Carlo Pernat proclaims 60-race MotoGP rider as new title contender after what he saw at Americas Grand Prix

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The Grand Prix of the Americas saw a shake-up in the fight for the 2025 MotoGP championship.

Marc Marquez was fully expected to dominate the weekend after achieving a clean sweep in Thailand and Argentina. The six-time MotoGP champion set himself up to do just that in Austin by taking pole position and winning the Sprint race.

However, the Americas Grand Prix saw the first major mistake from the Spaniard. On lap nine, he ran too high on the wet curb at turn four and fell off his Ducati and out of the race.

The incident marks the second year in a row that the 32-year-old has crashed out from the lead in Austin. Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia inherited the lead and won his first race of 2025.

Bagnaia suspected Marquez would crash as he had a ‘premonition’ that he would win on Sunday. For the thrid race in a row, Ducati riders locked out the podium with Alex Marquez second and Fabio Di Giannantonio in third.

The former now leads the championship by a point over his brother – he has finished second in every race so far. Bagnaia is back in the picture after his win, but Carlo Pernat thinks there could be another challenger.

Carlo Pernat proclaims Fabio Di Giannantonio is an ‘outsider’ for the 2025 title

VR46 have taken a step forward in the Ducati hierarchy. They have inherited the third factory Demoscedici bike from Pramac after they became Yamaha’s satellite team.

Jorge Martin’s spot has been filled by Di Giannantonio, who had a challenging start to the 2025 campaign. The Italian broke his collarbone in pre-season in Sepang after attempting a wheelie.

The 60-race MotoGP star has been recovering ever seen. VR46 stopped Diggia from testing in Buriram so he could fully recover for the first race.

This proved the right call as the 26-year-old has grabbed strong results so far. After a shaky opening weekend in Thailand, Diggia has finished in the top five in every race, grabbing his first podium in Austin since his maiden win in Qatar in 2023.

The VR46 rider is fifth in the standings with 44 points, 43 behind leader Alex Marquez. Speaking via GPOne, Pernat sees Diggia as a title contender with his recent performance.

“Also good for the team of god 46, which secured a third and a fourth place. I would say a positive thing for Valentino Rossi’s team, especially for Di Giannantonio.

“Truly, after the shoulder operation, he is showing great things and can also be considered an outsider for the world championship.”

READ MORE: Everything to know about Fabio Di Giannantonio from net worth to AS Roma

Fabio Di Giannantonio could be dealt major boost in Qatar with Valentino Rossi appearance

The 2025 season is the first year Digga has factory Ducati machinery. He could well be further up the order had he not suffered his injury in Malaysia.

Nevertheless, the 26-year-old had performed strongly in 2025 and will be looking to continue the momentum. Di Giannantonio has the perfect opportunity to do that in Qatar.

The Lusail International Circuit was the site of his only win in MotoGP thus far with Gresini and he will look to challenge at the front next weekend.

He will also have a major boost with VR46 team owner Valentino Rossi set to attend the Qatar Grand Prix. Diggia is excited about Rossi’s visit as he says the team is ‘even more pumped’ when he is there.

Rossi views VR46 as a business and has never really been properly engaged with his team. Therefore, the legendary rider’s appearance at a track that is strong for his rider will certainly give Diggia an extra string of confidence.