The championship battle almost overshadowed Fabio di Giannantonio 's performance this Saturday in Qatar. The Italian driver, who led after the first day yesterday, responded by qualifying third and maintaining that position throughout the sprint race.
Having caught up with Jorge Martín, who had overtaken him when Marco Bezzecchi crashed ahead, he managed to pass him on the final lap and secure second place at the checkered flag. A solid result for the VR46 rider, who was nonetheless impressed by the Spaniard's performance.
“I think it was more his tires that were penalizing him [towards the end], perhaps, because he was driving incredibly well. He impressed me on the straight. I was thinking, ‘Honestly, this guy has a broken radius and he’s 50 meters ahead of me!’ Honestly, I was impressed. And he was really driving well ,” he said during his debriefing.
Di Giannantonio was nonetheless a little disappointed on the podium, believing he could have fought for the win if he had been able to ride on soft tires like Marc Márquez. Despite this, he believes he has every chance of being on the podium again tomorrow, even though he knows the competition will be tough, especially from the Aprilia riders.
“Right after the race, I thought I might have missed an opportunity because of the difference in tire performance. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any new soft tires for the restart. So I had to stay on mediums. But apart from that, I think we had a great race. I had good pace and I managed to overtake Jorge. We can be proud of our performance ,” he added.
“The Ducatis are very strong on soft tires. We managed to get close to the Aprilias, even beat them. However, on the medium tires, they make the difference. They manage their tires better and enter the corners harder. I expect the Aprilias to be competitive tomorrow, and Martín was incredible today. If I can maintain this pace for as long as possible, I'll be fighting for the podium tomorrow. We'll focus on what we can control.”
In summary: what information should we remember about Fabio Di Giannantonio after the sprint race of the Qatar Grand Prix?
- Fabio DiGiannantonio was among the strongest men on Saturday at the Losail circuit with a third place on the grid and a podium finish in the sprint race.
- Having stayed in Jorge Martín's slipstream for a long time, he was impressed by his performance despite his fractured radius.
- Disappointed not to have ridden on soft tires like Marc Márquez, he is aiming for the podium again tomorrow.
Results of the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race :
Ranking credit: MotoGP.com
