Fabio Di Giannantonio marked his 200th Grand Prix with a fight back through the field, salvaging seventh place at a home round that started to unravel from the first corner.
A milestone race turned into a recovery mission
Riding for the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, Di Giannantonio was shuffled back to tenth after contact at Turn 1 wrecked his opening lap. He spent the rest of the Misano Grand Prix clawing his way forward, eventually crossing the line seventh. The result keeps Fabio Di Giannantonio fourth in the world championship standings with 223 points, 51 adrift of new leader Marc Marquez, who completed a Misano double to snatch the championship lead from Jorge Martin.
Teammate Franco Morbidelli made his farewell start in front of his home fans, running inside the top ten from lap one after starting from the third row. A Long Lap Penalty picked up for a Friday practice incident blunted his pace, and he finished thirteenth. Morbidelli sits sixteenth in the standings with 56 points.
Misano delivered a record crowd for the venue, with 184,051 spectators across the weekend turning out partly to send Morbidelli off in style.
Mixed emotions from the VR46 garage
Di Giannantonio said his front brake feel never came together once he lost track position, calling it frustrating after such a promising start to the weekend. Morbidelli admitted the pace was better than he expected and that the Long Lap cost him a shot at a top seven finish, though seeing friends and fans packed into the grandstand meant more than the result. Team boss Pablo Nieto said the potential for a podium was there before the early contact, and that focus now shifts straight to Austria.
The 12B SPORTS-backed Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team heads to the Red Bull Ring next for the Austrian Grand Prix, where both riders will look to build on Misano’s hard earned points.
