Sunday MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 race recaps from Mugello

2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round Seven – Gran Premio d’Italia Brembo
Mugello – Sunday

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) completed a near-perfect weekend on home turf with a masterclass victory that saw the home crowd erupt and the defending champion celebrate his victory in rock-star fashion.

Bagnaia stormed to the lead from lights out and then kept it on perfect rails to stay just out of the reach of Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) for much of the race, with the gap going up and down but rarely any more than half-a-second until the final laps.

Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) put together an almighty final charge to spring a surprise on Jorge Martin that saw him steal second place and some points from the championship leader.

Bagnaia’s victory is Ducati’s 93rd MotoGP win on what was his 93rd start in MotoGP.  This is Bagnaia’s 22nd MotoGP win, all of which he’s taken with Ducati. He now has only one fewer than MotoGP Legend Casey Stoner, who is the most successful Ducati rider in the class. This is also Bagnaia’s 63rd career Grand Prix podium – his racing number prior to running the #1.

MotoGP Race Report

Bagnaia was in second place around San Donato for the first time as he threaded the needle from the second row, he immediately then lined up and shot past Martin to go into the lead. From there, the hammer was down as Martin dug in to hold on. Bastianini third ahead of Marc Marquez and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing).

Three-tenths, six-tenths, eight-tenths, five-tenths; Martin wasn’t getting dropped, but he wasn’t consistently able to stay close enough to attack Bagnaia for the lead. Meanwhile, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) was on the march.

Marc Marquez made a move on Bastianini into San Donato and headed wide, with Bastia hitting back immediately, and that put Acosta right on Marquez’ tail, the youngster shadowed him around the lap but couldn’t find a way through, only to then run wide at the final corner and was forced to watch the Gresini Ducati disappear out of striking distance.

At the front, Bagnaia led Martin led Bastianini, with Marquez then starting to harry Bastia. Acosta was a few tenths further back, with Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) starting to come under pressure from Viñales with 12 laps to go.

Jorge Martin went deep into San Donato with 10 laps to go, but gathered it back up without losing too much ground.

Six laps to go… Marc Marquez finally made a move on Bastianini, attacking into San Donato with a clean move that gave Bastia no right of reply.

Marc’s mission seemed then to catch Martin, but Martin was starting to cut the gap to the front once again. By three laps to go, it had been halved from the eight or nine-tenth maximum that Bagnaia had enjoyed at any point…

However, Bagnaia then threw down the gauntlet and disappeared again as Bastianini stole the spotlight as he squeezed past Marc Marquez at Scarperia, the exact same style of move Marc had pulled on him earlier. The Beast was on a charge and wasn’t done yet…

As Bagnaia crossed the line to take his third Italian GP win in a row as part of his second Mugello double, Bastianini was homing in on Jorge Martin. Into the very final corner, Bastianini found space on the inside to complete the fairytale 1-2 for Lenovo Ducati. Pandemonium erupted in the grandstands.

Over the line with time in hand over Martin, Bastianini followed Bagnaia home – and cut Martin’s series lead to just 18 points.

Marc Marquez was forced to settle for fourth.

Pedro Acosta ended up in a lonelier ride for fifth after he’d lost touch with the front group.

Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) caught Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) and got past him, and then managed to catch Viñales and Morbidelli to create a three-way fight for sixth. He made it past the Aprilia just as the race entered the final three laps, but Morbidelli managed to stay ahead to take P6 ahead of the VR46 rider, Viñales and Alex Marquez.

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) didn’t get the same stellar start as he did on Saturday, but the South African held off Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) to complete the top ten.

MotoGP Mugello Race Results

Mugello MotoGP Top Speeds Across Weekend

MotoGP Championship Standings

Moto2

In a blockbuster Moto2 race at Mugello, Joe Roberts took victory in a nail-biting last lap decider, the American repelling the best efforts of Manuel Gonzalez to take top honours for the first time since the 2022 Portuguese GP. Completing the podium was Alonso Lopez, who was elbows out in the front fight, as ever.

Off like a rocket at the start, Roberts led early on the opening lap. He had close competition, though, with Lopez and a Darryn Binder following on eagerly. A flying start also came in from Ai Ogura as well, who stormed to seventh after starting 12th.

Lopez would follow Roberts until lap four before he pounced at San Donato, but it wouldn’t be until Turn 3 before he could make the move stick. Unfortunately for the MB Conveyors Speed Up team, it was glory for one and disaster for another in that moment as Lopez’ team-mate Fermin Aledguer crashed out after contact from Jeremy Alcoba.

Still in the lead, Lopez now had Gonzalez behind as he had found his way through on Roberts. Slightly further back in the lead pack, disaster stuck for Binder, who skittled into the gravel at Arrabbiata 1, an early end to what had been a strong weekend all round.

