Fabio di Giannantonio arrived at the Qatar race with the strongest possible indications of a front-running result. He set the fastest warm-up time, qualified on the front row and finished second in the Sprint. The VR46 Ducati looked capable of turning that speed into a repeat of his 2023 victory at Lusail.

The race quickly took a different direction. After only a few laps, di Giannantonio said the bike was suffering massive vibrations and could no longer be leaned properly through the corners. He described the failure as outside the team’s control and suggested that the chatter might have been connected to the tyre. For part of the race, the VR46 machine was the slowest Ducati, meaning the pace shown in the Sprint did not carry into the weekend’s main event.

Di Giannantonio eventually crossed the line eighth. He remains sixth in the championship and is Ducati’s next-best rider behind Marc Marquez. Fourth place, held by Pedro Acosta, is still mathematically within reach with two rounds left. Their connection will continue into 2027, when di Giannantonio will take Acosta’s seat at the factory KTM team. VR46 team-mate Franco Morbidelli finished 11th on the team’s previous-year GP25.