Marco Bezzecchi’s hopes of a win in Mugello became an emotional reality at the Italian GP. Italian crowds experience a day full of delights, with Jorge Martín making it an Aprilia 1-2, whilst Pecco Bagnaia rounded out the podium.
With 178,723 spectators in attendance at the Mugello Circuit, the Brembo Grand Prix of Italy was a spectacular event with plenty for the local fans to celebrate.
Race Start
As the riders lined up on the grid, it was Marco Bezzecchi, Raúl Fernández and Jorge Martín who were in prime position on the front row. The entire field had chosen to run the medium-medium tyre combo, and the Italian crowd was ready for a show.
The lights went out and Martín got off to a flying start, immediately jumping into the lead off the line. It was a short-lived success however, as Bezzecchi got back past his teammate into Turn 4. Pecco Bagnaia had managed to get up into third, whilst the second Ducati of Marc Márquez followed in fourth. As they made their way across the line to start the second lap, Martín ran wide trying to get back into the lead. This dropped him down to third, as an opportunistic Bagnaia took full advantage to move up into second. On the following lap, Bagnaia was making moves again. This time it was for the lead, as he got a much better run than Bezzecchi into the first corner. Needless to say, the crowd was delighted.
The front six riders were forming a tight cluster. It was Bagnaia leading from Bezzecchi, followed closely by Martín, Márquez, Acosta and Aldeguer hanging on behind. Martín had a big wobble as he went into Turns 13 and 14, but managed to stay ahead of Márquez despite losing a chunk of time. Further back, Raúl Fernández was not having any of yesterday’s sprint luck. After running wide in the first corner on the starting lap, the Trackhouse rider found himself almost at the back of the pack. He’d managed to push his way back up to 11th within the next three laps, but it was a far cry from Saturday’s winning ways.
Mugello Melee: Márquez vs. Acosta
On the fourth lap, Acosta was starting his attack on Márquez in a bid to snatch third. But the reigning champion was having none of it, putting up a strong defence and not giving any opportunity. It was impressive to watch, considering Márquez had surgery exactly three weeks ago. Every time it looked like Acosta was going to slip by, Márquez closed the door. As they rounded the final corner, Acosta managed to get past, largely due to Márquez’s struggles with the direction changes through Turns 13 and 14. However the Ducati’s seemed to be excelling on the main straight, and Márquez was soon back past the KTM.
On lap five, at Turn 10, Acosta made a late lunge and managed to make the move stick, moving himself up into fourth. Márquez then ran wide in the final corner, allowing Aldeguer to cut underneath him. But the wily veteran wasn’t done yet, launching himself down the straight to get ahead of both Aldeguer and Acosta. As Acosta took stock of what had just happened, Aldeguer took advantage to pass the KTM. And the pain wasn’t over for Acosta yet either, as Ai Ogura was now closing in on him.
Middle Stint
With 14 laps to go, Bagnaia was flying. Bezzecchi was unable to find a way past and this was putting him at risk of being caught by Martín, who was catching him at a rate of knots. On Lap 11, the yellow flags were briefly waved as Álex Rins crashed out at Turn 1, but he was back on his feet quickly.
Because the crash had happened behind the leaders, there was no slowing down the charge. Martín was within a second of the lead, and piling the pressure on Bezzecchi. Lap 12 saw more yellow flags as Enea Bastianini crashed out of his home race. Meanwhile, Cal Crutchlow had pulled into the pits to retire. Knowing that every single point counts, Bezzecchi made his move on Bagnaia on Lap 14. He managed to out-brake the Ducati and slipped down the inside to take the lead, much to the elation of the home crowd. Bezzecchi wasted no time in pulling a gap between himself and Bagnaia, whilst Martín closed in on the Ducati. On Lap 16, Acosta managed to snatch fourth back from Márquez. Ahead of him, Martín managed to get past Bagnaia to take second place – the Ducati’s tyres were fading fast.
The battle for fourth was still very much raging as well, albeit with the addition of two new challengers – Ai Ogura and Fabio Di Giannantonio. By Turn 10 on Lap 18, Márquez found himself being mobbed and at the back of the group in seventh position. On the following lap, Ogura made a move to take P4 from Acosta. There’s certainly history between the two and there was some contact as the move was made. The momentary distraction was all that Di Giannantonio needed to jump past Acosta and into fifth.
Final Lap
Bezzecchi was three seconds clear of Martín as he started the final lap. Bagnaia was a further two seconds back, with Ogura hot on his heels. There were still plenty of opportunities for the Trackhouse rider to steal the final podium spot, and he was pushing hard.
As the chequered flag waved, it was Marco Bezzecchi who crossed the line to claim his first ever Mugello victory. Martín followed to take second, making it the third Aprilia 1-2 of the season. Ogura made a move on Bagnaia and briefly got ahead on the final corner. Bagnaia utilised all of the Ducati’s speed on the straight to edge back ahead and beat Ogura across the line to claim third. Ogura had to settle for fourth, with Di Giannantonio finishing fifth. Pedro Acosta, Marc Márquez, Raúl Fernandez, Fermín Aldeguer and Diogo Moreira rounded out the top 10.
Post-Race & Championship Standings
After the race, Crutchlow confirmed that his race exit in Mugello had been due to injury
“Unfortunately, this morning in warm-up, I did something to my shoulder. I had some checks in the medical centre and we can see some damage. It was advised to do what I could do in the race and that was it. The team were aware. Of course, I wanted to do the full race distance. But it wasn’t possible for that reason. My plan was to pull in after three laps, then it went to five laps, then it went to eight laps and finally eleven laps.”
The British rider, standing in at Castrol Honda LCR for injured Johann Zarco, then went on to joke:
“I did a half yesterday, and a half today. So I’ve completed a grand prix race. Just in two halves! Like a game of football!”
There were also some post-race penalties applied (would it be a race weekend without them?). Raúl Fernández and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu were both on the receiving end of one-place penalties for exceeding track limits on the final lap. The drop in postition ended up costing each of them a championship point.
After the Italian GP weekend in Mugello, here’s how the standings look:
Feature image courtesy of MotoGP.com