Speaker 2: bidie I should be eating right now. I wasn't actually
0:50
Speaker 2: hungry before we started this, but I am now but
0:53
Speaker 2: great to join you as always. And look, I mean,
0:55
Speaker 2: it's the question of the weekend, isn't it, Mark Markez
0:57
Speaker 2: and this particular track, it's one of the ones I
0:59
Speaker 2: think I think we had circled at the beginning of
1:02
Speaker 2: the season. When's he going to break this massive wind
1:04
Speaker 2: draft that he's had. And we know his affinity for
1:07
Speaker 2: anti clockwise tracks, and we know he's affinity for this place.
1:10
Speaker 2: He's a six time winner at Aragon. He's incredibly good there.
1:13
Speaker 2: He was even good there a couple of years ago
1:14
Speaker 2: when he had one and a half working shoulders, which
1:17
Speaker 2: I'm sure we'll get to. But look, I can see
1:21
Speaker 2: Mark on a podium this weekend, but I still think
1:24
Speaker 2: it's a little bit of a stretch to get on
1:26
Speaker 2: the top step, simply because I don't think the equipment
1:29
Speaker 2: he's on is going to hold a candle to the
1:31
Speaker 2: GPP twenty four, which we've talked about this in previous podcast.
1:34
Speaker 2: The longer this season goes, I just think you're seeing
1:37
Speaker 2: a bigger gap between the twenty four de Catty and
1:40
Speaker 2: the twenty three to Catty, and even the genius of
1:43
Speaker 2: Marquees on an anti clockwise circuit where he's gone incredibly
1:46
Speaker 2: well in the past. I'm still not sure that he's
1:49
Speaker 2: able to overcome that gap. But I would love to
1:51
Speaker 2: be Riven wrong, because as we saw in Austria a
1:54
Speaker 2: couple of weeks back, Marquees with a Beanie's really flying
1:57
Speaker 2: through the field. That absolutely enliven them that race and
2:00
Speaker 2: Jeseter be good if it was for something for a
2:02
Speaker 2: podium position or even a win on Sunday, wouldn't it.
2:05
Speaker 1: Oh definitely. I think that Mark is uber talented. We
2:10
Speaker 1: know that, but coming into this weekend, I'm not sure
2:12
Speaker 1: that he's even going to have any pressure. I think
2:15
Speaker 1: that he's going to feel really, really comfortable. But we
2:18
Speaker 1: need to talk about Aragon. The reason I started with
2:20
Speaker 1: all that food reference is Yamaha, we're sneaking something earlier
2:24
Speaker 1: this week about they've got something cooking. They said, we've
2:27
Speaker 1: got something cooking this weekend, so I'm interested to see.
2:30
Speaker 1: But what I am interested to see is there's very
2:34
Speaker 1: few writers who no, no, let me start again. There's
2:36
Speaker 1: a few writers who haven't ridden a MotoGP bike around Aragon.
2:40
Speaker 1: Plus it's been two years since moto GP have been here,
2:43
Speaker 1: like I said in the intro, and the track's been resurfaced.
2:47
Speaker 1: So for me, going into this weekend, I'm starting to
2:49
Speaker 1: think it might be a little bit more of an
2:51
Speaker 1: even playing field for the likes of Pedro A, Gusto Fernandez,
2:55
Speaker 1: these guys who haven't been here before, considering that you
2:58
Speaker 1: know Marquez, who we know pro around here, he hasn't
3:01
Speaker 1: ridden this track for two years, plus the resurfacing, do
3:04
Speaker 1: you think we're going to see a bit more? Like
3:06
Speaker 1: I said, and even playing.
3:07
Speaker 2: Field, I think there's another factor to put in here
3:10
Speaker 2: as well, that the track abration is going to be
3:14
Speaker 2: a big discussion point this weekend. But the other part
3:17
Speaker 2: of this, we've never had an Ara Grand Prix this
3:20
Speaker 2: early in the season. It's normally late September. We're about
3:23
Speaker 2: three to four weeks earlier than we normally after Aragon traditionally.
3:26
Speaker 2: And I think what that's going to mean is, I
3:28
Speaker 2: think it's going to be super, super hot, and you
3:30
Speaker 2: combine high track temps with a resurface track. Michelin have
3:34
Speaker 2: kind of shrugged their shoulders ahead of this weekend and said, look,
3:37
Speaker 2: we're not one hundred percent sure what we're getting here.
3:39
Speaker 2: They're actually bringing three different compounds of front and rears
3:42
Speaker 2: to this event because they're not quite sure. That's pretty unusual.
3:45
Speaker 2: So the fact that the track is kind of in
3:47
Speaker 2: the middle of a desert, let's be honest, but an
3:50
Speaker 2: extra month closer to the Northern Hemisphere summer, this is
3:53
Speaker 2: going to be a real step into the unknown for
3:55
Speaker 2: a lot of the teams and riders this weekend. I
3:56
Speaker 2: think Friday is going to be super interesting with the
3:59
Speaker 2: long because you've got three different types of retire to
4:03
Speaker 2: choose from this track. Depending on how abrasive that ash
4:06
Speaker 2: Feld is that new ashfeldt it could really chew tires.
4:09
Speaker 2: So I think that, more than anything else, is going
4:11
Speaker 2: to dictate the weekend. But as you were saying, because
4:13
Speaker 2: we had this gap year last year and because it's
4:16
Speaker 2: a full month earlier, I'm not saying you can throw
4:18
Speaker 2: previous years at Aragon completely out the window, but you
4:21
Speaker 2: might dangle it out the window because I'm not so
4:23
Speaker 2: sure it's super relevant to what we're going to be
4:25
Speaker 2: seeing this weekend. So you know, you mentioned that Mark
4:28
Speaker 2: is such a pro around here, but guys like a
4:30
Speaker 2: cost and a Gusto Fernandez, and even guys who switched
4:33
Speaker 2: manufacturers in those last couple of years, it might not
4:36
Speaker 2: be as much of an impediment to their moving forward
4:39
Speaker 2: as it normally would. So there's a lot of uncertainty,
4:43
Speaker 2: I guess ahead of this weekend because there's a lot
4:45
Speaker 2: of moving parts, and if the result of that is
4:48
Speaker 2: a good spectacle on Saturday and specifically Sunday.
4:51
Speaker 3: Then I think, you know we're in good hands, aren't we.
4:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, like you said, we don't know what
4:57
Speaker 1: it's like. Michelin are bringing these new tires and there's
4:59
Speaker 1: kind of like two ways it can go. It can
5:01
Speaker 1: either be super grippy and less tie aware, so likes
5:06
Speaker 1: of aprilias ktms they're not going to chew through those
5:08
Speaker 1: tires so quickly. Or we're going to have a track
5:11
Speaker 1: similar to like Philip Island where it's super grippy but
5:14
Speaker 1: super abrasive and that tirewear is going to come into play.
5:18
Speaker 1: So I think that going into this weekend, that makes
5:23
Speaker 1: me think straight away and Abashanini because he is so
5:26
Speaker 1: good on that rear tire. We know that Duke had
5:28
Speaker 1: e GP twenty four's. They really favor that rear. He
5:31
Speaker 1: seems to have mastered that tire where and maintaining it
5:35
Speaker 1: throughout the race. So is he someone on your radar
5:37
Speaker 1: to look out for this weekend?
