The Champion and the love of a people
Pecco Bagnaia’s eyes shine with love when he talks about Mugello. A love heartfeltly reciprocated by these people, ‘his or hers’ people. Today when the Ducati #1 – colored blue for the occasion, on Republic Day – crossed the finish line in first place, the stands exploded in a impressive riot of colors. Yellow, red and even the same blue. The ‘chromatic’ symbol of a handover: from Valentino to Pecco, in the wake of Italy winning and getting even more excited when playing at home. At least in motorbikes it seems to work like this: Bagnaia won the Italian GP in 2022, 2023 and now 2024.
A trio like this hasn’t been seen since the days of Jorge Lorenzo and – before that – the Doctor himself, who between 2002 and 2008 always treated his opponents with the same medicine. The Ducati champion did a double, Sprint plus GP, exactly like 12 months ago. In spite of those who say that all races are the same, Bagnaia clearly admitted this in the press conference: “Three victories in a row at Mugello mean a lot to me“. Yet another home triumph could definitively turn Bagnaia’s season around: the championship is long, but after the disastrous fall in the Barcelona Sprint the reigning champion achieved only victories. And in three weeks we will race in Assen, a ‘home away from home’ for Pecco, who has always won in the Netherlands in the last two seasons.
A reaction like a Beast
The other side of this wonderful tricolor day is the Beast, Enea Bastianini. For days we only talked about him in terms of the transfer market. It can’t be easy to just think about running while everyone around you is discussing the fact that you’re about to lose your job. The rider from Rimini has been hit by a series of errors and misfortunes in recent events, yet he has never lowered his head. Yesterday, after the fall caused by contact with Jorge Martin, he did not complain. “I’m focused, I have a job to do, I don’t want distractions,” he said.
The work was completed almost to perfection: the victory did not come but the two overtakings on Marquez and Martinthe two suspects who snatched his saddle, they represent a small-big revenge. Martin, in the run-up to the weekend, said that he had carefully studied the point for a possible overtaking on the last lap, so as not to suffer counter-overtaking: seeing what Bastianini did, some would say “karma“. Pecco and the Beast, this is the splendid Italian fairy tale that Mugello 2024 leaves us as a legacy.
#tale #Pecco #Beast