In a six-rider battle for the lead, everything was building to a grandstand last half of the race. The action kicked off as Roberts and Lopez ran wide at Turn 1 – giving them both more work to do – and allowing Gonzalez and Canet to the lead. But it wouldn’t be long before Roberts would then return the favour and find his way through to the front with just three laps remaining, asking questions of the others at the front.

As a dramatic finish loomed, Roberts entered the final lap in the lead. Gonzalez got a fantastic slipstream and attacked round San Donato, but the American hit back at the next available chance, diving to the inside at Turn 2. Under the highest of pressure, Roberts held strong to take his first victory since the 2022 Portuguese GP by just 0.067s. Gonzalez’ search for a first Moto2 win goes on, and Lopez picked up third podium of the season.

Claiming fourth was Championship leader Sergio Garcia (MT Helmets – MSI), whose advantage in the standings has reduced to seven points. Behind Garcia was teammate Ogura, who Garcia pipped on the last lap, ahead of Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) and home hero Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo). Izan Guevara (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) claimed eighth as IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia’s Somkiat Chantra and OnlyFans American Racing Team’s Marcos Ramirez rounded out the top 10.

Rookie Senna Agius took a lot from three action-packed days. The young Australian was the only rider in the Moto2 field who had never been to Mugello before. Starting from 26th on the grid, the 18-year-old faced a major challenge, but he worked his way forward to 17th place, just missing out on the points.

Senna Agius – P17

“It was one of those weekends where I struggled to get a feeling for the bike. We tried a lot, and I also changed my riding style to make it better: It’s true that we improved, but we couldn’t keep up with the steps the others were making. It was a head-scratching weekend, but we will learn from it and attack again in Assen.”

Moto2 Mugello Race Results

Moto2 Mugello Top Speeds Across Weekend

Moto2 Championship Standings

Moto3

David Alonso (CFMoto Valresa Aspar Team) remains the rider to beat in Moto3, taking his fifth win of the season in style at Mugello. The Colombian led from the front for much of a shortened 11-lap dash and held off a late charge from Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) to take another 25-point haul. Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) charged up from P13 on the grid to secure third and his first ever Grand Prix podium.

The initial start was red-flagged following a crash for Fillippo Farioli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Xabi Zurutuza (Red Bull KTM Ajo). Zurutuza was taken to the hospital for further examination. Once back underway, the distance was reduced to 11 laps of Mugello, with one clear aim for most: keeping up with Alonso.

There was drama nearly immediately as Dani Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) tagged riders at Turn 1 and sent Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Stefano Nepa (LEVEL UP-MTA) crashing out, with the #96 given a double Long Lap for irresponsible riding.

Meanwhile at the front, it was a breakway group of six making their moves: Alonso, Veijer, Yamanaka, Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets – MSI), Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) and David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports).

With four to go, it looked like Alonso was trying to make a break. It took Veijer a couple of laps to take over in second and get enough breathing space to start trying to close the Colombian down. But that he did, and by the start of the final lap, the Dutchman was within a couple of tenths, with Ortola in third.

Ultimately, however, he couldn’t get close enough to make a move, and then there was drama in the fight for the final place on the podium, too, as Ortola slid out at Turn 12, ending his rostrum hopes. One of the quickest remounts of all time saw him still take sixth, but Yamanaka was up the road to take his maiden Grand Prix podium and continue his impressive consistency running near the front in 2024.

Fourth went to Furusato as he was the final rider within a couple of seconds of the front, with Muñoz forced to settle for fifth further down the road. Ortola remounted for that sixth ahead of another impressive ride from rookie Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse). Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing), rookie Jacob Roulstone (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) and Matteo Bertelle (Kopron Rivacold Snipers Team) completed the top ten in a closer group battle.

Jacob Roulstone – P9

“We are happy to get another top 10 result, although I am a bit annoyed with myself for the decision to go with the medium tyre, but we learn from these mistakes. We raced well, especially within the first laps, I feel like I have improved in this area since my debuts in the class, which is a good thing. It was a shame, though, that I could not go with the front group. As soon as I opened the gas, there were obviously many riders, the straight was so long but turn 1 was quite tight, so I lost a bit of contact with the front there. We take away a lot of positives from this weekend, so thank you to my team for their awesome job this weekend! In a couple of weeks, we will go to Assen, a track that I like, where I got a podium in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, so I’m excited to go!”

Joel Kelso – P10

“The race didn’t start off great due to some Moto 3 mayhem, but I felt quite strong once we got going! When the red flag came out, I decided to run the softer rear tyre for the 11-lap sprint. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to brake late and have as much confidence with it as I did on the medium. I won’t make excuses for myself. I know where I need to improve, been a tough couple races but nothing I haven’t experienced before! I’ll keep on pushing on and come out the other side smiling. Can’t wait to reward all the fans who continue to support me. Next stop is Assen,a track I love!”

Moto3 Mugello Race Results

Moto3 Mugello Top Speeds Across Weekend

Moto3 Championship Standings

2024 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar (Updated)

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