5:39
Speaker 2: Oh very much so, because we know, well he's on
5:41
Speaker 2: the best bike. There's four GP twenty fours on the
5:44
Speaker 2: grid and there's three of them that are doing anything
5:46
Speaker 2: We'll get to Franco Morbidelli baps another time. But an
5:49
Speaker 2: Aa is fantastic with his time management and races, and
5:52
Speaker 2: it's quite funny. I think he's won six matter GP racers.
5:55
Speaker 2: They're all kind of the same win and they're all
5:58
Speaker 2: ones that we know how he's going to do them,
6:01
Speaker 2: and it's one of those things for his rivals to
6:03
Speaker 2: know what's coming, but being a bit powerless to stop
6:05
Speaker 2: it at the same time. And I think the heat
6:07
Speaker 2: we were talking about before this is a race that
6:10
Speaker 2: strikes me that might be a bit of a slow
6:11
Speaker 2: burn in that there might be a lot of pace
6:13
Speaker 2: management going on. He's so good in the last ten
6:17
Speaker 2: laps of races, and we've only really seen it a
6:19
Speaker 2: couple of times in the past couple of years. Malaysia
6:21
Speaker 2: last year, Sylveston this year. He's obviously been a bit
6:23
Speaker 2: beaten up, particularly last year, but he's a guy. He's
6:27
Speaker 2: the most recent winner here in twenty two. The last
6:30
Speaker 2: three races here have all been super close, less than
6:32
Speaker 2: a second at the finish, But he's a guy.
6:34
Speaker 3: To me.
6:35
Speaker 2: If someone's going to beat Peckabnai this weekend, it strikes
6:38
Speaker 2: me that he's the guy to do it because of
6:40
Speaker 2: exactly what you just said. He's the best guy in
6:43
Speaker 2: the field probably over the last you know what third
6:45
Speaker 2: of a race distance, and if this becomes a management
6:47
Speaker 2: race as opposed to an out and outpace race, he's
6:50
Speaker 2: kind of the favorite for me.
6:52
Speaker 3: Anyway, What about.
6:53
Speaker 1: Juja Martin going in with that five point gap. As
6:57
Speaker 1: weird as it sounds, that five point kind of feels
7:01
Speaker 1: like it should be bigger because the amount of pressure
7:04
Speaker 1: that's building up there, right, But it is only five points,
7:06
Speaker 1: so this weekend can really determine who leads the championship
7:10
Speaker 1: from here out onwards. But going into this weekend on
7:13
Speaker 1: his socials, he's been like, I'm super relaxed. I've had
7:16
Speaker 1: a really chill break after Austria. My batteries are recharged,
7:19
Speaker 1: I'm feeling good. Do you think he's coming into this
7:22
Speaker 1: weekend with a whole different mindset?
7:26
Speaker 2: Hopefully he's the got rid of all the sharp edges
7:28
Speaker 2: in the shower from the trackside motor home after what
7:31
Speaker 2: happened to him in Austria. But you keep saying that
7:33
Speaker 2: that five point advantage. I know it's true. I know
7:35
Speaker 2: Banyoa has a five point lead. But you keep looking
7:38
Speaker 2: at the last few races and thinking, how is it
7:40
Speaker 2: only five points? And it's mostly because of how good
7:43
Speaker 2: Martin is in sprints. And here's a stat for you're innity.
7:45
Speaker 2: You know I've always full of useless numbers. Martin has
7:48
Speaker 2: outscored Banya ninety five to fifty seven in sprints. That's
7:52
Speaker 2: the whole lead right there, because Pecko has won five
7:55
Speaker 2: at the last six Sundays. So look, Martin, there's a
7:58
Speaker 2: lot of body language and sort of nonverbal communication going
8:04
Speaker 2: on with him at the moment because we know that
8:06
Speaker 2: he's leaving, we know his team is leading de Cati,
8:09
Speaker 2: and he strikes me as a guy at the moment
8:10
Speaker 2: that's trying to convince himself that everything's fine and he's
8:14
Speaker 2: still absolutely in the championship fight.
8:16
Speaker 3: Now.
8:16
Speaker 2: Points wise, he absolutely is. As we mentioned before, it's
8:19
Speaker 2: five points, which is basically nothing with nine rounds to go.
8:23
Speaker 2: But momentum wise, he's not one a Sunday Grand Prix
8:26
Speaker 2: now since Lamont, and that seems like two years ago.
8:29
Speaker 2: It's back in May, I think it was. But since
8:31
Speaker 2: round five he has not one on a Sunday, so
8:35
Speaker 2: he has to absolutely sort of put his stake in
8:37
Speaker 2: the ground at this point and try and stand his
8:39
Speaker 2: ground against Banyaya, because of course, following this round we've
8:43
Speaker 2: got two races at Massano, and who's good at Massano.
8:46
Speaker 2: Who's very very good at Massano is Peco Banya. So
8:49
Speaker 2: to me, for Martine, this feels like a super important weekend,
8:52
Speaker 2: just to try and stem the tide a little bit.
8:54
Speaker 2: And look, he was second to Vanyay in Austria in
8:57
Speaker 2: both races, but it was a pretty distance second. Let's
8:59
Speaker 2: be perfectly honest. He was just not in the same
9:01
Speaker 2: race for Saturday and Sunday, so super important.
9:05
Speaker 3: Race for him.
9:05
Speaker 2: And yeah, maybe he just needs to avoid the shower
9:08
Speaker 2: for a couple of days. Just race smelly juhe and
9:09
Speaker 2: to be.
9:10
Speaker 1: Fine, ray smelly. No one's gonna know anyway. One thing, exactly,
9:15
Speaker 1: one thing I found really interesting was, you know, hey,
9:17
Speaker 1: he's second in the championship Peko Vanyaya. On the factory team.
9:22
Speaker 1: He has one dedicated person just looking at the data
9:26
Speaker 1: for the tire. Jay Martine doesn't have that person, and
9:29
Speaker 1: you think he's up there battling him majority Okay, Austria,
9:32
Speaker 1: like you mentioned, that was a big gap. He had
9:34
Speaker 1: the incident, he was injured, whatnot. But for those five points, okay,
9:38
Speaker 1: here is the sprint king. He just needs to become
9:41
Speaker 1: consistent again. And that championship is it's so close he
9:45
Speaker 1: can almost taste it, right, It's just this, it's so fine,
9:49
Speaker 1: a little points that he needs to get over Peko,
9:51
Speaker 1: but it's Peco Vannaya, it's the professor. I don't know
9:55
Speaker 1: if he's going to be able to it is so.
9:56
Speaker 2: Exciting, it is because it's so finally where I still think.
10:01
Speaker 2: You know, Martin has proven himself over the last couple
10:03
Speaker 2: of years to be he's the fastest guy of a
10:05
Speaker 2: one lap in Motor GP, he's the fastest guy over
10:07
Speaker 2: a half race distance a sprint in Motor GP. And
10:10
Speaker 2: it's just Banno's unbelievably consistent Sundays for the best part
10:15
Speaker 2: about three years now. Obviously, his first win came at
10:18
Speaker 2: Aragon in twenty twenty one, and we were sharing some
10:20
Speaker 2: numbers before about just how dominant Peko's been since then.
10:23
Speaker 2: He's almost won half of the Grand Parie since that
10:25
Speaker 2: first one on he won at Aragon in twenty one.
10:27
Speaker 2: But it's just so tight. But you've just got this
10:30
Speaker 2: really interesting conundrum here where Martin doesn't have a great
10:33
Speaker 2: deal of momentum, yet he's still in it and that's
10:35
Speaker 2: not normally something you can say this deep in a season.
