After triumphing in the sprint on Saturday, Pecco Bagnaia once again celebrated a victory at home, in front of his fans, in another Ducati display, which took the top four positions. The Turin driver, who led the race from start to finish, sealed his victory with a great start and opened half a second on the first lap, which would ultimately be definitive.
His main rival in Mugello, Jorge Martín, went with a different strategy from his. The man from Madrid had put on the soft rear tire and was betting everything on the first laps while the champion rode the medium, thinking more in the long term. Bagnaia’s impeccable start and being able to get Australian Jack Miller between the Ducatis on the first lap were the keys to a race that did not have much history in the fight for victory.
Bagnaia had more than his rivals on this track, and despite the fact that Martín risked to try to put up a fight at the beginning, he did not find a loophole to overcome him. «Pecco today was invincible. I have looked for him to make a mistake by pressing in the first laps, but he has been impeccable », the Spaniard declared after the race.
As the laps progressed, Martín’s rear tire wore out and he lost ground to his rival, who had a much more peaceful end of the race. Bagnaia was able to celebrate the victory in front of a dedicated audience, which shows that he can succeed Valentino Rossi in the heart of the Italian ‘tifosi’. He even allowed himself the luxury of stopping in front of the stands and eating a Florentine barbecue, in a staging reminiscent of the best times of the great transalpine idol.
After adding 37 points out of 37 possible, Bagnaia escapes in the general standings of the championship. After Marco Bezzecchi’s puncture (eighth) he leads his compatriot by 21 points and Jorge Martín by 24.
The Frenchman Johann Zarco took the last step of the podium, in a tough fight with the Italian Luca Marini, Rossi’s mother’s brother, present in Mugello and who was close to celebrating another family milestone. A third position that until his fall belonged to Álex Márquez, who on the weekend that he had the best feelings of the year, leaves Italy with zero points in his locker.
In the sprint on Saturday they threw him in the first corner, but in the long race he accepted his mistake: «It was my mistake. I have fallen into a curve that I am very good at and perhaps I have been overconfident. But at least we have fallen fighting for a podium and with the rhythm of those in front”, valued the youngest of the Márquez, increasingly adapted to the Ducati.
Honda’s risks
Riding a Honda in MotoGP has become a high-risk mission. On Friday, Joan Mir withdrew from the Grand Prix after damaging his right hand in a fall. On Saturday, Álex Rins ended up in the hospital in Florence after suffering a brutal ‘highside’ and underwent emergency surgery for a fractured tibia and fibula; which will force him to spend a long time in the dry dock.
Honda riders know what is at stake every time they go to the limit and Márquez crashed when he was fourth and was fighting for the podium against an arsenal of powerful Ducati. His competitive DNA prevents him from giving up, despite being aware that he was in the middle of an unequal fight: «I had been controlling my impulses all weekend, because this is a very fast circuit in which you can get injured. Here Mir and Rins have been injured. Honda riders have to take more risks than the others and that’s why crashes happen; and that cannot be».
A new zero in his locker and another Sunday that the driver from Cervera was left without points, who left one of those iconic images in the middle of the gravel, with his arms on his hips and looking at his Honda in astonishment, as if asking for an explanation.
Although only the first third of the championship has been completed, the title is already a pipe dream for Marc Márquez, who is 116 points behind leader Bagnaia. With no options for the championship, the Spanish rider can focus on developing the bike for the future and partial victories. Next weekend he will have a good chance at the Sachsenring circuit (Germany), which for so many years was a playground for him, where he hopes to put an end to almost two years of drought.
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