Fabio Di Giannantonio Leads Ducati Charge in Thailand

MotoGP, Sportrik Media - Fabio Di Giannantonio emerged as the leading Ducati finisher at the 2026 Thai MotoGP despite battling a technical issue that compromised his race at Buriram.

The VR46 Racing Team rider had shown podium potential throughout the weekend, qualifying at the front of row two and displaying competitive pace in practice. However, his Sprint prospects ended on the opening lap after being pushed wide by Alex Marquez.

In Sunday’s 26-lap grand prix, Di Giannantonio settled into sixth position early on before encountering what he described as a technical problem from lap six onwards. While declining to reveal specifics, he ruled out a direct tyre failure and suggested the issue made the bike increasingly difficult to ride, with signs of overheating.

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“A great weekend, a great job from the team,” Di Giannantonio told MotoGP.com.

“We were really strong. I’ve been super-fast in all the practices. But we had some unlucky moments – yesterday in the Sprint and today with a technical issue since lap six. It was difficult to ride and I couldn’t push as I wanted.”

During the closing stages, Di Giannantonio slipped to seventh after being overtaken by Joan Mir, but subsequently gained positions following the retirements of Mir and factory Ducati rider Marc Marquez. However, Ai Ogura of Trackhouse Aprilia reclaimed the place with two laps remaining, leaving Di Giannantonio classified sixth at the chequered flag.

Despite the setback, the Italian remained optimistic about the underlying performance level shown across the weekend. He indicated that, without the technical limitation, a podium challenge was realistic given his race pace relative to the front-running group.

“I think we could have fought at least for third place because we were there in terms of pace. We knew Aprilia were really strong here and Pedro was in form, but we were there at the end. At least I would have tried it.”

The Thai round marked the first premier-class grand prix without a Ducati rider on the podium since Aragon 2021, underlining an unusual dip in results for the Italian manufacturer. Di Giannantonio’s team-mate Franco Morbidelli, riding the satellite-spec GP25, finished eighth.

With Brazil next on the calendar, Ducati and VR46 will aim to convert their evident single-lap and practice speed into uninterrupted race performance, as the early phase of the 2026 championship begins to take shape.