2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round Seven – Gran Premio d’Italia Brembo
Mugello – MotoGP riders reflect
Francesco Bagnaia – P1
“It was great. The start makes it more special, because to overtake four riders into one corner is incredible. I studied a bit this strategy, and normally it never works, but this time it worked. Because I remembered last year Miller overtook me at the start, this time was a bit harder because I was a bit behind, I was just trying to run from the outside and brake into corner two to be leading, and from that moment I just started to push and control the race. It was very difficult to remain very constant with the laps, every time we tried to do two laps in a row at the same pace, the front tyre was moving a lot, was having moments, so I just decided to use this strategy to push one lap and cool down a lap after, and it worked perfectly. If I was thinking too much on how much they were screaming for me, for us, I was starting crying. So better not to think too much, and just enjoy and see all these kind of people, the sea of people in front of the podium, which was unbelievable, I’ve never seen something like this, and when you realise it’s for you, it’s just magic. It’s a pity I lost 10 points in Barcelona, it could have been two weeks in a row, but it was important to find this kind of speed and consistency, so we have to do the same as last year, that we were very competitive, but we are very happy.”
Enea Bastianini – P2
“It feels so special, because I came from a difficult moment, it has been hot during this week past, but this week we have reset the mind, and from yesterday I proved I was fast, and today I was motivated to do more for me, and for all the people here, I was asleep a little bit in part of the race, but when Marc tried to overtake me, I closed my mind and thought no, he won’t overtake me. This is my podium. I came back and I rode like never, and it was good. And the last lap I overtook Jorge, it was dangerous, but then I can be happy. Marc is strong on the brake, and today was a very fast Marc, and I saw the correct position to overtake him and I just braked so hard. [On the final corner overtake] High risk, but under control, I see he [Martin] has to brake really hard, but after in the middle of the corner I tried to go a little bit early with the throttle, I was on the limit, but not open, and I won. I’m really happy for me and all my people because I had a great race from the start, well it’s this moment after many times, and I want to see the beast for the rest of the championship.”
Jorge Martin – P3
“It was a big frustration after the finish line, to lose the position at the last corner hurt me quite a lot. But Bastianini did an amazing job at the end. About the race, I am very happy, we improved a lot from yesterday to today, which is really good, to follow Pecco for 22 laps was super good, and even catching him with three to go, I was thinking about the win. I think we were much faster and more competitive than last season, which is important, and we also had a big change on the bike. We changed our strategy, normally we don’t touch the bike, we always keep the same set-up. We took some weight out of part of the bike, normally I like to use a lot of front to turn, and here the tyre wasn’t supporting the weight, so we put some weight on the rear, and it was the right way. I think all the riders were struggling a little with the front, but we were much stronger than yesterday, so I am happy and ready for tomorrow’s test. We are so on the limit with the front temperatures this season, this pressure limit, so when you are 3/10ths or closer it’s impossible to get closer, unless the rider in front makes a mistake, it’s impossible to make a move. I think without that rule, I would have more chance to overtake, but I think second place was my place today, but with that mistake, I lost it. I was pushing but didn’t want to crash, and the last corner, there was some wind coming and I thought there was no one there, but I heard his bike and thought ‘no way this isn’t happening to me’. But let’s move on, these two races are fast, this is maybe mot my best race track, and I feel confident with my position in the championship.”
Marc Marquez – P4
“Today we had the pace, we had the speed, I was there, always fighting and always close to the guys, Pecco and Martin and Bastianini. I tried many things: I opened a gap, come back, tried to control the front pressure for the tyre, but it wasn’t possible, I had a small chance the first corner, but the pace increased a bit, and now I said it’s time to catch Martin, but Bastianini was a rocket in the last two laps, he was super fast. [On the smoke from the rear of his bike] It didn’t affect me, maybe the tyre, we know what’s going on there, at that point, we squat a bit the rear shock, and some bikes have less space between the bike and the seat, and it’s something under control, it’s only smoke.”
Pedro Acosta – P5
“It was a tough race, to be honest. We were missing something at the start and could not go away with the others, but P5 was the maximum we could take today. It was also very important to take points after two DNFs in a row, and get race experience, especially ahead of the test tomorrow. We are happy overall, even if we want more, and we can do more, but let’s keep working in that way, because we are getting closer and closer to the top guys every day!”
Franco Morbidelli – P6
“What a beautiful Mugello. The GP24 gave me good vibes, keep it up, thanks everyone for the warmth.”
