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When you have an all-time legend and reigning world champion Marc Marquez spearheading Ducati\u2019s charge, when you have two-time MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia in Ducati colours, and when you have last year\u2019s race-winning rookie Fermin Aldeguer riding for the Italian brand alongside 2025 championship runner-up Alex Marquez, attention towards Di Giannantonio tends to be fleeting, even with his fluorescent yellow GP26 machine run by Valentino Rossi\u2019s eponymous VR46 team standing out on any grid.<\/p>\n
But so far in 2026, \u2018Diggia\u2019, as he\u2019s known in the paddock, has outshone all five of his Ducati stablemates. <\/p>\n
After three rounds, he\u2019s Ducati\u2019s best-performing rider, eclipsing Marc Marquez, scoring twice as many points as Bagnaia, and casting Alex Marquez back to being a mid-pack rider with a high-profile surname. <\/p>\n
MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n
SHOCK DEFECTION<\/a> Ogura to Yamaha sets tongues wagging \u2026 and ups pressure on Miller<\/p>\n EXPLAINER<\/a> Five questions from MotoGP\u2019s stalled rider market, and where Aussie lands<\/p>\n Despite all of that, Di Giannantonio remains unsigned for 2027, the rider market for next year gridlocked by a commercial impasse<\/a> between the Motorcycle Sports Manufacturers\u2019 Association (MSMA), which represents MotoGP\u2019s five brands, and promoters MSEG (MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group) about terms for the contract to run the series from 2027-31.<\/p>\n Other names \u2013 Fabio Quartararo, Jorge Martin, Pedro Acosta, Bagnaia and Ai Ogura \u2013 have inked deals for advent of the 850cc era next year that are signed and sealed, just waiting for an announcement once the MSMA\/MSEG talks reach a resolution. <\/p>\n Di Giannantonio waits. And knows his place. <\/p>\n \u201cI always feel small among the greats,\u201d he said at the most recent round in Texas, when asked where he sees himself relative to his rivals. <\/p>\n \u201cMarc is a legend, one of the strongest champions in history, while I\u2019ve won far less. For me, it\u2019s great to be there fighting, but you have to be professional and put it all in perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n Di Giannantonio was too quick for Bagnaia – and the other five Ducatis – last time out in Austin (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing)Source: Supplied<\/p>\n DUCATI\u2019S SHINING LIGHT AMID STRUGGLES<\/p>\n Di Giannantonio hasn\u2019t completely put it all together so far in 2026, but he\u2019s been better than he\u2019s ever been before, and become Ducati\u2019s unexpected shining light against an Aprilia run of form that started as an anomaly and has quickly become an avalanche. <\/p>\n With Marquez sidelined after a shoulder injury following last year\u2019s Indonesian Grand Prix in October \u2013 one round after he\u2019d secured his seventh MotoGP title<\/a> \u2013 Aprilia, and in particular, Marco Bezzecchi closed out the season in style, winning the final two rounds from pole in Portugal and Valencia to secure third place in the world championship.<\/p>\n PIT TALK PODCAST: The 2027 MotoGP rider market silly season is in full swing \u2026 but waits on one crucial announcement to unlock an impasse. Who is moving where, and why? Listen to Pit Talk below.<\/p>\n It was a run that was considered a nice end to the season for an emerging combination of rider and bike, but no more; Marquez\u2019s absence and victories in what amounted to dead rubbers necessitated placing an asterisk on Aprilia\u2019s late surge. <\/p>\n But once the calendar flipped to 2026, Aprilia went from strength to strength. In three Grands Prix this season, Bezzecchi has led every single lap to record three wins, not seeing the back of another bike for the past 121 laps, an all-time record<\/a>. Aprilia\u2019s four riders are first (Bezzecchi), second (Martin), sixth (Raul Fernandez) and seventh (Ogura) in the championship.<\/p>\n Marc Marquez, playing himself in slowly after surgery on his already-battered right shoulder and perhaps mindful of his injury-ravaged past, hasn\u2019t been himself. Bagnaia \u2013 whose signature for Aprilia for next year will be one of the first contracts confirmed when the rider market floodgates open \u2013 has been so-so, at best. Alex Marquez, not armed with the Ducati GP24 that was the bike to be on last year despite being succeeded by the GP25, has fallen away. <\/p>\n Di Giannantonio stated decently in Thailand, and then quickly marked himself as Ducati\u2019s main man. <\/p>\n Ducati riders in 2026 championship<\/p>\n Di Giannantonio (4th), 50 points (-31 to leader, Bezzecchi)<\/p>\n M. Marquez (5th), 45pts<\/p>\n A. Marquez (8th), 28pts<\/p>\n Bagnaia (9th), 