MotoGP: Di Giannantonio wins the Qatar Grand Prix, Bagnaia very close to the title

Beaten by Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati-Gresini), Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) finished second on Sunday in the Qatar Grand Prix, the penultimate round of the MotoGP season, and moved closer to a second consecutive world title after the poor performance of Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac), only tenth.

The Italian title holder, overtaken at the end of the race by his compatriot Di Giannantonio, took 14 lengths from his Spanish rival and increased his lead at the top of the championship to 21 points while there will remain 37 points to distribute at the end. of the season in Valencia next weekend. "I am very happy. I got a very good start and then I was able to take the lead. I tried to escape but Fabio (Di Giannantonio) was really incredible today. I am very happy with my performance and I managed to greatly increase my gap on Jorge (Martin) so I can't wait to be in Valencia,” Bagnaia underlined.

Martin, in distress on his bike, experienced a catastrophic race from start to finish, the day after his impressive success during the sprint, during which Bagnaia was in difficulty. The Madrilenian finished almost fifteen seconds behind the winner, thus seeing the prospect of winning his first world title in front of his audience fade away. The Spaniard can, however, thank Di Giannantonio, who lost five points to Bagnaia by producing a masterful race. The 25-year-old Gresini rider, without handlebars for next season, won the first victory of his career in the premier category where he has been competing since last season.

“The race was incredible. I followed “Pecco” (Bagnaia) and even though sometimes I lacked speed, I saw that he was making some small mistakes so I said to myself that maybe I had a chance to win and I managed to do it. It's a great revenge for me and for everyone who helped me. It’s fantastic,” he exulted.