DI GIANNANTONIO BATTLES PAIN AFTER SPRINT CRASH IN JAPAN

Fabio Di Giannantonio’s Japanese Grand Prix was shaped by injuries sustained in a Saturday Sprint crash. The VR46 rider fell on the opening lap at Turn 3 after being hit by Alex Marquez, who was given a double long-lap penalty. The crash ended Di Giannantonio’s Sprint and left him with a heavy blow to his right side. He raced on Sunday, but said the pain had not eased as much as he had expected overnight.

The Italian had looked competitive before the crash, qualifying sixth in Q2, just 0.257 seconds off the fastest time. But he could not reproduce that pace in the Grand Prix, finishing 18th, 50.8 seconds behind the winner and outside the points.

“I expected to be much better after the night, but for sure it was not,” he said. Di Giannantonio described struggling to move naturally on the bike, particularly because of the impact to his right side. His ribs were still not fully recovered, while pain in his hip made it difficult to find a comfortable riding position.

“I’m struggling a little bit to be free on the bike from this morning, especially on the right side where I got the hit,” he explained. “I was struggling a lot to do the normal things, so it has been a complicated day.”

Di Giannantonio said the combination of rib and hip pain affected his posture and movement throughout the race. “At the end, when you bang the ribs, you always have a sort of knife pointed in all the day,” he said, describing the persistent discomfort.

His immediate priority is recovery ahead of next weekend’s Indonesian Grand Prix at Mandalika, the home event of VR46 title sponsor Pertamina. With practice due to begin on Friday, he acknowledged that travel and scheduled commitments would limit the time available to rest. He also stressed the importance of the event to the team and its sponsor, saying: “For Pertamina it is obviously super important, but for us too. We want to do well at their event. I will give my best.”

“Try to recover as much as I can,” he said of his plans. “For sure we always have a tight schedule with the flights and events and stuff, but we will try to do the maximum to arrive as close as possible to 100 per cent for Mandalika.”