Fabio Di Giannantonio – P7
“I am very happy, but also tired, I pushed a lot and it is not easy to overtake here. I tried, I am happy, it was a good comeback. We always show that we are strong and fast, the feelings are positive. On the one hand, it is not an easy year, but we are showing our real potential and this is what makes me most proud. I started well today, but in the end I make a step. I am smooth in riding, I brake well and I have a good speed in entering corners. I can manage the tires, maybe also the training I do at home, but I can conserve extra energy in the last stages of the GP. Let’s enjoy this beautiful race and get back at work tomorrow.”
Maverick Vinales – P8
“The medium rear tyre was the best choice I could have made. In fact, I maintained a good pace at the mid-race point, but it wasn’t enough. I tried to close the gap behind the rider ahead of me, but I was unable to overtake and the tyres overheated. In any case, we collected important data ahead of the test.”
Alex Marquez – P9
“It was a very similar race to Austin for how demanding it was. We started well and we were in a fast group of riders, even though I lost one position at the end. We were 12 seconds quicker than in last year’s race, but obviously we want more. We’ll try to find something in the test with regards to better balance and more speed.”
Brad Binder – P10
“For sure we expected more today but the reality is that once we started rolling we just didn’t have the pace to go with the guys in front. I tried my best but when I started to push I kept losing the front and couldn’t hold the line well. It was a tricky race today and we’re lucky we have a test tomorrow because we have a lot of ideas and we’d like to find a direction to work in.”
Aleix Espargaro – P11
“It was a very physical race. As soon as I began losing grip, the bike moved around a lot. As I have said, this is not a favorable track for my riding style and I struggle with so many fast direction changes. We’ll keep looking forward and think about the test. We’ll work hard to make up ground on the others.”
Raul Fernandez – P12
“I’m happy about the work we did again this weekend. Since the beginning of the year I have been struggling with arm pump again and it was very hard today and so, next Tuesday, I’ll have to undergo surgery again. Today, especially in the last seven laps, it was really hard to keep control of the bike with this issue. I tried to finish the race as best as I could but it was very difficult and I’m glad we have a solution for this problem. For the future, I’m sure it’s going to be fine and I hope we can improve after the surgery as, today, I had to save a lot of energy for the last part of the race and was thinking too much about my right arm. Anyway, I’m happy about this seventh round – my team is believing in me and I believe in them. Day by day we are getting closer to the factory Aprilia’s and even with my arm problems we were close to Aleix (Espargaro) and Maverick (Viñales).”
Marco Bezzecchi – P13
“Since this morning I started having a clutch problem, it’s not the first time that this happened, but it’s even more difficult to get off to a good start. A race very similar to yesterday, we collected data, but we have struggled. Tomorrow we’ll make the most of the test: I have just one problem to solve, understeer in the middle of the corner. Driving like this, I immediately finish the front tyre and on tracks like this and Barcelona, where the tire is already under pressure, I suffer a lot.”
Miguel Oliveira – P14
“It was a long race. I was running a good pace at the end, very constant. With four laps to go, I got close to Raul but when I went to overtake him, I got stuck in fifth gear. I don’t know if it’s a gearbox issue or, more likely, just something related to the shifter probably because, later on, it didn’t happen again. During the race, I faced more or less the same problems as I have during the entire weekend; not a lot of turning in the fast corners and spending so much time on the lean angle really limits the lap time, a lot, for me. I’m disappointed – the team tried to give me a solution, but we didn’t find the ultimate answer. We suffered a bit today, so I’m looking forward to working on solving it tomorrow.”
Alex Rins – P15
“This was for sure not the Race that I wanted. I fought really hard to finish in 15th position. I was struggling all race, from the beginning. I did improve at the start compared to yesterday: this time I lost two positions. Then, lap by lap, I tried to be there. I tried to manage the bike, I tried to manage my physical condition, because at the moment riding our bike is quite hard. But these races are more like tests for us. It’s a unique moment when we can compete with other riders, our rivals, and take information away from that.”
Jack Miller – P16
“Mugello is done and dusted, and unfortunately, just never really had the pace to be in the fight at any stage across the weekend.
“We spent the entire weekend turning things upside down, inside out to try to find some comfort, but ultimately, we just weren’t able to unlock the consistency in feeling needed to be competitive up there.
“After the last few rounds ended in a DNF, I just tried to keep it together and ride within the window, not try and push too far outside and risk another crash and we had a good battle with Fabio (Quartararo) in the race but it was a lot of effort for no points. It’s a difficult period, it’s no secret that we’ve been struggling. Mugello really brought to light a lot of the challenges that we’re facing, so it’s good that we have a test day here to now really work through the ‘whys’.
