MotoGP Sepang Shakedown: Sickness derails Di Giannantonio

Gresini Racing’s Fabio Di Giannantonio suffered a disappointing start to 2022 as illness cut his MotoGP Shakedown short.

The Italian managed just 38 laps of the Sepang International Circuit on Monday before gastroenteritis struck, halting his progress and denying him the extra track time allotted to the MotoGP rookies.

Di Giannantonio had hoped to be back in action on Wednesday for the close of the three-day shakedown test ahead of the weekend’s official full-grid test, but it was not to be.

“I’m obviously very sorry,” Diggia admitted. “I got ready as good as I could to start these three days on the right foot, and the whole off-season in general. Due to a ‘silly’ thing unfortunately I had to stay in bed.

“Yesterday I was totally knocked out, while today I’m a little better. I want to hope that with a couple more days off I will be ready to get back on track from Saturday already.”

Having tested negative for Covid-19, the 23-year-old was sent to Clinica for assessment of his physical condition in a bid to be ready for Saturday’s second chance.

“Fabio has a simple gastroenteritis, with the symptoms appearing at the end of the opening day of testing,” Dr Michele Zasa, Clinica Mobile’s manager explained. “This is something quite common when we travel to the Southeast of Asia, but still led to high dehydration that doesn’t allow him to ride safely.

“As a precautionary measure, he rested for two days and hopefully he will back to 100% of his physical condition for the upcoming two days of testing. He is recovering already, but it will be important to monitor the situation in the next hours.”

With two full days lost to the illness Diggia will be up against it as his education of the premier class and the 21-spec Ducati