#ItalianGP – MOTOGP SPRINT & RACE
MOTOGP – SPRINT: Bagnaia masters the mayhem in manic Mugello Sprint
The Tissot Sprint at the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley kept MotoGP™ fans on the edge of their seats as a freight train of riders hurtled under the looming clouds threatening Saturday’s perfect dry running. With all the 2023 big hitters in the mix it was a tall order for Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) to take victory as closest challenger Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) was right on the tail of the #1 to the flag. The battle for 3rd went down to the wire as well as Prima Pramac Racing had their own duel, Jorge Martin just fending off his teammate Johann Zarco.
To push or not to push?
Rain clouds loomed over Mugello ahead of the first-ever Tissot Sprint at the iconic Italian venue. The lights went out, and Bagnaia took the holeshot as Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) flew his way into P2. Miller didn’t hold onto it though as Bagnaia led Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and Martin on the first lap.
There was drama from the off as Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was eager to carve through the field. The South African saw a small gap left open by Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), but as the door naturally began to close on the racing line the slightest of touches was all that was needed to send the Spaniard into the Turn 1 gravel trap. Binder was given a Long Lap for that as AM73 tumbled out, rider ok.
The Gresini rider’s luckless run continued after another gravel trap trip, with the South African adjudged to have been at fault
Bagnaia, Marc Marquez, Martin, Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), Bezzecchi, and Miller was the order the first time across the line. Spits of rain then began to fall as Martin decided it was time to hit the front with the pack bunching up in uncertain conditions. The rain flags came out as the riders were now able to swap bikes if they so wished.
The pack began to shuffle as the rain came down on the far section of the circuit with nine laps to go. Martin led the way with Miller and Marquez following closely. At this point, Miller decided it was time for gloves off as he divebombed Marc Marquez, sending them both wide and down the order.
Meanwhile at the front, Bagnaia had retaken the lead and with Marquez and Miller now having dropped down to P7 and P5 respectively, the order was now Bagnaia, Martin, Bezzecchi, Marini, and Miller.
The top dog vs the new kid on the block
The rain stopped and the race began to settle down with seven laps to go, but now it was now Bezzecchi catapulting himself right in the mix. The young Italian was all over the rear wheel of the race leader Bagnaia, with the Pramac duo of Martin and Zarco waiting to pick up the pieces in 3rd and 4th.
The pressure was on for Bagnaia but the #1 responded in true Champions’ fashion stretching out the field with four laps remaining. Bagnaia put the hammer down setting the fastest lap of the race, giving himself some breathing space ahead of chasing Indendent Team Ducatis. Bezzecchi threw the kitchen sink at the Mugello circuit but it wasn’t enough to get the better of Bagnaia who was in a league of his own, and brought home his first Tissot Sprint victory on home soil.
Points up for grabs
The fight for the final spot in the top 3 was decided by less than a tenth of a second as Zarco almost rode pillion to Martin on the final lap. The final sector came Zarco was trying everything to push his way through, but the Spaniard kept the door firmly closed on the #5.
Marini rounded out the top 5 on home soil with Miller recovering to P6 after dropping down the order. After Miller and Marquez had bashed bars early on, Marquez came home P7.
Walking wounded, Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) held strong in a solid point-scoring finish ahead of another recovering rider in Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team). The Italian took the final point as he crossed the line in a Tissot Sprint for the first time in his career. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) rounded out the top 10 as his 2023 struggles continued somewhat, looking for more on Sunday.
If Saturday’s action at the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley is anything to go by, you do not want to miss any of the action on Sunday’s billing as the race gets underway at 14:00 local time (GMT +2).
Top 10:
1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team)
2. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) +0.369
3. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) +0.952
4. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) +1.009
5. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) +3.668
6. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) +3.772
7. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) +3.905
8. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) +6.062
9. Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) +6.431
10. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) +6.458
MOTOGP – RACE: Mugello explodes as Bagnaia takes home victory
Sunday at the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley is a day that Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) will keep fondly in his memory, as the Italian did the double in Mugello – from pole – and extended his Championship advantage from one single point to a very healthy 21. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) kept the Italian honest from start to finish but didn’t quite have enough to topple the number 1 as he was forced to settle for second, although only a second back. The battle for third raged on all race long, finally seeing Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) fly through the field to take P3 and deny Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) a home podium.
Untouchable. Impeccable.
Tensions were high on the grid as the sun shone over Mugello for one of the most iconic Grands Prix on the calendar, and it was Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) who took the holeshot into Turn 1 but Bagnaia came out of the gates determined to deliver on home soil, the Italian pushing his way back to the front at the next apex. He then began to stretch a lead as the chasing pack was swapping paintwork on the opening lap.Bagnaia crossed the line for the first line 0.4s ahead of the special liveried Prima Pramac machine of Martin, who had made his way past Miller, and the Australian was under attack from a queue of riders led by Marini and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team).
The front two began to break away as Bagnaia attempted to stretch out the field, with Martin clinging onto the coattails of Pecco as chaos started to unfold behind in the battle for third.