“As for the individual sessions, we narrowly missed out on a direct entry into Q2 which was disappointing, and then in the Sprint Race, we were able to make up seven positions to finish up P12. Not where we want to be but there’s some silver lining there.
“Now onto the test, this is an important one for us, and we’ll put our heads down to really work through some things and hopefully come away with some answers. I really believe in this project, and it is the case that this is a tough time, but I believe that it will make us stronger in the long run.”
Pol Espargaro – P17
“We were not expecting a lot because we wanted to get some data, finish the race and get some information on the tyre degradation. The pace was still decent and I was moving forwards with Jack. The guys [Brad and Jack] will use some of the stuff we’ve tried this weekend and because we ran it today it will make their job faster for tomorrow. I think we did a good job overall. We set some targets both for one-lap pace and the full distance.”
Fabio Quartararo – P18
“It was basically a very tough race, especially on the physical side. I had an issue with my arm, I could not really ride well on the last ten laps. It’s not arm pump, it’s just that my arm is on the limit when we’re riding at this type of track. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t be fast. We had expected more from this Race. We struggle when the grip is low. Hopefully we can find a solution to make the bike easier to ride. We have some things planned for tomorrow’s test to combat one of our weaker points. If it helps here, I think, it will also help with the physicality of riding.”
Johann Zarco – P19
“I wanted to fight and get to the points, but it was hard. The positive is that I had a good pace. We still have some limitations that we cannot overcome. Tomorrow’s test will be important to determine how to improve this situation”.
Luca Marini – P20
“I think this race was even better than in Barcelona, the last seven laps I was feeling good, and my pace was close to that of the top ten. For sure there is still more work to do as the distance to first is too much, but we are working in the correct direction now. It’s a pity I couldn’t give a better performance for the fans, but it will be better in the future. Our base now is quite good, we need to keep working on those final details. Tomorrow at the test gives us a good chance to experiment.”
Lorenzo Savadori – P21
“During the Sprint Race, I was enthusiastic about what we had tested, but over the long distance, things didn’t go as we had expected. This was my first long race because I had to retired in Jerez. We’ll have a lot of things to try during the test and we’ll try to work hard to have the most competitive bike possible.”
Joan Mir – DNF
“Honestly the bike was feeling good at the start of the race and I think everything was there to make some progress forward so it’s a shame to crash on lap seven. I was able to push on the front end and I was fighting with Pol Espargaro. I could see the group ahead starting to break away and he and I had a bit of a battle. Heading into Turn 1, braking behind him I lost the front and fell. It’s a shame for sure but we pick ourselves up and get ready for tomorrow’s test to try a few things.”
Takaaki Nakagami – DNF
“Today’s conditions were slightly different, and it was more challenging. I felt comfortable on the bike during the first laps, but things got complicated. I crashed at turn 12; I lost the front while braking. Let’s see how tomorrow’s test goes”.
Augusto Fernandez – DNF
“It is a shame to be unable to finish the race, again. We had a technical issue, quite rare, but it can happen and there is nothing we could do. My start was good and I felt like I was improving as the laps went by, so I am sad that we could not go further in the race, and try what we had prepared. We have a test tomorrow to continue trying more things, it is important to keep fighting, the season is long, and I know we can improve!”
Team Managers
Luigi Dall’Igna – Ducati Corse General Manager
“We witnessed an incredible race by both riders. Pecco was simply perfect in what from outside may have looked like a simple race, but I guarantee you that given the pace and the opponents, it was anything but. It was important for him to have a weekend with no setbacks and that’s what happened; he showed once again why he’s a two-time reigning world champion. Enea gave us goosebumps on the last lap and when he crossed the line in second place, the reaction in the box was indescribable. Great job to both, they’re great champions and they deserve all the love by the home crowd.”
Nicolas Goyon – Tech3 GASGAS Team Manager
“On Pedro Acosta’s side, we feel like we have accomplished our mission today in Italy. Pedro had nothing extra to give considering the front four and how the race went, and P5 was the maximum he could get today, which is an amazing result, especially after his DNFs in the last two Sunday races. We have to be proud of our weekend with Pedro, with a podium in the Sprint, a top 5 in the race and a fifth place in the championship, on a very difficult track. Augusto Fernandez was very unlucky today, after he was forced to retire following a strange technical issue on the bike that we have to investigate, because it is something that we have never seen before. The positive point was that Augusto was feeling really good on the bike for the first time this weekend, so we take the good points. We have an important test tomorrow in Mugello, and I hope that it will help him gain more and more confidence.”
