Pecco Bagnaia had a perfect weekend at home, at the Italian GP. The champion achieved victory this Sunday in the long race (25 points), which he added to Saturday’s in the short race (12 points), and begins to distance himself from the World Championship lead: he already has Marco Bezzecchi at 21 points and 24 to Jorge MartÃn, creditable second classified in Mugello.
The cross of the Italian race was shared by the Márquez brothers, who were left without a podium when they had more options, both to the ground due to falls. Àlex crashed when he was third with eight laps to go, and Marc unexpectedly skidded across the asphalt when he was third, on lap six.
The start, as in the Sprint, once again put Bagnaia in the lead from pole position, although this time with opposition from his former teammate Miller, who sought the interior and slipped into second place, ahead of MartÃn. The one who lost the most was Marc Márquez, from second to fifth, in front of his brother Àlex.
It soon became clear that Miller did not have the pace to be in front, he handed over the chase baton to Jorge Martin, who began to follow Bagnaia, 3 tenths behind on lap 2. Hostilities began with Àlex Márquez over-braking in turn 1 , and avoiding a strike. The move benefited his brother Marc, who finished fourth behind Marini. Alex went from sixth to fifth when he got back on the line.
Bagnaia was pulling hard, with MartÃn hooked to three tenths, but the two fugitives began to open an already substantial gap, of 1.4 seconds (v. 5), over Marini and the Márquez, who led the chasing group.
The surprise came on lap 6, when the adventure of Marc Márquez came to an end, third zero on Sunday (Portugal, France and Italy). At turn 15, folding up, the Catalan took a wide angle, took the dirt part of the line and slid down the track onto the gravel. He himself was surprised, opening his arms as if he didn’t understand what had happened.
Repsol Honda’s man has not returned to the World Cup with luck after his fall and injury in the debut of Portugal. He crashed at Le Mans in the last corner when he was aiming for the podium in third position, and now at Mugello, when he was fourth, with options to get on the drawer.
Marc’s position was inherited by his brother Àlex, who studied Marini and gave him the decisive blow on lap 13, after attempting it a turn earlier. The youngest of the Cervera brothers seemed solid and highly motivated to get on his first podium with Ducati.
In the last 10 laps, Bagnaia took an advantage of 8 tenths over MartÃn, who in turn had Àlex Marquez two seconds behind. However, the 73rd crashed on lap 15, when drawing through turn 2, because the Ducati in front of him slipped. Third place on the podium went to Luca Marini, squeezed by Zarco.
The outcome for the victory was left without emotion because Bagnaia struck down the suspense with his devastating pace. The Italian took an advantage of 1.5 seconds to face the last six laps. Martin couldn’t get close and never had a choice, but he takes a very good 20 points to move closer to second place from Bezzecchi.
From behind, Zarco and Marini had a hard time for third position. The duel was taken by the Frenchman, who has 18 podiums, but he still does not know what it is to win in MotoGP.
