Di Giannantonio’s MotoGP future: ‘Something nice is coming…’

The Gresini Ducati rider arrived in Buriram on a high from a debut podium at Phillip Island, an achievement which only fuelled growing speculation he will now swap places with Marc Marquez and join Repsol Honda next season.

HRC team manager Alberto Puig has confirmed di Giannantonio is “one of the options for next year” but added, “he’s not the only one.”

Exactly who di Giannantonio’s competition might be is unclear.

New HRC signing Johann Zarco has stated he’ll race as planned for LCR, while Aprilia riders Miguel Oliveira, Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro - all mentioned in connection with the Repsol seat - have recently downplayed interest, at least publicly.

• Thailand MotoGP: New World Championship standings
• Thailand MotoGP: Results
• Thailand Moto2: Results
• Thailand Moto3: Results

Either way, di Giannantonio’s MotoGP future is looking bright, with the Italian either poised for the place at Repsol or to slot into any vacancy that would emerge if someone else joins HRC.

“For sure we are working, and I hope also to give you some good news,” di Giannantonio said about the possibility of announcing his 2024 plans at Sepang next weekend.

“But I think that something really, really nice is coming. So I'm not in a rush at the moment.

“I want to enjoy this week [off], work well with my staff at home to prepare my future, and then we will see. Maybe I can give [tell] you something for Malaysia!”

di Giannantonio, forced out of the Buriram Sprint by a technical problem, was speaking after riding from 14th to ninth in Sunday’s Thai MotoGP.

“I was starting from the back, I did a couple of nice overtakes. And the pace was good. So I started to recover, recover, recover, but I was too late to catch the second group,” he said.

“But I'm super happy because today because the heat was huge, and it was easy to make some mistakes. I think if we could start a little bit more in front, I could fight for another top five finish.

“So I'm super happy, we've done an incredible job these last three races.”

di Giannantonio is now up to twelfth place in the world championship standings.