10:38
Speaker 2: And so, yeah, you've got the same two guys at
10:39
Speaker 2: the top of the standings again like last year. But
10:42
Speaker 2: how we've got to this point's very different to last year.
10:45
Speaker 2: And I think, look, Martin lost a championship one way
10:48
Speaker 2: last year. I don't think he's going to lose it
10:50
Speaker 2: that same way by making mistakes and throwing things away.
10:53
Speaker 3: Will that matter in the end? Look, it's hard to
10:55
Speaker 3: say with.
10:56
Speaker 2: Peco in this sort of form, but it's just so
10:58
Speaker 2: finely poised, as you say, and it could just turned
11:01
Speaker 2: so so quickly. I mean, you think about Germany a
11:03
Speaker 2: couple of rounds back, Martin had that race one until
11:06
Speaker 2: the second last lap. How different does that championship picture
11:08
Speaker 2: look if Martin's taking twenty five points from the Saxon ring,
11:11
Speaker 2: so it can turns super fast. And I do think
11:14
Speaker 2: this is going to rage for the rest of the season.
11:16
Speaker 2: But Martin does need to step it up because Pecko's
11:19
Speaker 2: really taken it to a new level over these last
11:21
Speaker 2: five or six races.
11:23
Speaker 1: Speaking, of stepping up in the break between will Break.
11:26
Speaker 1: It's a week between Austria and Aragon. This weekend Yamaha
11:30
Speaker 1: were actually testing. They had Alex Rinz and they had
11:33
Speaker 1: the retired Andrea's Visioso filling in for the injured cow
11:37
Speaker 1: crutch Low, and I thought it was quite funny that Yamaha.
11:41
Speaker 1: They're very secretive, right, they never really let out too
11:43
Speaker 1: much of what's happening with their testing. But Fabio put
11:47
Speaker 1: on his Instagram he posted a photo and then he
11:49
Speaker 1: mentioned if anybody has any grip, can I have some please?
11:53
Speaker 1: Which I thought was quite funny. Takanakagami commented, maybe we
11:57
Speaker 1: can do a deal. So I think it's interesting seeing
12:00
Speaker 1: that Yamaha they're definitely making most of this concession that
12:04
Speaker 1: they've been given. But this weekend, if Fabio is saying
12:09
Speaker 1: he doesn't have grip, what's it going to be like
12:11
Speaker 1: this weekend? Are we going to see the Yamahas way
12:14
Speaker 1: back down again?
12:16
Speaker 3: I reckon.
12:16
Speaker 2: You could see, particularly in the hands of Fabio, you
12:19
Speaker 2: could see Yamaha going quite well in the sprint, just
12:22
Speaker 2: simply because of the fewer lapse and the less duration
12:24
Speaker 2: and probably less of a chance that lack of grip
12:27
Speaker 2: to become a factor. But you know we're talking before
12:29
Speaker 2: about the new track surfaces. Particularly if it's hot, you
12:32
Speaker 2: can you can almost sort of see how Fabio Sunday
12:35
Speaker 2: is going to go, like he might make Q two,
12:37
Speaker 2: might not. He'll move forward and then just slide further
12:40
Speaker 2: and further and further further back. But look, I do
12:42
Speaker 2: think this is a pretty particular sort of a track
12:46
Speaker 2: and you can't deny that Yamaha is moving forward because
12:50
Speaker 2: last year we kept saying Yamaha and Honda like they're
12:53
Speaker 2: on the same plane. I don't think they are anymore.
12:55
Speaker 2: I think they've managed to cut Honder adrift at the
12:57
Speaker 2: back of the pack. So Yamaha is making ground. There's
13:00
Speaker 2: still a way off for Prillier and KTM, and then,
13:02
Speaker 2: of course, because you've only got two bikes worth of
13:05
Speaker 2: data to try and move forward with, no matter how
13:07
Speaker 2: much testing you're doing. Alex Rins is a key one
13:09
Speaker 2: for me because he's not really been fit for over
13:12
Speaker 2: a year now, and when half of your entire rider
13:15
Speaker 2: lineup is not really giving relevant data because he's just
13:18
Speaker 2: not at the level that Alex Rins is available to
13:20
Speaker 2: be at, it just shows you how important that second
13:22
Speaker 2: team is for Yamaha next year. They need to get
13:24
Speaker 2: those two bikes on the green next year and a
13:27
Speaker 2: couple of experienced riders on them to double their data.
13:29
Speaker 2: But look, I'm not surprised Fabio's asking for some grip.
13:33
Speaker 2: But he's probably a bit worn out Fabio because he's
13:35
Speaker 2: done more testing this year than he probably hasn't the
13:36
Speaker 2: rest of his BOTOGPT career put together.
13:38
Speaker 3: At this point, I'd reckon, Oh.
13:40
Speaker 1: Isn't he just is insane? These athletes there, they're crazy fit.
13:45
Speaker 1: I wanted to talk about a Prillier because this weekend,
13:48
Speaker 1: and we've spoken about the track surface so much, but
13:51
Speaker 1: it really is key this weekend. I want to know
13:53
Speaker 1: your opinion, but I'm going to share mine first. I
13:56
Speaker 1: have a feeling Alisha and Maverick are going to be
13:58
Speaker 1: strong in this in I just have this feeling that
14:03
Speaker 1: this track, you know, we know it suits a Lays
14:05
Speaker 1: She really likes it. I think the Aprillia is going
14:07
Speaker 1: to do well, but the thing that worries me is
14:09
Speaker 1: the temperature, like you said, and just that rear tire ware.
14:12
Speaker 1: But what's your thoughts on the Aprillia heading into this weekend.
14:15
Speaker 2: I like how you've bravely predicted that Maverick Fignalez is
14:18
Speaker 2: going to do anything with any sort of surety, because
14:21
Speaker 2: I'm not sure Maverick Vignals knows what Maverick Manalis is
14:23
Speaker 2: going to do, because he's capable of putting races as
14:25
Speaker 2: we've seen this year, and he's also capable of having
14:27
Speaker 2: those races where you look at the end and you go, oh,
14:30
Speaker 2: he was thirteenth. I don't remember seeing him for the
14:32
Speaker 2: entire weekend, but I completely agree on Elaish. I think
14:35
Speaker 2: he's good around here. We've seen that in the past.
14:37
Speaker 2: For me, the key thing is can he qualify in
14:41
Speaker 2: the first two rows? If can he get a top
14:43
Speaker 2: six in qualifying, which is possible. He's very very good
14:47
Speaker 2: over one lab and I think if he can put
14:48
Speaker 2: himself in the mix, particularly in the sprint, that top
14:51
Speaker 2: three or four, he's the writer outside of the decadeys,
14:54
Speaker 2: I think that's most likely to jag a podium this weekend.
14:57
Speaker 3: Over the race distance probably a.
14:58
Speaker 2: Little bit harder because of the the characteristics of this
15:01
Speaker 2: track is that massive backstraight coming out of a slow corner.
15:04
Speaker 2: That's GP twenty four territory, right there, so you could
15:07
Speaker 2: expect that the probabier might get swallowed up a bit
15:10
Speaker 2: on that back straight. It's nearly a k long. They're
15:12
Speaker 2: coming into that last corner, but over a sprint, and
15:14
Speaker 2: if he can get Q two right over one lap,
15:16
Speaker 2: and he's done that at various rounds this year, to me,
15:19
Speaker 2: he's the guy most likely to end up on a podium.
