Di Giannantonio is back: VR46 shone in qualifying with record-breaking pace

At the start of the MotoGP weekend in the Qatari desert, there was no getting round Fabio Di Giannantonio. After finishing fourth in FP1 under the midday sun, ‘Diggia’ improved significantly under the floodlights. The number 49 wasn’t just the benchmark over a single lap. Right from the start of the one-hour session – whilst still on harder race tyres – Di Giannantonio was hovering in the top six.

Once the soft tyre combination was fitted, there was no stopping him. Alongside Marc Marquez and Aprilia rider Bezzecchi, the VR46 racer was initially the only one to break the 1:51 mark. Just as Aprilia frontrunner Bezzecchi seemed set to secure first place, Fabio Di Giannantonio found further tenths. Shortly before the chequered flag , the clock for the neon-coloured Ducati stopped at a record time of 1:50.406 minutes. This beat Marc Marquez’s time from the previous year by a good tenth of a second.

The Italian’s grin was correspondingly broad during the subsequent media debrief. Di Giannantonio’s summary was almost perfect: “The day went really well – apart from the first two stints in FP1, when we were still two seconds off the pace. But then things clicked and I’m really very satisfied. The changes we made were spot on – I just think it’s a shame we didn’t do this a few Grands Prix ago.”

Rundenrekord und Platz 1: Fabio Di Giannantonio

Foto: Gold and Goose Photography

Recently, the topic of ‘top speed’ had been a constant talking point for Fabio Di Giannantonio. At Losail, Di Giannantonio proved that there are other priorities on the track. The record-holder was ranked 12th out of the 18 riders in terms of top speed. Di Giannantonio was six km/h slower than Honda rookie Diogo Moreira, and five km/h slower than the fastest Ducati and Iker Lecuona.

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MotoGP World Championship

07.11.2026 - 10:25

Fabio Di Giannantonio’s pit neighbour was unable to keep up with his pace. Franky Morbidelli lost a good second and will start Saturday’s first qualifying session in 12th place.