Fabio Di Giannantonio wins in Catalonia following multiple dangerous crashes
- Silvia Cojocaru
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
Written by Silvia Cojocaru
Fabio Di Giannantonio wins in Catalonia after a race filled with terrible crashes and controversial decisions. After three race starts, here is a recap of everything that unfolded at the Catalan Grand Prix:
Sprint report
The sprint had a chaotic start with Fabio DiGiannantonio causing a first turn incident after coming into slight contact with Brad Binder. The KTM rider crashed out of the sprint and took Joan Mir down with him.
After being investigated by the stewards, this was ruled out as a racing incident and no further action was taken against the Italian rider.
Raúl Fernández put on a fight at the beginning of the race, challenging Jorge Martín and Fabio Di Giannantonio on Lap 2. The Aprilia rider did not have to defend his position for long, as he crashed out of the sprint in the 10th turn of Lap 3.
This marked the Spaniard's fourth crash of the weekend, giving Bezzecchi the opportunity to distance himself in the championship.
Pedro Acosta was forced to defend against Álex Márquez right from the start, but on Lap 5 the Gresini rider passed for the lead. Shortly after, Fernández also passed Acosta and moved to second.
Johann Zarco managed an impressive finish in the top five, keeping Bezzecchi at bay. Francesco Bagnaia indirectly helped the Frenchman, challenging the Italian rider and overtaking him with just five laps remaining.
Franco Morbidelli failed to capitalise on his good starting position, falling to eight place by Lap 7. Still the VR46 rider challenged Bezzecchi near the end of the race, managing to overtake on Lap 11.
The championship leader’s race got even worse, as he was overtaken by both Enea Bastianini and Ai Ogura in the following lap. Still, he managed to recover one position to Bastianini and was the last rider to score points on Saturday.
Acosta attempted to threaten Álex Márquez again in the last lap, with the Gresini rider barely holding on to the lead. This resulted in the closest finish in a sprint race ever, with only 0.041 seconds between the two leading riders. Di Giannantonio completed the podium as Fernández fell to fourth.
Race reoprt
Before the start of the race, Binder had to return to the KTM garage and start from the pit lane due to technical issues with his bike.
Martín managed another impressive start, recovering from ninth on the grid to fourth by the first corner. However, the Aprilia rider was unable to maintain his position, losing places to Zarco and Franco Morbidelli.
Álex Márquez seemed to have a difficult race right from the start, coming into slight contact with Martín at the beginning of the race and later with Zarco causing him to fall to P5.
At the start of Lap 5, Fernández slowly closed in on Acosta and managed to pass him and claim the lead.
Acosta returned to the lead on Lap 9, with Álex Márquez also recovering and closing in to the leading duo. The Gresini rider put on a great fight and managed to pass Fernández at the start of Lap 10. Bastianini was the first rider to crash out of the race on the same lap, causing a yellow first sector.
Fernández made a mistake in Turn 10, losing contact with the leading pair and having to defend against Martín.
What followed shortly was a terrible crash which caused a red flag and completely changed the course of the race. Álex Márquez hit Acosta before Turn 10 and subsequently collided with an advertising poster. Debris from the crash also hit Di Giannantonio’s bike causing him to fall and seemingly hurt his wrist.
Before the unfortunate collision Acosta attempted to raise his hand in order to signal a technical issue that was causing him to run slower, but it was already too late.
The race had to be restarted with 13 laps remaining but Álex Márquez was unable to rejoin. The Spaniard was taken to the hospital for further examination, with the only information provided at this time being that the rider is conscious.
The race was stopped again before a lap of the restart could be completed as another three riders were taken out of the race. Zarco came into contact with Luca Marini and the pair took Bagnaia out as well. The Frenchman also had to be taken to the medical center following this incident.
Another red flag followed by another restart, this time with only 19 riders on the grid. Acosta managed a good start to maintain first and Bagnaia also climbed to fifth as he was able to rejoin after his previous crash.
Fernández made an unexplicable mistake and briefly took Martín down but luckily both riders were able to continue to race. No further action was taken here either, being considered another race incident.
This collision brought Joan Mir and Bagnaia on the podium, but Di Giannantonio eventually overtook both of them and began to hunt Acosta for the win. With just two laps remaining, the Italian rider made a final charge for the lead and decisively passed the KTM rider.
On the final lap, more heartbreak followed for Acosta as he was taken out of the podium by Mir and Fermín Aldeguer. Ai Ogura also tried to overtake the Spaniard, causing one final crash and taking Acosta out of the race entirely. The Japanese rider received a three-second penalty for this offense.
More riders are being investigated for potencial tyre pressure offenses, meaning that the final standings can still change.
What are your thoughts on how the situation was handled? Should the Catalan track be considered too dangerous to race? Leave your opinion below and make sure to tune in to the Italian Grand Prix on the 31st May 2026 at 15.00 track time (13.00 GMT)!
