Valentino Rossi reacts to first win for VR46 MotoGP team: 'Diggia was a dragon'

The Catalan Grand Prix was one of the most shocking and dramatic races in recent memory, and one which was sadly marred by the horrible injuries of Alex Marquez and Johann Zarco. Nonetheless, it was a triumphant weekend for Rossi's VR46 team as Fabio Di Giannantonio took a deserved victory - battled through an injury to his left hand.

It was a good weekend overall for VR46 as far as results were concerned. Franco Morbidelli shocked the entire field by taking a P2 spot on the grid during Saturday's qualifying session, while Di Giannantonio started the race in P6. Di Giannantonio ultimately took the victory, and Morbidelli did well to survive and achieve top 10 finish despite the carnage.

When Acosta had a technical problem just after exiting onto the back straight of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Alex Marquez hit him hard from behind before veering into the barriers. His bike, smashes to smithereens, came back onto the circuit in pieces with the front wheel whacking into Di Giannantonio and taking him down. Diggia was able to restart due to the incident being red flagged, and while he only led for the final few laps, it's difficult to say that the number 49 hasn't deserved a race win this year.

At the start of the year, team owner Valentino Rossi stated that his target was for VR46 to win a race this season, and after just six rounds they have already achieved it. Speaking to Sky Sports Italy, Rossi had the following to say about the race:

"Oh my God, how scary guys. It was bad and we saw it, and poor Diggia even got hurt - and yet, he was a dragon." said Rossi,"He did really great to come back, he ran an incredible race, he did all the overtaking as he was supposed to, didn't make any mistakes and then on the last two laps he had 7-8 tenths faster pace than anyone."

He later made further comments about the crash, and believes that riders had no choice but to continue racing after the two serious red flag incidents:

"First of all, everything went extremely well [lucky] because it’s really tight there — no room on either side on the straight — and fortunately Alex Márquez managed not to hit the wall. He crashed at a bad angle but slid along the ground. He did touch the wall, but I hope he’s okay.

"But in the end, Guido, you don’t have much choice. You can’t go back to the pits and say, ‘That’s it, I got scared, I’m going home.’"