Race report
Victory in yesterday’s Sprint and success in today’s long race, complete with a Ducati double: the Italian Grand Prix weekend is completed in the best possible way for Francesco Bagnaia, with the reigning world champion achieving his third consecutive success in his home race at Mugello. Applause-worthy performance from #1, who started from the fifth spot on the starting grid due to the three-place penalty and immediately jumped into the lead after the first two corners.
From that moment, ‘Pecco’ held the lead until the checkered flag, despite the constant presence of Jorge Martin behind him (now 18 points ahead of the Piedmontese in the world championship standings) but finished in third place at the last corner of the last lap after a great recovery at the end by Enea Bastianini. The rider from Romagna achieved his feat by first recovering from Marc Marquez (4th) and in the end from the world championship leader, thus giving the double for Ducati and a great emotion at the red tide present in large numbers in the stands of the Tuscan circuit.
The words of the top-3
1st – Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati): “It wasn’t easy to start from 5th place, but then I chose the strategy of going to the outside and it worked perfectly. Then I started pushing, but it wasn’t easy because it was difficult to manage the rear tire well and I was pushing a lot on the front, but to win today after a weekend like this is fantastic. I love these people and I’m also very happy for Enea who did an excellent job. Thanks Mugello, it’s fantastic.”
2nd – Enea Bastianini (Ducati): “It’s incredible to get a podium after a difficult period. Something was wrong, but we solved the problem and today I pushed hard, like a bastard. I can be really happy, I slept a little towards the middle of the race, but then when Marc overtook me I understood that it was time to push. I had to recover, on the last lap I saw that Jorge was really close and I told myself that it was even possible to get 2nd. I overtook him at the last corner and I’m very happy, I want to dedicate this race to my dog who passed away a week ago, and she was my little girl.”
3rd – Jorge Martin (Ducati, Pramac): “I’m a bit frustrated with the last lap. We made a big improvement, I was able to keep up with the incredible pace of Pecco who was setting a record lap after lap, and in the end I thought I could even attack him for the victory. I was catching up, but then I saw that I was too close to the limit and I waited, but I feel frustrated because I wasn’t able to finish with the last line and Enea overtook me. A podium after such a difficult weekend is still crucial, now we rest and we will return stronger to Assen.”
