Fabio Di Giannantonio won the Catalan MotoGP Grand Prix, but was caught up in a freak collision involving KTM’s Pedro Acosta and Gresini’s Alex Marquez.
The MotoGP race was halted by a red flag on Lap 12 after Pedro Acosta’s KTM cut out, resulting in Alex Márquez crashing into the back of the Austrian bike.
Marquez was left as a passenger on top of the bike as he crashed into the wall, with the Ducati being completely shredded on impact. Latest reports confirmed he was conscious as he was transported to the hospital for further assessment.
Di Giannantonio was later struck by a tyre from Marquez’s shattered bike, leaving him with a visible hand injury before he went on to win the restarted 12-lap race following the red-flag period.
On MotoGP’s After the Flag, the Roman rider explained his version of events, stating: “I didn’t see the images yet.
““I just saw lots of pieces flying around and just tried to honestly hide myself inside the fairing and try to pass through.
“It was not like this, but honestly, I didn’t know what happened.
“I think Pedro had a problem or something, but after it was difficult to understand what happened. Everything was super-fast. I was just trying to hide myself. That’s it.”
“Honestly, I arrived there and I saw a lot of pieces going around, and a lot pieces also already catching us on the straight.
“So, honestly, I didn’t really react well because I just tried to hide myself behind the fairing. I was scared.
“Then when I saw big pieces going around, I just continued to hide myself but it was not enough for sure. Then I got hit; they said to me it was a tyre or something. I don’t know how to reply to these things; we’ve just been super lucky.”
Fabio Di Giannantonio: The ‘real win’ was MotoGP riders’ safety
The collision involving Di Giannantonio, Márquez and Acosta triggered the race’s first red flag, before a second incident at Turn 1 on the restart halted proceedings again following a crash involving Johann Zarco, Luca Marini and Francesco Bagnaia.
The VR46 Ducati rider reflected on his first premier-class victory since 2023, but stated that the real victory was seeing those involved in the collisions walk away without significant injuries.
“It has been a crazy Sunday,” he added.
“I’m happy about the win, happy about the performance, because for sure we need to give credit to the team who did a great job to allow me to push like this and make this result.
“But the real win today is that everybody is more or less safe. I knew Johann got injured, but he’s ok, Alex too. Me, I’m ok.
“I think this is the best win we can have also. We have to respect the human side.
“It’s an amazing sport, we have dangers – we know this. But first of all we are humans. Rollercoaster day.”
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