Qatar GP collision with Martin was the “worst scene of my life”, says di Giannantonio

VR46 rider Fabio di Giannantonio has labelled his Qatar Grand Prix clash with the reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Martin as “the worst scene of my life”.

Martin fell at the exit of Turn 12 on lap 14 at Losail and as he hit the floor, di Giannantonio collided into the Aprilia rider who suffered eight fractured ribs and a chest trauma.

The Spaniard is now in a Doha hospital having been in obvious discomfort on the edge of the track, after an already challenging 2025 as Martin missed the opening three grands prix due to a pre-season training injury. Qatar was his first race weekend of the campaign. 

When di Giannantonio was asked if he was surprised not to see a red flag following the incident, he said: “Yes. I have goosebumps because it was the worst scene of my life.

“Honestly, it was a super bad crash, and he was still on the ground. I was watching the [giant trackside] screens trying to understand if he was okay or not.” 

“He was in front of me and [went] a bit wide. I was pretty close to him,” the Italian added.

“I tried to overtake him, for sure, and once he crashed, his body was completely in front of my bike. And that is a really fast corner. I didn’t have any chance to go anywhere, so I touched him.”

Race control only signalled a yellow flag that ran for almost two full laps, before di Giannantonio rode the rest of the grand prix finishing 16th uncertain of Martin’s status.  

“I was pushing but I was thinking of him the whole race, because I was really scared,” the VR46 Ducati rider said.

“I stopped outside of his pit box just at the end of the race, because I wanted to know from the team that he was okay.”