After nearly two seasons, Fabio di Giannantonio secured his first MotoGP victory this Sunday. In a solid race at the Qatar GP, he showed no fear and didn’t hesitate to challenge the championship leader, Francesco Bagnaia, achieving a well-deserved triumph… even without a contract for 2024.
Bagnaia (Ducati) had a strong start, overtaking Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/Ducati) to take the lead. Di Giannantonio (Gresini/Ducati) positioned himself in third ahead of his teammate Álex Márquez. Yesterday’s winner, Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati), had a poor start, dropping to eighth place.
Positions swapped between Di Giannantonio and Márquez in the second lap, with the Spaniard moving up to the podium. However, this situation didn’t last long as the Italian responded and, after five laps, he was already in second place. Marini lost momentum and dropped to fifth, behind Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM).
Bagnaia was leading dominantly, but his advantage was gradually overturned by Di Giannantonio until it was about two-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, Binder wasn’t far behind. Di Giannantonio’s progress became more significant in the last ten laps.
Determined to achieve his first win, Di Giannantonio completed the pass four laps from the end. Bagnaia made a serious mistake but managed to hold onto second place thanks to the gap he had over Marini, who had returned to the podium spots. Binder was overtaken by Maverick Viñales (Aprilia).
After taking the lead, Di Giannantonio never looked back, securing his first MotoGP victory. Bagnaia maintained second place, with Marini closing the podium in third. Viñales and Binder completed the top five. Martín had a forgettable race, finishing only in tenth place, dealing a strong blow to his title aspirations.
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