15:22
Speaker 2: That's not only do Caddie. So I think that's a
15:23
Speaker 2: really good call. But I'm sure Maverick could sign up
15:26
Speaker 2: for what you suggested, but who would know?
15:29
Speaker 1: Who would know with Maverick and who would know with
15:32
Speaker 1: what's going on with those ktms At the moment, it
15:34
Speaker 1: just seems like they're lost. We know going into this weekend,
15:37
Speaker 1: Aragon is not a track that generally suits them or
15:41
Speaker 1: their riders. Pedro Acosta maybe I feel like he's got
15:45
Speaker 1: a point to prove you an article recently and he's
15:49
Speaker 1: kind of going, katm aren't doing what they said they
15:52
Speaker 1: were going to do or what they were wanting to do.
15:54
Speaker 1: That's me paraphrasing a lot of what you wrote. But
15:58
Speaker 1: I think you know they should have. I've been so
16:00
Speaker 1: strong around Austria, and we spoke about that in the
16:02
Speaker 1: previous pod, but this circuit is not one of their strongest.
16:06
Speaker 1: What do you think, do you think we might see
16:08
Speaker 1: like a surprise Pedro Acosta appearance or do you think
16:10
Speaker 1: they're going to be middle of the pack.
16:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, I sub speak middle of the pack. Acosta is
16:15
Speaker 2: just an absolute quote machine. I don't know whether it's
16:18
Speaker 2: because he's only twenty years old, or speaking in a
16:20
Speaker 2: second language, or because he's just blunt about everything. It's
16:23
Speaker 2: probably a combination of all three. But after Austria that
16:26
Speaker 2: was painful to watch, particularly everyone of all the katim
16:29
Speaker 2: management that had come in from Matting Coffin. But after
16:32
Speaker 2: that race, he was absolutely diala quote. He said he
16:34
Speaker 2: blamed himself for not making it to Q two because
16:37
Speaker 2: he wouldn't be there with this face. If he'd made
16:39
Speaker 2: Q two, I'd be here with champagne and flowers for everyone,
16:42
Speaker 2: he told the media after that particular race where he
16:45
Speaker 2: finished thirteenth. So he certainly wears his heart on his
16:47
Speaker 2: sleeve and there's no lack of trying, but they've kind
16:50
Speaker 2: of lost their way a bit in the last few races.
16:53
Speaker 2: Austria was particularly bad. Like Brad Binder managed to finish
16:56
Speaker 2: fifth in that race, but he said afterwards, like fifth
16:59
Speaker 2: is great, but I was eighteen seconds off the win.
17:01
Speaker 2: He's literally seventeenth of a second lapse slower than the Decadi.
17:04
Speaker 2: So they kind of lost their way a little bit.
17:07
Speaker 2: Not sure, as you said, historically, this is not a
17:10
Speaker 2: great track for them. They've never finished on the podium here,
17:12
Speaker 2: so I'd be surprised if they were able to get
17:15
Speaker 2: ahead of a Brillier. We know Binder's usually there, and
17:18
Speaker 2: it's kind of interesting as KTM's come back to the
17:20
Speaker 2: pack a little bit, it's been Binder that's sort of
17:22
Speaker 2: held the line a little bit. A Costa has dropped off,
17:25
Speaker 2: so could we get the Pedro Costa special. Look, he's
17:27
Speaker 2: not super experienced around Arragon because none of them are
17:30
Speaker 2: because we were off the calendar last year. But I
17:32
Speaker 2: definitely see them being second in a two horse race
17:34
Speaker 2: with a Prillier. But you never know where the Costa
17:36
Speaker 2: he's due because the performance hour over him has gone
17:40
Speaker 2: a little bit backwards in the last few races. Look,
17:42
Speaker 2: he was never going to sustain the start that he had.
17:44
Speaker 2: It was like two podiums are the first three races.
17:46
Speaker 2: It's one of the best starts we've ever seen. But
17:48
Speaker 2: it's not been fantastic lately.
17:50
Speaker 4: Has it.
17:51
Speaker 1: No, it's not. But as he's a rookie year right,
17:53
Speaker 1: so he's still learning, still coming to groups within everything.
17:56
Speaker 1: I think next year, being on the factory bike's going
17:59
Speaker 1: to make it a big difference for him and having
18:01
Speaker 1: a bit more involvement. We already know he's involved with
18:03
Speaker 1: the Kadim Factory a lot now. In the summer break
18:06
Speaker 1: he was in Austria working with them, But I think
18:09
Speaker 1: next year is going to be that big step up
18:10
Speaker 1: and a big step up for him as a writer
18:12
Speaker 1: as well. But I'm sure we'll talk more about that
18:15
Speaker 1: next year and later on as the season goes. But Matt,
18:17
Speaker 1: is it safe to say do you think it's going
18:19
Speaker 1: to be another du Caddi dominant weekend?
18:24
Speaker 2: I'd be very surprised if it wasn't, simply because of
18:26
Speaker 2: the nature of that backstraight that I was just talking
18:28
Speaker 2: about there, because it's the one part of that track
18:30
Speaker 2: it's a slow corner leading onto a long straight that
18:33
Speaker 2: reminds me of Austria, which is basically three slow corners
18:35
Speaker 2: leading onto three long straight. So we saw what happen
18:37
Speaker 2: in Austria, so I'd be pretty surprised if it was
18:40
Speaker 2: anything other than a GP twenty four. And I think
18:42
Speaker 2: the Bastianini shout if anyone's going to beat Pecka Vannaya
18:45
Speaker 2: this weekend, I would suspect it's his teammate rather than
18:48
Speaker 2: the guy that he's fighting for the title with in
18:50
Speaker 2: Jorge Martin. But I think if you're looking for interlopers
18:53
Speaker 2: or outsiders, I think the Yamahas will be pretty decent
18:56
Speaker 2: in the sprint and Alaish if he can qualify on
18:59
Speaker 2: the first two roses. We said he's the guy that
19:01
Speaker 2: might spoil the Aldacaddy party. But Jaketti can set a
19:04
Speaker 2: record this weekend, it'll be eighteen all Ducatti podiums if
19:07
Speaker 2: they managed to do it this weekend, and I think
19:09
Speaker 2: it's I think it's four out the last five off
19:10
Speaker 2: the top of my head, so you know, it's certainly
19:13
Speaker 2: pointing in a good direction for them. I'd be surprised
19:15
Speaker 2: if Adcati didn't win on the weekend. But which one,
19:17
Speaker 2: I guess that's the question.
19:19
Speaker 1: Which one definitely. But for those of you listening, if
19:21
Speaker 1: you haven't seen Aragon before, because you are a new
19:24
Speaker 1: fanso Moto GP. It's really interesting track. There's a few
19:28
Speaker 1: ninety degree corners like Turn one, really good for overtaking
19:31
Speaker 1: or undertaking in that instance, but it also has a
19:34
Speaker 1: reverse corkscrew like Laaruita Seika's famous corkscrew, and that is
19:39
Speaker 1: just phenomenal to watch. There's so much elevation at this track,
19:42
Speaker 1: so I think breaking is going to be a big one.
