Fabio di Giannantonio: “With ifs and buts, we don’t go anywhere”

Fabio di Giannantonio’s Qatar MotoGP may have ended without a point, but the VR46 Ducati rider insists he had the pace to challenge for the podium - if not more - before “events” intervened.

After being forced to the back of the field due to high-speed contact with Alex Marquez, Diggia then did his best to take evasive action when Jorge Martin crashed directly in front of him mid-race.

Although Martin’s condition was preying on his mind, the Italian gave a glimpse of what might have been by lapping faster than all but race winner Marc Marquez in the closing laps.

“I think at the end of the race, if you see the lap times, our pace was a podium pace,” he said. “So that was the goal. Then a few events destroyed our plans.”

Instead, he was left without a single point after crossing the line in 16th place.

“Honestly, I knew that I had this kind of pace,” he continued. “We worked so well with the team to prepare this race... The goal was to fight with Marc.

“In Italian we say, ‘with ifs and buts, we don’t go anywhere’, but it’s true our pace was really strong.”

Despite the disappointment, Diggia remains fifth in the world championship, with a podium at COTA.

However, his Qatar non-score leaves him 30 points behind in-form VR46 team-mate Franco Morbidelli, who secured a double rostrum in Lusail.

di Giannantonio insists the internal rivalry is motivating.

“It helps a lot to have a strong team-mate,” di Giannantonio said. “You can study a lot from [the other side of the garage]… you can learn some secrets. And for sure he can do the same from me, when I go a little faster.

“On track, whoever is your rival is the rider to beat. So for me, it doesn’t change so much.”

Both VR46 riders are aiming high at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez, where the team scored its only podium of 2024 with Marco Bezzecchi. 

di Giannantonio is a former Moto2 winner at the Andalusian circuit and finished seventh there last season.

“Jerez is a very tiny track compared to the four previous ones,” he said. “It’s very technical, and we’ll be able to understand if the setup we tried in the last races can be positive.

“It will be a good weekend. I expect to see many European fans – they will bring a lot of energy. It’s important to continue having the speed we showed in the previous weekends.

“I am sure we can fight again for the top positions.”

Straight after the race weekend, di Giannantonio is expected to join fellow GP25 riders Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia in evaluating new development parts at the Monday test.