25pts<\/p>\n Morbidelli (13th), 14pts<\/p>\n Aldeguer (14th), 13pts (missed opening round with injury)<\/p>\n In Thailand, where he qualified fourth, finished eighth in the sprint and sixth in the Grand Prix, Di Giannantonio was the best-placed Ducati in the main race after Marc Marquez suffered a late puncture<\/a>. <\/p>\n Come round two in Brazil, Di Giannantonio took his second MotoGP pole and was edged by Marquez by two-tenths of a second to finish second in the sprint<\/a>, and then \u2013 after a monster crash in Sunday morning warm-up where he bashed his left shoulder into the Goiania tarmac \u2013 won a fierce battle with the seven-time premier-class champion<\/a> to finish on the podium for third in the main race. <\/p>\n Then came round three in Texas, where Di Giannantonio again flew the Ducati flag highest, and opted to see his glass as half-full after a weekend that could have produced more. <\/p>\n After his second pole position in a week \u2013 uncorking an astonishing burst of speed in qualifying to take top spot with what he later called \u201cthe most adrenaline-filled [lap] of my life\u201d \u2013 Di Giannantonio was taken out by Marquez on the first lap of the sprint<\/a>, Marquez admitting fault \u2013 \u201cI need to have some penalty, I made a mistake and destroyed the sprint race of another rider\u201d \u2013 and copping a long-lap penalty for the following day\u2019s 20-lap Grand Prix. <\/p>\n Marquez takes out Diggia in opening lap | 00:23<\/p>\n In the main race, Di Giannantonio had nothing for the searing full-race pace of Aprilia duo Bezzecchi and Martin, and couldn\u2019t hold off the dogged Acosta on a KTM that only the young Spanish star can get a tune out of. Fourth and off the podium was a disappointment, but he was once again Ducati\u2019s best-placed finisher. <\/p>\n It was a result that simultaneously showed how well he\u2019s riding, yet how much Ducati is struggling or Aprilia has improved, whatever percentage of those extremes you allocate to the duelling Italian manufacturers. <\/p>\n \u201cI was gaining a lot in the first sector [of the lap] because our bike is very agile and I was able to push, so much so that I was destroying my hands,\u201d Di Giannantonio explained. <\/p>\n \u201cBut when it comes to making the bike do what I want, it becomes more difficult. The others can brake later, enter the corner under braking and use the front [tyre] to turn the bike [but] we\u2019re much closer to the limit and have to rely on the rear. <\/p>\n \u201cWith new tyres the bike is perfect, but as soon as the rear grip starts to fade a bit it can no longer support the front and everything becomes more complicated. The rear is excellent but we rely on it too much to do everything. In the past, we had great races precisely because of our rear control, but now the others have managed to improve their front and we\u2019ll have to find a way to strengthen our corner entry and braking.\u201d<\/p>\n With the VR46 bikes sporting a garish one-off livery in Austin, an explosion of colours drawing on graffiti and pop art that was unveiled atop a New York skyscraper ahead of the only American round on the calendar, Di Giannantonio was going to stand out regardless of what he did on track in Austin. <\/p>\n Missing the podium by two seconds stung, but at least he knew his feedback on what Ducati needs to do to bridge the gap was in keeping with the debriefs of his stablemates labouring below him in the race classification.<\/p>\n \u201cMost of us at Ducati, most of the riders, are saying the same comments, so I think we know the way to improve,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are already improving the bike as we see with making pole positions and having great, fast lap times, but then we miss the same things for almost everybody in the main race. The Aprilias and the KTMs are getting better and better. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was not the result that we wanted \u2013 showing a great livery, you always want to make it on the podium \u2013 but [fourth] was the maximum, honestly. I gave my best and we come with a fourth place, so it\u2019s alright.\u201d<\/p>\n Di Giannantonio\u2019s battle with Marquez in Brazil – which he won – was one of the standout duels of 2026 so far. (Photo by EVARISTO SA \/ AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n OUT OF CONTRACT, IN FORM AND FAVOUR<\/p>\n Despite all that early-season success, Di Giannantonio\u2019s plans for next year remain unconfirmed in what shapes as an off-season of enormous churn ahead of the biggest regulation change to MotoGP in 15 years<\/a>. <\/p>\n MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n \u2018DON\u2019T FEEL WELL\u2019<\/a> Blame shifts over \u2018missing\u2019 champ, crash magnet\u2019s new low, F1 icon\u2019s team set for shift<\/p>\n