Fabio Di Giannantonio takes MotoGP revenge on Valencia: “The trophy stays with me!”
Fabio Di Giannantonio gets his first Valencia podium in MotoGP – two years later.
Two years after he was denied a podium in the Valencia MotoGP, Fabio Di Giannantonio was back on the rostrum at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in 2025.
Di Giannantonio crossed the line third in the 2023 edition of the Valencia MotoGP, but was handed a time penalty after the race for a tyre pressure breach, and was classified fourth in the end.
After 2024’s race was moved to Barcelona, Di Giannantonio got his first chance at some kind of retribution for the 2023 penalty in 2025, and he took it with third places in both the Sprint and grand prix.
“This time the trophy stays with me,” Fabio Di Giannantonio joked after the race when speaking to MotoGP’s After the Flag show.
“Also tonight it will stay with me, no one will steal my trophy!
“Super-happy about the race, about the fight, happy to finish like this the season, it’s been a rollercoaster season.
“Super-proud of the team that never turned the shoulder to me, we have always been super-united, working to achieve the maximum in the good and bad times.
“So, it’s been a great season in this part, in the human side. Super-happy to continue with this crew for next year.
“It’s been a great weekend; I think it’s the first time I have all the three cups available, let’s say, so it’s definitely one of our best weekends.”
Challenging Aprilia
Although Di Giannantonio was on the podium, he was a long way from victory – 3.7 seconds in the end.
The race was dominated by Aprilia, by Marco Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez who finished only half-a-second apart.
Di Giannantonio admitted afterwards that he had expected to be able to challenge for victory, but ultimately was simply lacking the pace of the RS-GP riders.
“I wanted to win today, but the rhythm that they [Bezzecchi and Fernandez] were putting on in the beginning was really strong,” the VR46 Racing Ducati rider said.
“For me, it was tough to be with them, I was turning much wider than them so for me it was difficult to keep the pace.
“So, I had to use the plan B that was saving the rear tyre to try to come back at the end – luckily it worked. But it’s been hard, honestly.”
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