With 21 laps to go, Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) had a wild rush into Turn 1, seemingly unable to drop anchor and threading through the group. Both he and Miller were sent wide, allowing Marini and Marquez to bully their way through into third and fourth, and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was right in the mix too.
The race settled down as the laps began to tick away and it was Bagnaia leading with a consistent 0.4s gap over Martin who keeping himself in victory contention. 1.5s back a battle for the podium was brewing nicely with Marini sat in P3 with the Marquez brothers glued to his rear wheel.
It was eye of the needle stuff from the Gresini rider as he went through on Marc Marquez, Luca Marini and Jack Miller down the straight
As ever, Marc Marquez was on the absolute limit of his Honda machine until the Spaniard ran wide at the final turn and crashed out on the dirty part of the tarmac with 17 laps remaining.
This spread the field out a little bit as Marini had a bit of breathing space over Alex Marquez in 4th with Johann Zarco threatening the podium fight in 5th.
The eight-time World Champion went down at Turn 15 and searching for answers to what happened
Bagnaia continued to tick the laps away as he put down a solid pace unmatched by the rest of the field. The Italian controlled the race beautifully from the front keeping Martin at arm’s length until the chequered flag.
The Spaniard kept Bagnaia on his toes until the chequered flag, pushing him every step of the way. Martin didn’t quite have enough for victory but brought home an important P2.
Fortune favours the brave in the fight for an Italian GP podium
The podium fight was well and truly on with 11 laps to go as Alex Marquez rode up alongside Marini into Turn 1, pulling off the perfect block pass to demote the Italian down to P4 with Zarco also waiting to pounce.
Marini continued to pile the pressure on Alex Marquez in front, and with no room for error in MotoGP™, the slightest of mistakes saw the Spaniard crash out of the Italian Grand Prix as he joined his brother in the Mugello gravel trap.
The Gresini rider was under immense pressure from Luca Marini for the final podium place, and crashed out of contention at Turn 2
Six laps to go and Zarco made Marini well aware of his presence as he made a beautiful move at the final corner to lead Marini onto the front straight. The Italian got straight back into the Frenchman’s slipstream and retook 3rd place as they barrelled into Turn 1.
Zarco wasn’t having any of it however as the Prima Pramac man snapped straight back at the VR46 rider, putting the hammer down in an attempt to break away from his fellow satellite Ducati.
The Frenchman went on to do exactly what he does best, and with some incredible late-race pace sailed away from Marini to consolidate a double Pramac podium at the team’s home circuit.
Action throughout the field
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) set the new all-time MotoGP™ top speed record on Saturday and was the first non-Ducati in P5. He led Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) across the line with his teammate Jack Miller taking P7.
A dreadful start to the race for Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) saw him stuck down in P8 with 15 laps to go. The Italian then used his Ducati power to draft past Aleix Espargaro on the start-finish. It wasn’t meant to be on the Sunday of his home Grand Prix for “Bez” however as Espargaro found his way back past the Italian, leaving the VR46 man to bring home a lonely P8.
Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) finished his first race back after injury in P9 with Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) rounding out the top 10 ahead of his teammate Fabio Quartararo.
It was a big weekend for Francesco Bagnaia’s 2023 title hopes as the Italian support fuelled his Championship defence. With a 21-point lead over Bezzecchi, the number 1 has gotten the European triple header off to a perfect start as the paddock heads to the very venue where it all well wrong for Bagnaia in 2021. The Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland awaits the grid next weekend with action in Assen just one week later. Make sure to keep up to date with all of the action as it unfolds on motogp.com!
Top 10:
1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team)
2. Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac Racing) – +1.067
3. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) – +1.977
4. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) – +4.625
5. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – +8.925
6. Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia Racing)- +10.908
7. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – +10.999
8. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) – +12.654
9. Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) – +17.102
10. Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) – +17.610
“It was a really difficult race today, 23 laps was very long for me because after so much time without riding the bike it was difficult. I made a solid P9, battled a lot with Fabio and Franco for the entire race then in the last ten laps I made a big drop and it was more difficult, but another ninth place was OK. Yesterday’s Sprint was OK and the first day obviously better but now I have to check my shoulder again and see if I can do something for the next race because it is so difficult for me. Probably Sachsenring will be a bit less physical compared to this one, my shoulder will be stronger and I can do a better race, but I need the summer break to make my arm stronger for the second half of the season.”
Enea Bastianini P9
“A hard race and a tough weekend but to get one point; I was happy about that. I learned a lot here and to reach the finish and make improvements was very important for me. Hard conditions, but the end of race was not so bad and I was competitive. We just need to work on being faster at the start.”
Augusto Fernández P15
“I am satisfied with the work we did this weekend and the pace we demonstrated, even if the results don’t fully render the idea. I was battling in the points zone today. I felt good and fast until around mid-race when I completely lost the feeling with the front end. We’ll investigate what caused it, but unfortunately, when this happens, the only thing you can do is finish the race”.
Luca Savadori P18
Click the button below to find out all the images of the #KytCrew during the weekend in Italy.