'I have to pray': MotoGP rider opens up on fears before every race start

Several MotoGP riders have been explicit about their Christian faith. Raul Fernandez famously makes the sign of the cross before every race start, as part of his race routine, and 2024 World Champion Jorge Martin credited The Bible for inspiring his return from a brutal string of injuries in 2025. Additionally, Marc Marquez, Jack Miller and Dani Pedrosa were all granted private audiences with Pope Francis at the Vatican in the past.

Fabio Quartararo has also posted quotes from scripture to his Instagram as he continues to endure a period of depressing underperformance at the Monster Energy Yamaha team.

Now, Fabio 'Diggia' Di Giannantonio has also revealed that he prays before every race, not for a winning result, but to simply survive.

The comments came after the Hungarian Grand Prix, in which he was involved in a massive accident with both Aprilia riders, but rejoined the race to score points. This year has already seen several big Turn 1 crashes, in Catalonia and Hungary, which were so severe that new regulations and the banning of ride-height devices is being considered before next weekend's Czech Grand Prix.

Diggia was also caught up in the horrifying incident involving Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta after the KTM rider's bike suddenly cut out on the Barcelona back straight. With Alex suffering a broken neck vertebrae and a smashed collar-bone as a result, Diggia was fortunate to escape with just a broken finger. After the detatched front wheel and fork of Alex Marquez's bike flew back on the circuit, it could have easily been a fatal accident had the metal parts struck Diggia in the wrong place.

In a heroic display which team owner and MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi described as being 'like a dragon', Diggia not only rejoined the race after the red flag, but went on to win it.