Sprint podium for Di Giannantonio: “Even more important on this track”

“Phillip Island is magical!” gushed Fabio Di Giannantonio. Moments earlier, the Italian had secured third place in the Australian MotoGP Sprint race. The final podium spot had been fiercely contested in the race beforehand, with five different riders occupying it during Saturday’s 13-lap race. For the VR46 rider, the sprint got off to the worst possible start: following a rain-affected qualifying session, he started from eighth on the grid and initially lost a place on the first lap. It was only from then on that he began to make his way up the field.

By lap five, he had already overtaken local hero Jack Miller and was in fifth place. Shortly afterwards, he overtook Pedro Acosta. On the eighth lap, he also benefited from Jorge Martin’s crash whilst chasing Marc Marquez. The fact that the Italian was able to move up the field in the sprint race did not surprise him: “The starting position made the race more complicated for us. But we knew we were quick. After all, I was very quick on worn tyres in Friday’s free practice.”

He said eighth on the grid had been unfortunate: “I was on a good lap when I caught up with Ai Ogura, just as he made a mistake. That cost us a place on the second row of the grid, but we knew we had potential. However, actually realising that potential is quite another matter from simply having it.” Even a battle for victory seemed within reach for the 28-year-old, though: “I tried to catch up with Marc and Alex, but I also had to watch out for the front tyre and the wind – and for Bezzecchi.”

Willkommen auf Phillip Island

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Marc Márquez

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Fans

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Aprilia

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Brad Binder

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Diogo Moreira

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Jorge Martin

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Fabio Di Giannantonio

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Ai Ogura

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Pecco Bagnaia

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Pedro Acosta

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Fans

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Brad Binder

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Jorge Martin

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Johann Zarco

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Start des Sprint-Rennens

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Alex Márquez

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Jack Miller

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Sprint-Rennen

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Jorge Martin und Marc Márquez

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Marc Márquez

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Alex Márquez, Marc Márquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio

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Sprint-Sieger Marc Márquez

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Alex Márquez

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Willkommen auf Phillip Island

© Gold & Goose

The remaining Aprilia factory rider crossed the line behind Di Giannantonio, less than half a second behind. “I opened the throttle to move further up the field. But I had to be careful not to get overtaken myself.”

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He made no secret of the fact during the podium ceremony that the farewell event at the traditional Australian circuit was also something special for the former Moto3 World Championship runner-up: “A place on the podium is always important. But on this circuit, it’s even more important to me. Whenever we come here, I still try to push myself a bit further.”

The prospect of a wet race on Sunday doesn’t worry Di Giannantonio: “We felt good in the rain on Saturday morning. It’s been quite a while since I’ve felt this comfortable in the rain. Races in the wet always feel longer than in the dry, and we’ll try to put up a good fight against the riders at the front.”