RiderTua.com – Fabio Di Giannantonio finished the first round of MotoGP 2024 in 7th position with the VR46 team. The team had to work extra hard after Diggia had an accident in the Sprint race. Because he is the winner of the 2023 Qatar race, many hope that he will be able to repeat his great performance also in the first 2024 race to be held at the same circuit. However, the Rossi VR46 team rider had to be satisfied with seventh place: he was unable to repeat the victory at Losail, but emphasized that he had the right to be in the premier class paddock, because his performance at the end of last year was not just a ‘coincidence’.
Fabio Di Giannantonio Thanks the VR46 Team
Fabio ended his Sprint race in Qatar in frightening fashion when on the third lap he went highside, landing hard on his left foot, almost being hit by the rider following him. “Luckily all the riders behind saw me when I fell. The bike immediately entered the track barrier. I won’t say how much the team had to pay for repairs!” said Fabio di Giannantonio after the Qatar GP.
The VR46 crew worked late into the night on Saturday to get their Ducati back on track for Sunday’s race, where the limping ‘Diggia’ climbed to sixth place on the first lap. Compared to his teammate Marco Bezzecchi who was in big trouble and was only 14th at the finish line. “I want to thank the team a lot, they did an incredible job rebuilding the bike from scratch,” he said.
Diggia Returned home after the Qatar series with a smile
Over the 21 laps of Sunday’s main race, he pushed his way to eighth place, before overtaking talented MotoGP rookie Pedro Acosta, who eventually faded. “It wasn’t an easy weekend for us. We had the speed, but it was like a roller coaster… During the race I had some problems with the brakes. I was trying to understand how often I was braking and this created a snowball effect with front tire wear, which I broke it early. But if we achieve seventh place in a difficult race, I think we should be happy because it means we are strong and have great potential this year. This is only my first race with this team. We go home with big smiles… ,” recalled the rider from Rome.
