DI GIANNANTONIO LAMENTS MISSED 2026 TITLE CHANCE

Fabio Di Giannantonio believes he let a genuine chance to challenge for the 2026 MotoGP title slip away after a mid-season downturn, even as he describes this as his strongest campaign in the premier class.

The VR46 Ducati rider emerged as the team’s leading contender while Marc Marquez was struggling with the effects of nerve damage in his right arm, sustained in a crash in Indonesia last year. Di Giannantonio took pole positions in Brazil and Austin and won in Barcelona, collecting three Sprint and Grand Prix podiums across the opening seven rounds. Riding the factory GP26, he appeared capable of making an unexpected run at the championship.

But his Sunday results faded after the German Grand Prix at Sachsenring. Although he has added six Sprint podiums since Assen, he has not finished a Grand Prix in the top five since then. He now sits sixth in the standings, 27 points behind Pedro Acosta and 12 behind fifth-placed Ai Ogura, with 74 points still available over the final two rounds.

Speaking on Giovanni Zamagni’s YouTube channel, Di Giannantonio said the season had brought plenty to celebrate, including a race win, numerous podiums and regular competitiveness. He added that the team had generally been aiming to fight at the front and had often finished in or near the top five.

Still, he was candid about his disappointment. “I’m a bit frustrated, because I feel we truly wasted an opportunity from the middle of the season onwards,” he said. “We couldn’t quite get everything to click, and we were hit by a string of bad luck, one thing after another.” He acknowledged that misfortune is part of racing, but said the sequence had cost him a chance to contend for the title.

Di Giannantonio said he had set out to win the championship, convinced he had the speed and the support to make it possible. “I know I’m consistently fast,” he said, adding that with his team and a bike he considered among the best at the start of the year, he had asked himself: “What am I doing on this bike if not to win the championship?”

He felt the title fight had been within reach before his form dipped after Sachsenring. Now, he said, the gap had grown so large that catching the leaders was “almost impossible”.

Marquez, meanwhile, has turned his season around after surgery following a crash at Le Mans. Since returning at Mugello, the Ducati rider has won seven races and scored eight podiums, moving from 102 points behind the championship lead to a 60-point advantage. He is closing in on an eighth MotoGP crown, which would take him past Valentino Rossi’s tally of seven premier-class titles. The championship could be decided in Portugal, though the report says Di Giannantonio would not help Marquez secure it if Ducati issued team orders.