How Ducati MotoGP star “nearly killed myself” in Phillip Island sprint

VR46 MotoGP rider Fabio Di Giannantonio joked that he “nearly killed myself” during a battle with Diogo Moreira in Saturday’s Australian Grand Prix sprint race.

The VR46 rider was caught out by a gust of wind on the opening lap that led to him dropping down the order.

He eventually rallied to finish third to complete a Ducati 1-2-3 in the 13-lap sprint.

At one stage, Di Giannantonio found himself in a battle with LCR Honda rookie Diogo Moreira.

“In the sprint, he gives everything”

Di Giannantonio says Moreira was racing aggressively, and to stop the pair of them losing time, he attempted to signal to the Honda rider to stick behind him.

However, Phillip Island’s notorious wind gusts nearly blew him off of his bike.

“I had Moreira in front of me,” Di Giannantonio said in a behind-the-scenes video posted by the official MotoGP website.

“Whenever you pass him, he always gets you back.

“Even if he’s a second slower, he’ll pass you again.

“I passed him at Turn 1 and thought, ‘I’ll signal to him to stay behind’.

“You don’t understand: I nearly killed myself trying to signal to him, with the wind. My God.

“I think he was smart because, f***, I was going twice as fast. In theory, you should wait, follow, then work your way up. In the sprint he gives everything.”

“If it was a longer race…

Di Giannantonio had impressive pace in the latter stages of Saturday’s sprint.

He says he may have been able to close in on the Marquez brothers if the race was longer, but also believes Marc Marquez was managing the pace.

“For sure, I was having a great race, but I was pushing,” he said.

“And I’m pretty sure Marc was managing after seeing on the pitboard, unfortunately, that [Jorge] Martin was out.

“So, I think we had more or less the same pace.

“So, in a longer race it could have maybe been a big fight.”