Pablo Nieto – VR46 Team Manager
“After a difficult qualifying and starting from the middle of the grid, it is not sure being able to have a good race and a comeback. I’m very happy with Fabio’s weekend, he had the potential to fight for the Top5 and did very well both yesterday in the Sprint and today in the GP. Marco had struggled more, it was a difficult weekend and his grid position complicated things. Tomorrow, as Fabio, he has a day of testing in which he will be able to do some tests and try to close the gap to the leaders.”
Massimo Rivola – Aprilia
“It was a bitter home Grand Prix. Starting from the front row, we expected more. We definitely need to work on improving the way we manage the race. The positive note is that we collected important data for the test. We’ll focus on testing the new components Lorenzo has been working on and improving the bike as much as possible.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Trackhouse Team Manager
“The Italian Grand Prix is done, but tomorrow we still have a very important test. The results today with 12th and 14th can’t make us really happy even though the boys had good pace. Starting from 11th and 12th it’s very difficult to go forward and also, while Miguel had a little something extra at the end, he had a locked gear at a certain moment and that ended up putting us in P12 and P14. In the practices, we clearly have more to give, but we definitively have to show that in the races as well.”
Davide Brivio – Trackhouse Team Principal
“Overall, it was an OK weekend. We scored some points but I think we go away with the feeling that we could have done better so, in one sense, it is positive as we confirm every time that we do have potential but, on the other hand, we need to show that we can use it. I could see some good signs though; Miguel was consistent through the race but found it difficult to make progress and we will look into that while for Raul, he was very good at the beginning of the race, he made some overtakes and then the pace stabilized during the race but the arm problem that he has had began to cause him a problem and that made it difficult for him to fight. So, he did well to keep his position and after the test tomorrow will go and have surgery which is important so he can come back fit for Assen in three weeks. The positives are that we see good signs every time, we got both riders in Q2 this time and we came from Barcelona after a solid weekend so we will use this three week break to analyze what we have done and what we need to do to prepare before we come back to Assen. Before that, tomorrow, we have the test here and it is important for Raul as he will test the ‘24 bike again but this time we will go more deeply into details as it will be the last opportunity before he starts using it and for Miguel, we will try to improve on what we were missing today which is also important. We will use this opportunity in the best possible way as we will not have any more testing until Misano.”
Justin Marks – Trackhouse Team Owner
“It was a kinda mediocre weekend. I think, if you look at the good part, getting both bikes into Q2 for the first time this year was really good and I think we’ll just continue to chip away at it and grow intentionally and thoughtfully and so, yeah, I was proud of the effort and it was really exciting to see the Trackhouse logos in a place like Mugello, such a historic race track. So, we just continue to learn – it’s nice to have a break now so everybody can rest and recover and do a reset so we figure out how to come back stronger for the next races after the break.”
Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager
“Brad’s weekend was affected by that touch of the green track limits on Friday. It started from there, and although he made a great start in the Sprint he couldn’t do it today and got stuck around 10th place. Overall, he improved a lot in terms of race speed from last year but the leading group improved even more; the amount of time is crazy. Almost twenty seconds! We have to keep working because we are not shining with Jack like we should. He is struggling with the feeling, and we have to help him get out of this period. I hope we can make some progress in the test tomorrow and then use the three-week break to rest and gather our energy for improvements. It was Pol’s first wild card and he did a great job. We have to thank him and we look forward to his next race.”
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director
“We knew that today’s Race was going to be hard. Like yesterday, our results were hampered by the qualifying positions as well as a lack of grip. The Race being longer than the Sprint also amplified the problem we already experienced yesterday. At the end of the Race, our riders‘ endurance was tested because the bike is physically very demanding. The fact that we have an official test day here tomorrow is good for us. It gives us the opportunity to go through today’s data and do some extra testing so we can learn from this weekend. We also have new parts to evaluate as developing the bike is still our top priority.”
