Ducati’s winning streak continues with Mugello podium lockout

MotoGP 2023

Round Six – Mugello

Sunday MotoGP Race

Francesco Bagnaia extended his Championship advantage from one single point to a very healthy 21 with victory at Mugello.

Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) kept the Italian honest from start to finish but didn’t quite have enough to challenge and was forced to settle for second, although only a second back.

The battle for third raged on all race long, finally seeing Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) fly through the field to take P3 and deny Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) a home podium.

MotoGP Race Report

Jack Miller took the holeshot into Turn 1 but Bagnaia came out of the gates determined to deliver on home soil and the Italian pushed his way back to the front at the next apex. Bagnaia then began to stretch a lead as the chasing pack swapped paintwork on the opening lap.

Bagnaia crossed the line for the first time four-tenths ahead of Martin, who had made his way past Miller, and the Australian was now coming under attack from a queue of riders led by Marini and Marc Marquez.

The front two began to break away as Bagnaia attempted to stretch out the field, with Martin trying to cling onto the tail of Pecco as chaos started to unfold behind in the battle for third.

With 21 laps to go, Alex Marquez came into turn one way too fast after getting a slipstream and then dirty air which left him unable to stop and somehow the Spaniard threaded his way through three riders without hitting them. Both Alex Marquez and Jack Miller were sent wide, allowing Marini and Marquez to bully their way through into third and fourth, and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was now right in the mix too.

The race settled down as the laps began to tick away and it was Bagnaia leading with a consistent four-tenths gap over Martin. 1.5-seconds further back, a battle for the podium was brewing, Marini was P3 but had the Marquez brothers glued to his rear wheel.

As ever, Marc Marquez was on the absolute limit of his Honda machine. But it wasn’t quite enough at Mugello as the Spaniard ran wide at the final turn and crashed out on the dirty part of the tarmac with 17 laps remaining, ending his hopes.

That spread the field out a little bit as Marini had a bit of breathing space over Alex Marquez in fourth, as Zarco started to threaten the podium fight in fifth. The podium tossle was well and truly on with 11 laps to go as Alex Marquez rode up alongside Marini into Turn One, pulling off the perfect block pass to demote the Italian down to P4 – with Zarco also waiting to pounce.

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Marini continued to pile the pressure on Alex Marquez in front though, and then the slightest of mistakes saw the Alex Marquez crash out of the Italian Grand Prix. The only rider who’d put in a lap to match Bagnaia was out of the running.

Six laps to go and Zarco made Marini well aware of his presence as he made a smooth move at the final corner to lead Marini onto the front straight. The Italian got straight back into the Frenchman’s slipstream and retook third place as they barrelled into Turn One, but Zarco wasn’t having any of it. Zarco snapped straight back at the VR46 rider, putting the hammer down in an attempt to break away from his fellow Ducati.

The Frenchman went on to do exactly that, and with some incredible late-race pace sailed away from Marini to consolidate a double Pramac podium at the team’s home circuit.

Ahead of that charge though Pecco kept it pitch perfect to manage the gap ahead of Martin. It was down to only a second on the final lap, however, as Martin pushed on and Zarco homed in on him in turn, Bagnaia kept it calm and took that well-earned home win, consolidating his points lead in style.

Binder set the new all-time MotoGP top speed record on Saturday and was the first non-Ducati in P5.

Aleix Espargaro was next up as the Aprilia rider managed to catch and pass Miller, but not by much as the two staged a near photo-finish drag race to the flag.

A tough start to the race for Marco Bezzecchi saw him stuck down in P8 with 15 laps to go, and the Italian couldn’t make progress as the laps ticked down. He gives up a few points to Binder in taking that eighth, and even more ground to Martin as the Spaniard finished second.

Enea Bastianini finished his first race back from injury in P9, with Franco Morbidelli rounding out the top 10 ahead of his teammate Fabio Quartararo.

With a 21-point lead over Bezzecchi, Bagnaia has gotten the triple-header off to a perfect start… just as the paddock heads to the very venue where it all went a little wrong for Bagnaia in 2021, Sachsenring this weekend coming. Then battles recommences again in Assen just one week later.

MotoGP Race Results

Max Speeds Accross Race Weekend

MotoGP Championship Points

Moto2 Race

Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) put on a dominant display to pull points back on Championship leader Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) at Mugello, taking an impressive victory at the Italian’s home circuit.

Arbolino finished the race at some distance in second, but the number 14 put in some good damage limitation after a tougher Friday and Saturday.

Jake Dixon (Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team) snatched the final podium place on the final lap from pole-sitter Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Lons40).

Moto2 Race Results

Moto2 Championship Points

Moto3 Race

Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) has done it again! The Championship leader came out on top in an intense five-rider fight at Mugello, just defeating polesitter and pacesetter Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) at the line.

Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) completed the podium, fighting off rookie David Alonso (Valresa GASGAS Aspar) and veteran Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing).

Aussie youngster Joel Kelso had qualified second only to be hit with penalties for slow riding on the race line that relegated him to the back of the grid and gave him a long lap penalty. Kelso went down trying to work his way forward and bagged no points after what had been a promising start to this weekend at Mugello.

Moto3 Race Results

Moto3 Championship Points

2023 MotoGP Calendar