After seeing a record run of 22 consecutive Grand Prix finishes at Le Mans, Ducati lost two straight times at the UK Motogup on Sunday.
Had Fabio Cartararo not retired from the lead, he might not even have a Ducati rider on the Silverstone podium.
However, the misfortune of the Yamaha riders allowed title leader Mark Marquez to finish third behind Aprilia’s Marco Betzecchi and Honda’s Johann Salco.
Mark was even lucky to be part of the race after he and Sprint Award-winning brother Alex crashed in separate incidents during the original start.
The Red Flags gave them another chance, with Mark defeating Franco Morbidelli and Alex’s GP24 in third place, about 5.9 seconds after their victory.
More recently, Fermin Aldougar (Gresini) and Fabio di Giannantonio (VR46) came in 9th and 10th, with Francesco Bagnaia crashing.
Di Giannantonio admitted that Ducatis had taken “many punches” during Sunday’s unpredictable race.
“I think Aprilia here has always been very strong. They got their first podium here and then their first win, so that’s a really good track for them,” explained Di Giannantonio.
“The Quartararo got off to a great start and gambled with soft front tires. For us, the reboot was very difficult to put the front tires in temperature.”
The third Italian in Saturday’s sprint was frustrated after struggling with braking issues at the Grand Prix.
“I didn’t stop my bike like yesterday or yesterday because the brakes were in a bad mood,” he said. “We were losing ground and position as many riders were overtaking me in an easy way. We lost the opportunity because we had a pace to fight for the podium.”
He added: “Today, Ducatis, we were making lots of punches from all over the place.
Di Giannantonio dismissed the idea that Ducati’s advantages were declining, attributed the struggle of Silverstone to a combination of conditions, tire choices and circuit characteristics.
“I think there were a lot of trouble today as well. Mark crashed, Alex crashed, Frankie, Pecco crashed, and I crashed with this issue,” Di Giannantonio said. “At times like this, the lace is a bit mixed up.”
Despite the set-up on Sunday, Di Giannantonio was comforted by the GP25 setup due to improvements.
“We took an incredible step with the setup,” he explained. “The feeling I feel on a bike is much better now. What we’ve improved here can help us in Aragon.”