19:44
Speaker 1: Like you said that the drive out of corners onto
19:47
Speaker 1: that backstraight in particular as well, and that's really where
19:50
Speaker 1: we're going to see that strong aspect of the dow CADDI,
19:53
Speaker 1: So I agree. But there's been a little bit of
19:55
Speaker 1: news coming out recently and we haven't really touched on
19:58
Speaker 1: news much in our pot. So recently it was announced
20:02
Speaker 1: Bruno's returning to the Motor GP calendar for twenty twenty
20:07
Speaker 1: five onwards, which is exciting. I don't think MotoGP's raced
20:10
Speaker 1: there for a while. I remember my brother used to
20:12
Speaker 1: race there when he was in Moto GP. But Matt,
20:15
Speaker 1: you're going to know you're the statsman. When was MotoGP
20:18
Speaker 1: last in Czech Republic the last time.
20:21
Speaker 3: We were there.
20:21
Speaker 2: Unfortunately, no fans were because it was part of that
20:23
Speaker 2: bizarre COVID calendar in twenty twenty where we didn't basically
20:26
Speaker 2: leave Europe, so it was the last time we were there.
20:28
Speaker 3: There was no one there to watch. Unfortunately.
20:30
Speaker 2: I'm so pleased at this track's back on the calendar
20:33
Speaker 2: because it's a great layout. It gets a massive amount
20:36
Speaker 2: of fans, The riders all love the place. The dispute
20:39
Speaker 2: really was the track needed to be resurfaced. The owners
20:42
Speaker 2: of the track didn't want to pay for it. The
20:43
Speaker 2: local government didn't want to pay for it either, and
20:45
Speaker 2: it needed to be done. They couldn't really decide who
20:47
Speaker 2: was going to foot the bill for it. There was
20:49
Speaker 2: never a case of this not being a place at
20:51
Speaker 2: motor GP wants to go, or the riders and the
20:54
Speaker 2: fans didn't want to go. So it's great that it's
20:56
Speaker 2: back on. It looks like at this stage much as
20:58
Speaker 2: we don't have it's twenty twenty five yet. We'll probably
21:00
Speaker 2: get that before the first Messano, but it'll be a
21:03
Speaker 2: back to back in some water with Austria, which makes
21:05
Speaker 2: sense geographically of course, So about early August next year,
21:09
Speaker 2: I reckon early to middle August next year will be there.
21:11
Speaker 2: It'll probably be very very hot as it always is,
21:14
Speaker 2: but such a cool layout and yeah, I haven't seen
21:17
Speaker 2: these bikes on this track for a while, so very
21:19
Speaker 2: much looking forward to that. A really good re addition
21:22
Speaker 2: to the calendar, he might say.
21:24
Speaker 1: And the news that we all were waiting for to
21:28
Speaker 1: come out that the rumors have been swirling for forever
21:30
Speaker 1: since the announcement of Ferm and Aldiger signing with you
21:33
Speaker 1: Caddy as to what team he's going to go to,
21:36
Speaker 1: and he's officially even announced at Grassini Racing. And for
21:39
Speaker 1: those of you who haven't seen it, Grissini do some
21:42
Speaker 1: really cool social media campaigns leading into race weekends. And
21:46
Speaker 1: I'm in a group chat with Matt and I'm like,
21:48
Speaker 1: how cool is the Ferm and Aldiger announcement. They recreated
21:52
Speaker 1: the Nirvana album cover, you know, the one with the
21:54
Speaker 1: baby swimming. They've got Fermin aldigair in there. So he's
21:58
Speaker 1: officially on the Mono GP grid with Grassini for twenty
22:01
Speaker 1: twenty five. And the announcement of Ayagura. There's some new
22:05
Speaker 1: blood coming into Moroto GP next year, which is really exciting.
22:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, a couple of good Moto two front runners at
22:11
Speaker 2: the last couple of years, Aldigare. He really was signed
22:14
Speaker 2: on the basis of what he did at the end
22:15
Speaker 2: of last year. He's struggled a little bit this year
22:18
Speaker 2: as they've switched to the Perells. He's been very peaky.
22:20
Speaker 2: He's either been really good or really anonymous. So I
22:23
Speaker 2: think he's much better suited to a Moto GP BI
22:25
Speaker 2: like simply because he's a bigger guy. Like for reference,
22:27
Speaker 2: he's kind of a similar height to Alex Marquez, so
22:30
Speaker 2: he's sized like a normal humor being as opposed to
22:32
Speaker 2: a little jockey like some of these guys. And a
22:34
Speaker 2: Gura has been fantastic in Moto two this year. You
22:36
Speaker 2: can't deny what he and Sergio Garcia are doing in
22:39
Speaker 2: that team fighting for the title.
22:41
Speaker 3: And you know, a different nationality's bit of new blood.
22:43
Speaker 3: I like it.
22:43
Speaker 2: I think it's time for a bit of a shake up. Obviously,
22:46
Speaker 2: Elisha's retiring at the end of the season. But you know,
22:49
Speaker 2: peedro Acosta was always going to win this year's Rookie
22:51
Speaker 2: of the Year because he's the only rookie everyone else
22:53
Speaker 2: returned from last year.
22:54
Speaker 3: So yeah, some new blood. It'll be good to see
22:56
Speaker 3: some new guys.
22:57
Speaker 2: And yeah, only a couple of seats that we don't
22:59
Speaker 2: know about interest yet, but they'll be feeling up pretty soon,
23:02
Speaker 2: I think definitely.
23:03
Speaker 1: We're still waiting for the news of Jack Miller, so
23:05
Speaker 1: as soon as that gets announced, we will be sure
23:07
Speaker 1: to let you guys know on Fox Sport. But someone
23:10
Speaker 1: we don't often get to talk about is one of
23:13
Speaker 1: the best writers to close out the twenty twenty three season,
23:17
Speaker 1: Fabio dg Antonio on board the Via forty six machine.
23:22
Speaker 1: We're so lucky that we get to chat with him, So, guys,
23:25
Speaker 1: I want to introduce you to Fabio dgi Antonio. Alrighty, Fabio,
23:30
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us at Fox Sports.
23:33
Speaker 1: And at the time of recording this Thursday before the
23:36
Speaker 1: Aragon Grand Prix, you're back after having to unfortunately sit
23:40
Speaker 1: out the Austrian at Grand Prix due to that huge
23:42
Speaker 1: crash and the shoulder injury. How is the shoulder feeling.
23:47
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, it's not fantastic at the moment, and I
23:50
Speaker 4: worked a lot the past weeks to try to have
23:53
Speaker 4: asad as possible, but yeah, I still have some pain
23:56
Speaker 4: in some movements.
23:57
Speaker 5: I think that's with.
23:59
Speaker 4: Their mobility that they need on the bike would be
24:02
Speaker 4: enough for me so will not be a gay problem.
24:05
Speaker 4: I just have to see the strength because for sure
24:07
Speaker 4: I didn't at the time of the opportunity to work
24:10
Speaker 4: on the you know, on the on the masshots of
24:12
Speaker 4: the shoulder. But yeah, let's see therefore was undred percent,
24:17
Speaker 4: so let's see how it will be.
24:20
Speaker 2: What was it like watching Austria when you were at home?
24:23
Speaker 2: Were you on the on the couch, like because motor
24:25
Speaker 2: GP riders aren't very good at watching motor GP racers.
24:28
Speaker 3: Was that very very frustrating?
24:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's been my first race seeing the race from
24:34
Speaker 4: from home because since I joined the World Championship from
24:37
Speaker 4: treadp is my first race that I was from let's
24:41
Speaker 4: say with an injury or something, so it was quite strange.
24:44
Speaker 5: Yeah, it was my own on the coach. But yeah,
24:48
Speaker 5: it was just.
