Fabio Di Giannantonio “tried to hide” during Marquez/Acosta Barcelona MotoGP crash

MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix winner Fabio Di Giannantonio says he “just tried to hide inside my fairing” when he rode through the crash between Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta.

The original grand prix was red-flagged on lap 12 of 24 after a terrifying incident involving Pedro Acosta and Alex Marquez.

Acosta’s KTM suffered a technical issue exiting Turn 9 onto the back straight and lost power, with Marquez slamming into the back of him.

He speared off track into a sickening crash, with Marquez taken to hospital after being reported as conscious.

VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio was running behind this duo when they tangled, with the Ducati rider hit by a flying wheel from Marquez’s bike.

He suffered an injury to his hand but was able to restart, with Di Giannantonio going on to win the shortened 12-lap race.

“We have to respect the human side”

Giving his first comments on the incident, Di Giannantonio said: “I didn’t see the images yet.

“I just saw lots of pieces flying around and just tried to honestly hide myself inside the fairing and try to pass through.

“It was not like this, but honestly, I didn’t know what happened.

“I think Pedro had a problem or something, but after it was difficult to understand what happened. Everything was super-fast. I was just trying to hide myself. That’s it.”

In the press conference, he added: "Honestly, I arrived there and I saw a lot of pieces going around, and a lot pieces also already catching us on the straight. 

"So, honestly, I didn't really react well because I just tried to hide myself behind the fairing. I was scared. 

"Then when I saw big pieces going around, I just continued to hide myself but it was not enough for sure. Then I got hit; they said to me it was a tyre or something. I don't know how to reply to these things; we've just been super lucky."

This marked Di Giannantonio’s first win since 2023, as well as his first for the VR46 squad, who also hadn’t tasted a grand prix victory since then.

But his thoughts remained with Alex Marquez, as well as Johann Zarco, who was taken to hospital after a crash in the first restart at Turn 1.

“It has been a crazy Sunday,” he added.

“I’m happy about the win, happy about the performance, because for sure we need to give credit to the team who did a great job to allow me to push like this and make this result.

“But the real win today is that everybody is more or less safe.

“I knew Johann got injured, but he’s ok, Alex too. Me, I’m ok.

“I think this is the best win we can have also. We have to respect the human side.

“It’s an amazing sport, we have dangers - we know this. But first of all we are humans. Rollecoaster day.”