Fabio di Giannantonio's Qatar Grand Prix was filled with eventful incidents from start to finish.
The Qatar Grand Prix was an 'eventful' race for Fabio di Giannantonio as he was involved in several different incidents throughout Sunday's race.
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team rider was instantly fighting at the front at the Lusail International Circuit. However, his amazing start was ruined when Alex Marquez collided with the Italian after making an aggressive overtake.
Di Giannantonio was forced off track and plummeted down to 21st place, with Marquez being handed a long lap penalty for his manoeuvre.
“An eventful race. My start was really good, I was there fighting for the top, because today I had the pace to make a podium,” said the VR46 rider.
“Then a strange manoeuvre by Alex. A dangerous manoeuvre by Alex.
“It’s a pity because I think that a mistake like this is not great in our level of riders in this championship. It’s a bit on the limit, especially for the penalty that we receive in case of [making] these mistakes.
“I think that we have to work for the future this because at the end, the rider that's completely destroyed my race finished in 7th [6th after a penalty for Maverick Vinales] and I lost any chance of doing a good race.”
After starting his comebacks through the field, di Giannantonio was handed his own penalty for contact with Joan Mir. The Italian had to drop a position for his involvement in the contact with the Honda rider.
A bigger incident unfolded for di Giannantonio as he came across Jorge Martin, who had crashed directly in front of him. The Ducati rider had nowhere else to go and ended up colliding with Martin, which ended up fracturing several of the MotoGP World Champion's ribs.
“We had the potential to make a podium, if you look at my pace, it was amazing. But most of all, I'm so happy that Jorge Martin seems [relatively] OK,” he said.
“This is the most important thing because I know how dangerous this sport is. He knows. Everybody knows. And to have him OK today is a great thing.”