MotoGP Mugello Race Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | F Bagnaia | Duc | 40m51.385 |
| 2 | E Bastianini | Duc | +0.799 |
| 3 | J Martin | Duc | +0.924 |
| 4 | M Marquez | Duc | +2.064 |
| 5 | P Acosta | Ktm | +7.501 |
| 6 | F Morbidelli | Duc | +9.890 |
| 7 | F Giannantonio | Duc | +10.076 |
| 8 | M Viñales | Apr | +11.683 |
| 9 | A Marquez | Duc | +13.535 |
| 10 | B Binder | Ktm | +15.901 |
| 11 | A Espargaro | Apr | +19.182 |
| 12 | R Fernandez | Apr | +20.307 |
| 13 | M Bezzecchi | Duc | +20.346 |
| 14 | M Oliveira | Apr | +23.292 |
| 15 | A Rins | Yam | +23.613 |
| 16 | J Miller | Ktm | +28.417 |
| 17 | P Espargaro | Ktm | +28.778 |
| 18 | F Quartararo | Yam | +30.622 |
| 19 | J Zarco | Hon | +31.457 |
| 20 | L Marini | Hon | +32.310 |
| 21 | L Savadori | Apr | +46.724 |
| Not Classified | |||
| DNF | T Nakagami | Hon | 14 laps |
| DNF | J Mir | Hon | 17 laps |
| DNF | A Fernandez | KTM | 19 laps |
Mugello MotoGP Top Speeds Across Weekend
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Speed |
| 1 | Pol ESPARGARO | KTM | 366.1 |
| 2 | Alex MARQUEZ | DUCATI | 364.8 |
| 3 | Marco BEZZECCHI | DUCATI | 364.8 |
| 4 | Pedro ACOSTA | KTM | 364.8 |
| 5 | Brad BINDER | KTM | 362.4 |
| 6 | Maverick VIÑALES | APRILIA | 362.4 |
| 7 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | DUCATI | 362.4 |
| 8 | Jack MILLER | KTM | 362.4 |
| 9 | Aleix ESPARGARO | APRILIA | 362.4 |
| 10 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | APRILIA | 361.2 |
| 11 | Fabio QUARTARARO | YAMAHA | 361.2 |
| 12 | Alex RINS | YAMAHA | 361.2 |
| 13 | Marc MARQUEZ | DUCATI | 361.2 |
| 14 | Franco MORBIDELLI | DUCATI | 360.0 |
| 15 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | KTM | 360.0 |
| 16 | Johann ZARCO | HONDA | 360.0 |
| 17 | Jorge MARTIN | DUCATI | 360.0 |
| 18 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | HONDA | 358.8 |
| 19 | Raul FERNANDEZ | APRILIA | 358.8 |
| 20 | Joan MIR | HONDA | 358.8 |
| 21 | Francesco BAGNAIA | DUCATI | 357.6 |
| 22 | Enea BASTIANINI | DUCATI | 357.6 |
| 23 | Luca MARINI | HONDA | 357.6 |
| 24 | Lorenzo SAVADORI | APRILIA | 351.7 |
MotoGP Championship Standings
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | Martin | 171 |
| 2 | Bagnaia | 153 |
| 3 | Marquez | 136 |
| 4 | Bastianini | 114 |
| 5 | Acosta | 101 |
| 6 | Viñales | 100 |
| 7 | Binder | 85 |
| 8 | Espargaro | 82 |
| 9 | Di Giannantonio | 74 |
| 10 | Marquez | 51 |
| 11 | Bezzecchi | 45 |
| 12 | Fernandez | 32 |
| 13 | Quartararo | 32 |
| 14 | Morbidelli | 31 |
| 15 | Oliveira | 31 |
| 16 | Miller | 27 |
| 17 | Fernandez | 13 |
| 18 | Mir | 13 |
| 19 | Zarco | 9 |
| 20 | Rins | 8 |
| 21 | Nakagami | 8 |
| 22 | Pedrosa | 7 |
| 23 | Marini | 0 |
| 24 | Bradl | 0 |
2024 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar (Updated)
| Rnd | Date | Location |
| 9 | 30 Jun | Netherlands TT Circuit Assen |
| 10 | 07 Jul | Germany Sachsenring |
| 11 | 04 Aug | Great Britain Silverstone Circuit |
| 12 | 18 Aug | Austria Red Bull Ring-Spielberg |
| 13 | 01 Sep | Aragon MotorLand Aragón |
| 14 | 08 Sep | San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini Misano |
| 15 | 22 Sep | Kazakhstan Sokol International Racetrack |
| 16 | 29 Sep | Indonesia Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit |
| 17 | 06 Oct | Japan Mobility Resort Motegi |
| 18 | 20 Oct | Australia Phillip Island |
| 19 | 27 Oct | Thailand Chang International Circuit |
| 20 | 03 Nov | Malaysia Sepang International Circuit |
| 21 | 17 Nov | Comunitat Valenciana Circuit Ricardo Tormo |
