![]() But his nervous RC213V provided a warning of its limitations early as the first lap, when he nearly tucked the front entering Scarperia. Once again, he used a Ducati tow (this time it was Bagnaia) to snatch a place on the front row by qualifying second. Soon it was clear Marc Marquez was working minor miracles just to stay among the hoard of Ducatis. That gifted Marini third, Marc Marquez fourth and allowed Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) and Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) into the mix, the pair pouncing on Alex Marquez and hovering over Miller’s rear. “I was shitting my pants,” he said of the moment. Carrying greater speed than those around him, he just cut a way through the men ahead before running wide into turn one. Pulling out of the slipstream from three men ahead, Alex Marquez found his back tire off the ground. The Australian’s scrapping with Marini through Poggio Seco and Materassi gave the lead pair some real breathing space before the race’s big scare came at the start of lap three.īraking from 225mph to 80 into San Donato represents one of the bigger challenges on the calendar doing so when gaining the slipstream makes it even more so. It soon became clear there were others behind the KTM with superior pace. First, he moved past Miller on the entry to San Donato on lap two before holding station behind the Ducati rider ahead. That said, for 13 laps Martin gave it a good go. Jorge Martin got on the podium in both races. “With Miller ahead I just said, ‘No! I have to be first.’ Many were with the soft, but I didn’t want to be with anyone early on.” He would not be headed in the 22 laps that followed. He was determined to set his own rhythm up front. Knowing Miller, Martin and the Marquez brothers had chosen Michelin’s soft rear tire as opposed to his medium, Bagnaia acted decisively, re-passing the KTM immediately into Luco. “From that moment, I understood that my race was going to be very, very difficult,” he said as the front-end stability that carried him to second in the sprint deserted him. Luca Marini (VR46 Ducati), Martin, Marc and Alex Marquez followed, with Bezzecchi eighth. It soon became clear that wouldn’t be the case, as Jack Miller’s (Red Bull KTM) got the jump into turn one from fourth on the grid with Bagnaia second. On this evidence, he’s more than up to the task.Īnd Saturday had indicated Bagnaia’s biggest threat would be Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati), rather than Martin which could put the number-one’s hopes of victory in jeopardy. With Honda and Yamaha, once again, floundering in what was a desperate weekend for the Japanese factories, it appears Bagnaia will retain his crown if he keeps a number of Satellite Ducatis at bay. But the outright victory was never in doubt once the reigning champ clicked another gear on lap 14. ![]() Yes, Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) kept him honest throughout race two to prevent this from being a total whitewash. It’s crazy.” Marco Bezzecchi was second in the Sprint race.īut Bagnaia still had to outperform the seven other Bologna bikes. ![]() He looked like an F1 car, the stability that they have, the amount of power they’re able to put on the ground. “Even Pecco’s pole position lap, he had no movement at all. “The thing I like but hate the most is how easy you see them ride,” said Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) of the Ducati men. The other manufacturers couldn’t get close. Had Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) not carelessly crashed out of third place in the feature race, the Bologna bikes would have occupied the top five places on both Saturday and Sunday. Mugello has been a happy hunting ground for Ducati in the past. He shook off a pesky Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) in qualifying to bag pole, before easing to a comfortable victory in Saturday’s Sprint and leading every lap of Sunday’s main race. Yet it’s hard to recall a weekend as dominant for the current number one. He arrived at Mugello on a crutch and sported a hobble. After noting a nagging pain in his right foot in the days after the French Grand Prix collision with Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing), medical checks confirmed Bagnaia had cracked the talus bone in his right ankle. It really shouldn’t have been this straightforward. His victory margin of 1.067 seconds didn’t tell the full story Bagnaia had just made this look like a casual stroll in the park.īy Neil Morrison Francesco Bagnaia was out in front all weekend at Mugello. Less than a minute after winning his home Mugello MotoGP for the second year in succession, Francesco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) stopped his Desmosedici, handed it to a marshal on the outside of Casanova and joined members of his fan club who had set up an impromptu table and barbeque in the gravel trap. ![]() Rarely do victory celebrations seem more apt.
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