Diggia' denied at the finish by Marquez: "A stupid mistake"

Fabio Di Giannantonio has so far been the most dominant rider of the MotoGP weekend in Brazil. Despite missing direct access to Q2, he managed to take pole position and led the sprint race at the front until three laps from the finish. Then a mistake cleared the way for Marc Marquez’s victory, leaving a bitter taste for the VR46 team rider.

A victory slipped from his grasp with less than three laps to go, the sting of a costly mistake against a Marc Marquez who kept piling on the pressure without quite managing to land the decisive blow. In the end, Di Giannantonio had to settle for second place in the MotoGP Sprint at Goiania, just 213 thousandths behind his fellow Ducati rider.

On Saturday, Fabio’s level was higher, which caught the other riders off guard. His telemetry was studied by his Ducati colleagues, especially by Marc Marquez. But the Roman rider regrets the mistake made at Turn 12. "They showed me the gap on the pit board, so I expected him to try. Instead, I made a stupid mistake and gave him the chance to pass me very easily. I’m a bit annoyed, but I need to look at the positive side, so we’re happy. It was my first mistake of the year."

There remains the satisfaction of having fought head-to-head with a nine-time world champion. "We finally raced together. It’s really interesting to see the differences in how we interpret the track and the bike; it’s fantastic to battle with him up there. Let’s see what happens on Sunday, because the race will be very long; 31 laps is a lot. Tire wear will be a key factor and we’ll see how we play our cards."

The layout of the Brazilian circuit prevented a counterattack from the VR46 rider, now hunting for his second MotoGP victory. "It’s really tight. Plus, there are a lot of bumps, everything has to be millimeter-perfect. It’s very easy to make a big mistake," Di Giannantonio explained.

Today there’s room to work more on top speed. His GP26 was clearly behind Marquez’s Ducati: 348.3 km/h versus 342.8 km/h in Q2. "Losing that much on the straights doesn’t help, obviously, because I have to push very hard in the corners. If we improve there, we can be closer and maybe have a bit more hope."