Pecco Bagnaia continues to dispel curses. After the one in Barcelona, the Sprint one is finally over, because at Mugello the Ducati rider finally found a success in a short race on Saturday that he had been missing since last year’s Austrian Grand Prix.
The reigning world champion started very strong from the front row and then led from start to finish, achieving a victory of great specific importance, because the world leader Jorge Martin crashed out at San Donato during the eighth lap. Therefore, the gap against the Prima Pramac Racing rider has been reduced to 27 points.
Having said of his great start, Bagnaia showed up at San Donato followed by teammate Enea Bastianini, poleman Martin and Brad Binder’s KTM, capable of even moving up from 13th position on the grid. Completing the top 5 was Marc Marquez.
In the space of just a couple of laps, Marquez got rid of Binder, moving up to fourth place, but on the third lap there was the first big twist: Bastianini and Martin arrived at loggerheads at San Donato and between There was a contact between the two of which the Rimini native paid the price, ending up spinning. The episode was also investigated by the stewards, who however considered it a normal racing accident.
At this point Marquez placed himself in Martin’s tail like a vulture, so Bagnaia had the opportunity to pull away. The Gresini Racing driver tried first inside the San Donato and then one lap later he found the gap inside to take second place at the same point, but found himself one second behind Pecco.
On the eighth lap, as mentioned, Martin exaggerated at the braking section of San Donato and slipped, giving his rivals a nice assist. Marquez tried one last push, bringing himself back to eight tenths of a second with three laps to go, but this time Bagnaia wasn’t intimidated and went to take the checkered flag before anyone else. For his part, Marquez signed his sixth consecutive podium between Sprint and long races and in turn moved back to -32 behind Martin.
Also due to the retirements, Pedro Acosta climbed onto the lowest step of the podium, who in the first half of the race had no major problems getting rid of his future boxmate Brad Binder. Today, in fact, KTM announced its promotion to the official team of the Austrian brand.
Franco Morbidelli also had a good race, achieving his best result aboard the Ducati with fourth place. He too got rid of Binder rather easily and in the end finished just 1″2 from the podium. A sign that the feeling with the Desmosedici GP is growing. Behind him the top 5 is completed with the Aprilia of Maverick Vinales , who in the race was unable to reproduce the speed that had earned him the front row today.
In the end Binder had to settle for sixth place, but for him it was a good comeback, considering where he started from. The last points, however, were taken home by Fabio Di Giannantonio, who also made a strong comeback from 14th place on the grid, Alex Marquez and Aleix Espargaro. Only 11th instead was Marco Bezzecchi, who continues to not solve his problems on the GP23 of the Pertamina Enduro VR46.
Yet another bad day for the Japanese manufacturers: you have to go down to 13th place to find the Yamaha of Alex Rins, who yesterday had deceived himself with second place in free practice. However, his partner Fabio Quartararo was out, having crashed in the early stages due to a contact with Miguel Oliveira, who also ended up under investigation without culprits. The first of the Hondas, Johann Zarco’s, was 15th, while Luca Marini finished last once again, also behind the Aprilia of wild card Lorenzo Savadori.
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