Home
/
MotoGP
/
MotoGP
/
News

Fabio Di Giannantonio: He received a call from Valentino Rossi during the podium ceremony

VR46-Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio had a strong weekend in Qatar and, following impressive practice sessions, secured second place in the MotoGP Sprint. “I couldn’t catch Marc Marquez in the end,” he said.

MotoGP

07.11.2026 - 19:42

This article is an automatically generated English version. The Original Article was published in German.

Fabio Di Giannantonio mit Valentino Rossi am Telefon
© Gold and Goose Photography

Mentioned in this article

Topic of the week

World Champion Kimi Antonelli: record-breaker, heart-breaker, the Tifosi’s dream

With his third-place finish at the Mexican Grand Prix, Kimi Antonelli has become the youngest of the 36 Formula 1 world champions to date. The 20-year-old Italian is on a record-breaking run. The Tifosi are dreaming of Antonelli in a Ferrari.

Tomorrow

Lusail: International Livestream

MotoGP World Championship

08.11.2026 - 12:35

Fabio Di Giannantonio has long had a special connection with the Lusail Circuit; his victory in the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix saved his MotoGP career. This year, too, he is putting in a very strong performance under the floodlights in the desert on the Persian Gulf: After setting the fastest time on Friday, the Italian qualified in third place on the grid and crossed the finish line in second place in the ten-lap sprint – 0.862 seconds behind winner and championship leader Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo).

‘Diggia’ held off Jorge Martin (Aprilia), who was riding above his usual standard, in the final laps and said: ‘This track is incredible; I love riding here. The race was a real battle. I’m extremely impressed by Jorge; I can hardly believe what he’s managed to achieve – he rode so well. I gave it my all and put in a strong performance. It’s a shame a gap opened up to Marc; I couldn’t catch him towards the end.”

As the race’s top three – Marc Márquez, Diggia and Jorge Martín – received their medals at the podium ceremony and then posed for the photographers, Fabio’s phone rang: team boss Valentino Rossi was on the line via video call to offer his congratulations!

Recommendations

MotoGP • New
Marc Marquez (1st) after the Bezzecchi clash: “I defended myself as best I could”

MotoGP • New
Jorge Martin on fire in the Qatar Sprint: “Third place is like a win”

MotoGP • New
Qatar: Marquez wins thrilling MotoGP sprint, Bezzecchi out, Martin third!

Mentioned in this article

At first, Diggia thought he’d thrown away an opportunity

“I can be proud of what I’ve achieved,” grinned Di Giannantonio. “Straight after the race, I thought I might have thrown away an opportunity because I’d opted for different tyres. I didn’t have a soft rear tyre left for the restart and had to go for a medium one. But I won’t get anywhere with ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’. Even so, I had a strong pace and managed to overtake Martin before the end. The fact that he’s riding with a broken arm and finished just 50 metres behind me is very impressive!”

Topic of the week

World Champion Kimi Antonelli: record-breaker, heart-breaker, the Tifosi’s dream

Tomorrow

Lusail: International Livestream

MotoGP World Championship

08.11.2026 - 12:35

With his nine points from the sprint, Di Giannantonio now has 274 to his name and remains sixth in the World Championship standings. However, he is now just seven points behind Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia), who is ahead of him. And he is only 25 points behind Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM) in fifth place overall.

Recommended

Mentioned in this article

World Champion Kimi Antonelli: record-breaker, heart-breaker, the Tifosi’s dream

TV Program

Recommendations

Mentioned in this article

At first, Diggia thought he’d thrown away an opportunity

World Champion Kimi Antonelli: record-breaker, heart-breaker, the Tifosi’s dream

TV Program

Seen already?

Motorsports News directly into your Inbox

Results

Highlight Videos

Events

Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix

Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia

Grand Prix of Qatar

Grande Prémio de Portugal

Valencia Grand Prix

Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix

Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia

Grand Prix of Qatar

Grande Prémio de Portugal

Valencia Grand Prix

MotoGP News

Newest Articles

Speedweek.com – The best motorsport on the web

Reports

Editorial

Series