24:48
Speaker 4: Like switching on switching off because the paint inside the
24:52
Speaker 4: mind was too much, you know.
24:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, the the paint inside the mine was worse the
24:56
Speaker 2: pay for the shoulder, for sure. But let's let's switch
25:00
Speaker 2: it to happier topics because your season so far has
25:04
Speaker 2: been absolutely fantastic. I mean I've written something for Fox
25:07
Speaker 2: Sports a couple of weeks ago that compared to year
25:10
Speaker 2: on year, you are the most improved writer on the
25:13
Speaker 2: grid this year compared to last year, particularly statistically. So
25:17
Speaker 2: how much of this improvement is you just writing better
25:20
Speaker 2: or how much of that is confidence and now knowing
25:23
Speaker 2: what your future is like Because we'll get to this
25:25
Speaker 2: later in the chat. But this time last year you
25:28
Speaker 2: knew that things were pretty unstable for you, and you've
25:31
Speaker 2: now got continuity contract confidence. Do you think you're actually
25:35
Speaker 2: writing better or are you just feeling better as a writer.
25:39
Speaker 4: Let's say that has been a a liner growth because honestly,
25:44
Speaker 4: my first temology it was rather disaster for many reasons.
25:47
Speaker 4: And then last year I started to understand how to
25:49
Speaker 4: ride the big bike and also yeah everything out of
25:52
Speaker 4: what was with the team. So last year I learned
25:56
Speaker 4: saw so many things that I used on the last
25:59
Speaker 4: part of this is in the last here to do
26:00
Speaker 4: those great, great races. And also I started this year
26:05
Speaker 4: with a lot of with more confidence, with more you know, knowledge,
26:08
Speaker 4: and also with the with the team, with the super team.
26:10
Speaker 4: That helped me and it's helping me to to to
26:13
Speaker 4: perform like this, you know. So let's say that we
26:15
Speaker 4: start the season with a with another mindset and it
26:20
Speaker 4: is we are taking results from this, you know, we are.
26:23
Speaker 4: We're doing good. So I think every day is inside
26:26
Speaker 4: the top seven more or less so or really close
26:31
Speaker 4: to that. So yeah, it's a mix of things, but
26:34
Speaker 4: for sure it's like you know when you're at school
26:36
Speaker 4: that you you have to to write a lot of
26:39
Speaker 4: things and you just do sketch and then you go, Okay,
26:42
Speaker 4: I did the sketch. Now I know what have to do,
26:44
Speaker 4: so restart the game and let's do a clear one.
26:47
Speaker 5: So this year is a more clear one.
26:48
Speaker 4: Let's see.
26:50
Speaker 1: That's what I wanted to to ask you about the
26:53
Speaker 1: jump from your team last year to being with the
26:55
Speaker 1: VR forty six team now is it? Does the environment
26:59
Speaker 1: just feel like it's you a lot better? Do you
27:01
Speaker 1: feel more comfortable here there? Uh?
27:05
Speaker 4: Yeah, Let's say I said many times I don't like
27:08
Speaker 4: to compare the teams because for sure there are two
27:11
Speaker 4: completely different stories. But honestly, I'm feeling great here, feeling
27:17
Speaker 4: really good. Let's say they had the approach of raising,
27:19
Speaker 4: the approach of the work, the approach of everything also
27:22
Speaker 4: the events or whatever.
27:24
Speaker 5: Is it's really really it suits me so good.
27:27
Speaker 4: It's really close to what I think about the sport
27:31
Speaker 4: and we have approach of racing. So let's say that
27:35
Speaker 4: we are really completing each other, me and the team.
27:38
Speaker 4: So this year everything is more easy, the energy is
27:40
Speaker 4: different and not you know, this team is just fantastic.
27:43
Speaker 4: I always said that this team was a factory without
27:45
Speaker 4: a factory bike, but now we have also factory bike
27:47
Speaker 4: for next year, so we're this super super cool next
27:51
Speaker 4: year we have this super team trying to bring it
27:54
Speaker 4: on top.
27:55
Speaker 2: A factory bike and a factory rider.
27:58
Speaker 3: Did you.
27:58
Speaker 2: Let's not downplay that, but I did want to go
28:01
Speaker 2: back to what we talked about before with last year,
28:04
Speaker 2: because you did those final six rounds last year without
28:06
Speaker 2: a job, and then from that, I mean you literally
28:09
Speaker 2: you have the best six rounds of your entire career,
28:13
Speaker 2: and of course a huge part of that was Australia,
28:16
Speaker 2: your first Motor GP podium. You know, your four tenths
28:19
Speaker 2: off the win. It was an absolutely crazy last lap.
28:22
Speaker 2: There was so much going on that weekend, mostly because
28:25
Speaker 2: we were racing on a Saturday as well, so the
28:27
Speaker 2: whole thing was completely bizarre.
28:29
Speaker 3: You finally get through the podium. I mean, you were
28:31
Speaker 3: good in Indonesia the previous round but just missed.
28:34
Speaker 2: But to finally get on that Motor GP podium and
28:37
Speaker 2: with everything else going on, how was that for you?
28:39
Speaker 2: Because I know you love that place and you've got
28:41
Speaker 2: an affinity with some Australians that we'll talk about in
28:44
Speaker 2: the future. But take us back to Philip Island last year,
28:47
Speaker 2: because that was pretty crazy.
28:50
Speaker 4: Yeah, let's say that last year was tough for me
28:52
Speaker 4: because I was improving, I was growing and the speed
28:55
Speaker 4: was coming. But in the middle part of the championship
28:58
Speaker 4: was like in every week Can was up in something
29:01
Speaker 4: that was not that for me, it was not possible
29:03
Speaker 4: to show my real speed, my real potential.
29:05
Speaker 5: So I was doing crashes on beat results.
29:09
Speaker 4: But the speed were there, so we were not just
29:12
Speaker 4: we were not able to show it, to show the speed,
29:16
Speaker 4: and then we started to you know, we did the
29:18
Speaker 4: INDONESI was the first, like the first moment that we
29:22
Speaker 4: see the light at the end of the tunnel and
29:26
Speaker 4: from that everything just turns out good. So in Philip
29:29
Speaker 4: Final we did our really good practices. The back was
29:32
Speaker 4: really good and I loved that place.
29:33
Speaker 5: Honestly.
29:33
Speaker 4: That track is I think it's the most crazy track
29:37
Speaker 4: that we do in the calm.
29:42
Speaker 5: Uh qualifying and then.
29:45
Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure, we have to do everything on Saturday,
29:48
Speaker 4: can you mean yes? Okay, sorry, because I was a
29:53
Speaker 4: bit so okay, so on Saturday, for sure to do
29:57
Speaker 4: the race, and I was feeling good, but for sure
30:00
Speaker 4: I haven't done a podium yet at the time, so
30:05
Speaker 4: well stuff. But then when I started the race, I
30:07
Speaker 4: was feeling comfortable again. I was feeling strong, and I said, okay,
30:11
Speaker 4: today the day we have to make it. So I
30:14
Speaker 4: just went fully attack mode and we did a fantastic race.
30:17
Speaker 4: It was It was youte Also the night after was
30:21
Speaker 4: was quite crazy because you know, we had to celebrate
30:23
Speaker 4: a little bit.
30:25
Speaker 5: Also the thing that on Simeday we didn't have done there.
30:27
Speaker 4: The spiron was I had for me because I was
30:29
Speaker 4: still straggling with the Saturday nice things.
