Blog

Jorge Martin leads the riders’ standings ahead of the MotoGP Italy Grand Prix which takes place this weekend in Mugello. Francesco Bagnaia arrives at his home race off the back of a victory in last week’s MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix, and comes to a circuit he has won at in each of his last three starts.

Sprint

Francesco Bagnaia secured his first Sprint win of the season in Italy, beating Marc Marquez by over a second.

Bagnaia led from the start after nailing the launch from second on the grid. He initially managed a half-second lead to Jorge Martin, until the Spaniard was passed by his compatriot, Marc Marquez, on lap six.

Marquez was able to take time out of Bagnaia in some areas, but not so much that Bagnaia was unable to recover in others. Finally, a mistake from Marquez on the lap 10 at Scarperia allowed Bagnaia a second’s margin onto the final lap, a margin he didn’t let slip this time.

Jorge Martin should have been third, but he crashed out on lap eight at the first corner, and that promoted Pedro Acosta onto the podium.

Franco Morbidelli was fourth, his best result for Pramac, and was over two seconds clear of Maverick Vinales, who spent most of his Sprint trying to get around Brad Binder.

Binder’s pace was once again underwhelming, and he finished sixth thanks to his defensive abilities. Fabio Di Giannantonio, Alex Marquez, and Aleix Espargaro all finished within a second of the South African, the latter taking the final point. Raul Fernandez rounded out the top 10.

Qualifying

Jorge Martin set pole position with a new lap record for the Italian Grand Prix, in what turned out to be a somewhat anti-climactic session.

Martin’s lap record came on the first lap of his first run, a 1:44.504, which put him 0.043 seconds ahead of Francesco Bagnaia.

Bagnaia went early on his second run, but couldn’t improve, losing over a tenth to Martin in the final sector.

Martin’s second run also saw no improvement, and the same was true of everyone else who was really challenging for pole.

The biggest challenge to Martin came from Marc Marquez, who slipstreamed Raul Fernandez to turn one to start his lap, and was closing in on Franco Morbidelli for a tow to the line to end his lap. He was over 0.2 seconds up on Martin’s benchmark after the first half of the lap, but he crashed at Scarperia, and Martin’s pole was secure.

Francesco Bagnaia hung onto second place, which will mean he starts fifth for the Grand Prix tomorrow after his penalty for impeding Alex Marquez in Practice.

Maverick Vinales was on a potential pole position when he had a rear slide at the final corner. He qualified third in any case, which will be second for the Grand Prix.

Marc Marquez will be promoted to the front row when Bagnaia goes to fifth on Sunday, but will start fourth in the Sprint. Enea Bastianini, who qualified fifth, is the final rider to benefit from his factory Ducati teammate’s penalty, and will start fourth on Sunday.

Franco Morbidelli completes the second row, but was under the lap record in Q1, although he went slower in Q2.

Pedro Acosta heads up row three and was the only KTM rider in Q2. He is joined on the third row by Alex Marquez and Aleix Espargaro, while Alex Rins, Miguel Oliveira, and Raul Fernandez make up row four.

FP2

Francesco Bagnaia was fastest in Saturday morning’s pre-qualifying FP2 session, as only he and Marc Marquez were able to lap in the 1:45s.

Jorge Martin was the surprise of the session, finishing down in 15th, while his Pramac Ducati teammate Franco Morbidelli completed the top three.

Behind Morbidelli, Enea Bastianini and Pedro Acosta rounded out the top five, ahead of Maverick Vinales in sixth. Fabio Quartararo was seventh, ahead of Brad Binder, Alex Marquez, and Marco Bezzecchi who completed the top 10.

Practice

Francesco Bagnaia put himself on top in Practice for the MotoGP Italian Grand Prix, the only rider to lap in the 1:44s.

Bagnaia was almost 0.3 seconds faster than second-placed Alex Rins, while Pedro Acosta rounded out the top three despite a crash at Biondetti.

Miguel Oliveira was fourth, ahead of Marc Marquez, Enea Bastianini, Jorge Martin , Alex Marquez, Maverick Vinales, and Aleix Espargaro who completed the top 10.

FP1

Maverick Vinales was fastest in MotoGP FP1 at the Italian Grand Prix, ahead of former Yamaha teammate Fabio Quartararo, and Franco Morbidelli.

Pedro Acosta was fourth despite a late crash as Scarperia, while Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez set identical lap times in fifth and sixth.

Aleix Espargaro was seventh, ahead of Alex Rins, who made it two Yamahas in the top 10.

Francesco Bagnaia was eighth-fastest until his 1:46.657 was deleted, his remaining fastest lap of a 1:46.790 put him ninth. Alex Marquez rounded out the top 10.