Michael Laverty feels Marc Marquez has shown why fans “love him and hate him” in the 2026 United States Grand Prix with Fabio Di Giannantonio in the sprints.
Marquez Sprint for himself is over and By Giantantonio On Saturday at COTA 1, as Ducati Star wanted to pass VR46 Ace aboard the Desmosedici GP26 with him at Turn 12. Both drivers rejoined following the crash at the start but neither claimed a result.
D. Giannantonio took the pole for the United States GP Earlier this Saturday, however, he lost the sprint lead at Turn 1 when trying to defend against KTM’s Pedro Acosta. The Italian’s deep line opened the door for Ducati rival Francesco Bagnaia to take the lead.
Bagnaia’s decision to use the softer rear Michelin tire for the sprint race in 2018 United States GP After losing the lead to Aprilia ace George Martin on the final lap, he eventually came back to chase him down. Martin won the COTA Sprint Saturday after choosing the middle rear tire.
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Marc Marquez became ‘greedy’ after Fabio Di Giantantonio ‘frustrated’ him at the COTA Sprint.
Di Giannantonio was also vulnerable when Marquez realized his chance to strike. But the latter gave up on turn 8, so he successfully pulled off a late dive. Laverty Marquez was furious to see the red gum come down as they approached Turn 12.
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Turn 12 at COTA was one of Marquez’s strongest corners, but the Ducati ace made a braking mistake and found himself running wide with Di Giantantonio. Di Giannantonio had hoped to get behind Marquez for P4 but the Spaniard stuck his front tire and both crashed.
Race control put Marquez under a post-race investigation for the incident, which Laverty thinks will show why MotoGP fans either love or hate the seven-time premier class champion. The 33-year-old’s “mistake” added another dimension to his rivalry with the Italian racer.
Laverty said. TNT Sports 2 (28/03, 20:51): “That’s what the fans love and hate about Marc. He’s instinctive, he wanted it. He wanted to get back that move from Diggy right away, because that’s probably what made him lose his 8 lap on lap 1.”
But he came back from a long way back. He was too greedy on lap 1. He should have been a little more patient and you feel for Diggy in that situation. Yes, Mark made a mistake, and failed. This is his own punishment. Poor old Diggy, an innocent victim out there.
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But it’s a race, tomorrow they both come back, it’s one, there may be a lot of talk about it, but the two don’t like each other, DG and Mark, that’s a story that will continue.
The Sprint in the United States marked the third race in 2026 where Marquez and Di Giannantonio battled. MotoGP season. Just last week, He won the Goiania Sprint by defeating Marquez de Gianantonio After a late-race error penalty.
Roles were reversed in the main race as the Ducati star beat D’Gianantonio Marquez to win the Brazilian Grand Prix after running deep due to a broken track surface. Marquez didn’t like losing to Di Giannantonio in Brazil.And he didn’t want to be defeated by him again at COTA.
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