30:36
Speaker 1: Oh I love that so much. I think that one
30:39
Speaker 1: of the cool things. When I was like doing some
30:41
Speaker 1: research on you, fabruar is you just seem like such
30:44
Speaker 1: a really cool guy. But there's one thing that I
30:47
Speaker 1: have to tell you. So my teammate here, Matt, he
30:49
Speaker 1: wrote this incredible story about you, and I want to
30:53
Speaker 1: hear this straight from you. Can you tell us and
30:57
Speaker 1: all the Australian fans, what does the numbers twenty one.
31:00
Speaker 4: Maint you you say you give me a good band. Sorry,
31:06
Speaker 4: because my idol since ever has always been Troy Baillies
31:10
Speaker 4: and I met him when I was a little little kid.
31:13
Speaker 4: And also there is a little story behind that. I
31:17
Speaker 4: was honestly I forgot it, but my father said to me,
31:20
Speaker 4: like a few weeks ago and he reminded me this.
31:24
Speaker 4: I won the Italian Championship European Championship in twenty two
31:28
Speaker 4: thousand and eight with the pocket bikes and my father
31:32
Speaker 4: said to me, okay, which is your gift? What you
31:34
Speaker 4: want to you know, to to celebrate this, and I said, okay,
31:37
Speaker 4: I want to see Tred baillies last race in portimou In.
31:41
Speaker 4: So we went to see the superbike race and we
31:44
Speaker 4: had the opportunity to go inside the garage and they
31:48
Speaker 4: bring my poster, my poster with the pocket bike riding.
31:54
Speaker 4: Don't worry Troy to bring on top of the number
31:57
Speaker 4: twenty one is me, dot worry. I'll do it for you,
32:00
Speaker 4: So I give me. I give the foster to him.
32:03
Speaker 4: That there was like ten years on. So it was
32:07
Speaker 4: a really funny story. Yeah, it means a lot. It's
32:12
Speaker 4: about why I I start to love the sports. And
32:15
Speaker 4: also you know, I always admin him as a character
32:19
Speaker 4: as also a person.
32:20
Speaker 5: I'll say the garage, So yeah, Troy story.
32:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, I love that as well.
32:24
Speaker 2: And I also like the fact that you know, you're
32:26
Speaker 2: a kid, You're a kid born in Rome and you're
32:29
Speaker 2: growing up and your idol is an Australian guy like
32:32
Speaker 2: Troy Baalysis.
32:33
Speaker 3: Such a cool story.
32:34
Speaker 2: But hey, I do want to ask you because we've
32:37
Speaker 2: been talking about the GP twenty four and the GP
32:39
Speaker 2: twenty three this season. You're now not going to ride
32:41
Speaker 2: the GP twenty four because you go straight to a
32:43
Speaker 2: twenty five for next season. But you know, other than
32:45
Speaker 2: yourself and Mark Marquez are having the best fortunes on
32:49
Speaker 2: the twenty three this season. We keep hearing that the
32:51
Speaker 2: GP twenty four seems like it's a massive step on
32:53
Speaker 2: the twenty three. So from your perspective, from what you
32:56
Speaker 2: can see in the data that you know, explain to
32:59
Speaker 2: our list is why the twenty fourth seems to have
33:02
Speaker 2: the advantage of the twenty three Because last year you
33:04
Speaker 2: want to race on the twenty two, bears one three
33:07
Speaker 2: races on the twenty two. This year it seems like
33:09
Speaker 2: there's a bigger gap. So how do you explain that.
33:13
Speaker 4: I would say that because I hear also a lot
33:16
Speaker 4: of interviews from the my colleagues on the twenty four
33:18
Speaker 4: bites that they say that the difference is not that big.
33:21
Speaker 4: But I think that this year, with the also the
33:26
Speaker 4: update of the new tire on the on the ear,
33:29
Speaker 4: this different has been has been bigger than how that
33:34
Speaker 4: they feel. Let's say, because from our point of view,
33:37
Speaker 4: the twenty three bike is a bike that has a
33:39
Speaker 4: lot of edge grip, and you know, you can use
33:44
Speaker 4: this edge grip when you don't have the grip on
33:46
Speaker 4: the tires. But this year with the new with the
33:47
Speaker 4: newspect of the tires, we have already a lot of
33:50
Speaker 4: grip on the rear. So with the also with the
33:52
Speaker 4: super good that we have with the bike, the bike
33:54
Speaker 4: just doesn't stop. Let's say, it pushes a lot the
33:57
Speaker 4: front and it's super difficult to to to make tight lines.
34:01
Speaker 4: And when you add behind our twenty four bikes, you
34:04
Speaker 4: just do the lines one or two meters wider than them.
34:07
Speaker 4: So at the end of the lap is that one, two,
34:10
Speaker 4: three tens that you lose At the end of the race.
34:13
Speaker 4: The gap is massive, especially because to ride the tide
34:16
Speaker 4: you have to use more the real tire, so at
34:19
Speaker 4: the end of the race you have used much more
34:21
Speaker 4: the real tire. So also there the gap is bigger.
34:24
Speaker 4: If you see the races, if realize it still mid
34:27
Speaker 4: the race we are not that far. But then when
34:31
Speaker 4: you start to play with the U S tires will
34:32
Speaker 4: use tars. We use more the tire to be in
34:36
Speaker 4: that rthom So the end of the race the gap
34:38
Speaker 4: is bigger, getting bigger. So that is the main thing
34:41
Speaker 4: that is really different with the twenty three bikes to
34:43
Speaker 4: follow the twenty four bikes especially This is especially with
34:46
Speaker 4: the Gade, but also with other manufacturerses for sure they
34:49
Speaker 4: may they may steps, so it's tough. It's a bit tough.
34:53
Speaker 4: Last year everything was much much closer. And also I
34:56
Speaker 4: want to add that in valence last year that we'll
34:59
Speaker 4: try this bike with the old respect of the tires.
35:02
Speaker 4: This big was just fantastic and we didn't have this
35:04
Speaker 4: this feeling the back was just a meeting, but then
35:07
Speaker 4: we did new spect changed by the game, you know,
35:10
Speaker 4: and when you have the old bike you cannot do anything.
35:14
Speaker 1: Fabio. Just before we let you go heading into Aragon,
35:17
Speaker 1: we know you have the shoulder injury and everything. But
35:20
Speaker 1: you said you're feeling okay with the new resurfacing on
35:23
Speaker 1: the track and not having been here since twenty twenty two,
35:26
Speaker 1: how are you and the team feeling going into this weekend.
35:30
Speaker 4: Well, let's say that if we hadn't this little injury,
35:34
Speaker 4: I think could be a great opportunity for me because
35:36
Speaker 4: at the end in Aragon, I always don't really good racis.
35:40
Speaker 4: I did podium simo to three Montero two, so I
35:43
Speaker 4: was really looking for to threight here with the with
35:45
Speaker 4: this team, with the with the mother GP again. But yeah,
35:48
Speaker 4: now want to see is a test, let's say, because
35:50
Speaker 4: the show that is okay on the live things, but
35:55
Speaker 4: on the bike we had we had I hadn't the
35:57
Speaker 4: opportunity to try, so honestly, I don't know.
36:00
Speaker 5: We have to see it. We would be really a
36:03
Speaker 5: test to understand my condition.
36:08
Speaker 4: See, I think it will be really a we just
36:11
Speaker 4: have to make it just we have to retake the
36:14
Speaker 4: rhythm and to prepare. Well, it's a pity, but this
36:18
Speaker 4: is what it is at the moment.
