The MotoGP Italian Grand Prix concluded this morning at Mugello. Francesco Baganaia (Ducati Lenovo) secure yet another win and further extended his championship lead over Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team). Bezzecchi was only able to finish P8 which means that with Bagnaia scores max points Bezzecchi is now 21 points behind in the championship compared to the 1 point he was behind at the start of the weekend. It was a great morning for the Prima Pramac Racing team as Jorge Martin and Johan Zarco run P2 and P3 to lock out the podium. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) finished 4th and Brand Binder (KTM Racing) finished 5th. Ducati dominance was prevalent in the race as Ducatis accounted for 4/5 top finishers in Italy.
The Marquez brothers failed to capitalize on their front row starts. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) crashed out of the race on lap 5 after running wide. He was making an attempt to gain position on Luca Marini in the incident. M. Marquez slid out at at the final turn ending his race. Brother Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) carried on for 9 more laps before he too crashed. A. Marquez went down after missing his brake zone. This will be a disappointing result for the pair after starting on the front row. With yet another crash Marc Marquez’s title run appears to be all but over. Additionally, tensions in the Honda camp will raise questions as to whether he will remain with Honda after 2023.
“Today I was riding really well and with some margin, I was feeling comfortable and not stressed. I saw Bagnaia and Martin had escaped so I focused on staying with Marini in that group and trying to achieve my goal of the top six or seven. I had a moment at Turn 10 on the first lap and then again going into the last corner before I fell. Right now we need to keep improving and keep working. Fortunately, I was not injured in the crash today and we have another race next week so it gives us a chance to keep working.”
In his return to MotoGP Enea Bastianini (Ducati lenovo) finished 9th. The finish was a consolation as Bastianini felt he would be far behind in terms of race pace. Pre race he feared his time away would be a major set back. His injury did not appear to be aggravated at all due to his participation in the race.
It was a lackluster day for the Monster Energy Yamaha camp as they continue to have woes with podium competing pace. Franco Morbinelli and Fabio Quartararo and finished P10 and P11.
Full Race Results are Below
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