36:20
Speaker 1: Well, thank you so much again for joining us on
36:23
Speaker 1: Fox Sport. We wish you all the best this weekend
36:25
Speaker 1: and we can't wait to see Phil violence in October.
36:29
Speaker 5: For sure, for sure. Thank you so much, Gase, Thank you.
36:33
Speaker 1: Well, Matt. That's the first time I've ever spoken to
36:35
Speaker 1: dgr and I have to say, considering he had to
36:39
Speaker 1: sit out for the Austrian crand Prix coming back, we
36:42
Speaker 1: don't know at the point of recording this, if he's
36:44
Speaker 1: actually going to be able to race. He seems like
36:46
Speaker 1: he is, but he is so upy. What a cool guy.
36:52
Speaker 2: The guy's just so positive sort of like about him.
36:54
Speaker 2: Either has good days or better days even when things
36:56
Speaker 2: are going wrong. And I think testament to what he
36:59
Speaker 2: was able to do last year that you know, Grassini
37:01
Speaker 2: signed Mark Marquez to take his place, as you would
37:04
Speaker 2: if you were any team in the history of Boto
37:05
Speaker 2: GP with Marquez being available. But then he goes and
37:08
Speaker 2: uncooks the best six races of his life to save
37:11
Speaker 2: his career, wins the Grand Prix, finishes on the podium
37:14
Speaker 2: in Australia, gets a great job for this year, and
37:16
Speaker 2: is now a factory. Do you catty rider on a
37:19
Speaker 2: GP twenty five next year. It's amazing what's happened to him,
37:23
Speaker 2: and I think he's been kind of the unsung star
37:25
Speaker 2: of this season, and I do think that he's really
37:28
Speaker 2: on a good trajectory. Three guys on GP twenty five's
37:31
Speaker 2: next year, Mark, Marquis Pecabanna and Fabio Degenman Antonio. That
37:34
Speaker 2: tells you something, doesn't it, Oh.
37:36
Speaker 1: One hundred percent? And just even the way that he
37:38
Speaker 1: was talking about how his mindset's evolved coming into this
37:42
Speaker 1: new team, how he feels so much more comfortable there,
37:45
Speaker 1: and like you said, he is just such a good guy.
37:47
Speaker 1: He didn't want to say anything bad about Garssini and
37:50
Speaker 1: you respect that because he did get his podiums and
37:52
Speaker 1: he's win with them. But you can just see that
37:55
Speaker 1: it seems like he has found his team, he's gained
37:58
Speaker 1: his support network and they are just gelling together. And
38:01
Speaker 1: I think next year we're going to see a whole
38:04
Speaker 1: new Fabio, but a bigger, better, stronger one. He's going
38:07
Speaker 1: to really be able to I think give it to
38:10
Speaker 1: Mark and Peco.
38:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, I do think. You know, he's going to be
38:14
Speaker 2: on the best bike on the grid Disney, and we've
38:16
Speaker 2: seen already what that's doing this year. Decaty's probably still
38:19
Speaker 2: going to have this advantage for the majority of this
38:22
Speaker 2: rule set before it finishes in for twenty seven, so
38:25
Speaker 2: he's in a really, really good place, and you know,
38:28
Speaker 2: he's been on a couple of podiums already. I think
38:30
Speaker 2: that's going to only increase in pretty rapidly next season.
38:34
Speaker 1: But guys, we want to introduce a new segment and
38:37
Speaker 1: this is something that we just thought of and we
38:40
Speaker 1: thought you would all really really appreciate it. So welcome
38:44
Speaker 1: to storytime with Matt. Matt, what cool story have you
38:48
Speaker 1: got for us today?
38:50
Speaker 2: We need some music or I need like a pipe
38:52
Speaker 2: and some slippers or something if we're going to pull
38:54
Speaker 2: this off properly. But now, it was just funny when
38:56
Speaker 2: did you was talking about Troy Baylets before and I
38:59
Speaker 2: had this idea for a story many years ago where
39:02
Speaker 2: I wanted to find out the origin story of all
39:04
Speaker 2: of the writer numbers. And some of them could be
39:07
Speaker 2: literally it was the first number I was handed when
39:08
Speaker 2: I was doing motocross, or it could be a birthdate,
39:11
Speaker 2: or you know, in Aabastianini used to run with thirty
39:14
Speaker 2: three because he first rode a bike at the age
39:16
Speaker 2: of three years and three months. You know, little things
39:18
Speaker 2: like that. And the Digia story was just so on
39:21
Speaker 2: point for being digit, and he did all his junior
39:23
Speaker 2: career in twenty one because he was a Troy Baylors fan.
39:25
Speaker 2: He wanted to wear the same twenty one that Troy
39:27
Speaker 2: Bayless had. He couldn't get that when he got to
39:30
Speaker 2: Moto GP because Franko morberd Delli had it, and interestingly,
39:33
Speaker 2: Peco bagnol As sixty three was because Peko used to
39:36
Speaker 2: run with twenty one Emoto three. He couldn't have any
39:39
Speaker 2: Moto two, so he doubled it to go to forty two.
39:41
Speaker 2: He couldn't have an EMOTOGP, so he put twenty one
39:43
Speaker 2: on again. That's how he got to sixty three. That's
39:45
Speaker 2: literally the story Digia being Diji, he said, I couldn't
39:49
Speaker 2: use twenty one, so I decided I'd go through the
39:52
Speaker 2: entire history books of Motor GP to find a number
39:54
Speaker 2: that nobody's ever raced with before. And I'd laughed at him.
39:58
Speaker 2: I said, what you literally went through? He said, yeah,
40:00
Speaker 2: I went through and found a number that no one
40:01
Speaker 2: had used, and that's how he arrived at number forty nine.
40:04
Speaker 2: And his rationale was, no one's written the history of
40:08
Speaker 2: this number, so I want to write it. I want
40:10
Speaker 2: to be the first, and I thought that's such an
40:12
Speaker 2: on point thing for him to say, and I love
40:15
Speaker 2: the fact that he was thoughtful and others. Eh, I
40:17
Speaker 2: can't get what I want, but I'm going to do
40:19
Speaker 2: something cool because it's going to be a cool story
40:21
Speaker 2: behind it.
40:22
Speaker 1: Well, hopefully we're going to see the number forty nine
40:25
Speaker 1: on the top step of the podium, and ideally, Philip Ireland,
40:27
Speaker 1: that's exactly what we want, is a rewrite, but instead
40:31
Speaker 1: of it being third, we want it to be number one.
40:33
Speaker 1: So let's see if we'll see the number forty nine
40:36
Speaker 1: back there. Bid guys, that's it for Moto GP ahead
40:41
Speaker 1: of Aragon. You can catch up with all the action
40:46
Speaker 1: live and add break free on Fox Sports and of
40:49
Speaker 1: course Ko Plus. Don't forget to keep up today with
40:52
Speaker 1: all the latest Moto GP news on our socials at
40:55
Speaker 1: Fox Motorsport on Everything Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Plus,
41:00
Speaker 1: you can head to our website Fox sports dot com
41:03
Speaker 1: dot Au, forward Slash Motorsport where you can read articles
41:06
Speaker 1: just like Matt was talking about there, about the Digia
41:09
Speaker 1: story and more, but from my teammate Matt and myself,
41:13
Speaker 1: Rinito of the Mulan. We'll be back with more motor
41:16
Speaker 1: gp pit talk,