MOTOGP: Marc Marquez comes out on top in Mugello thriller, home hero Bagnaia suffers heartbreaking result
Six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez beat his rivals in a thrilling MotoGP race at Mugello, with his brother Alex Marquez and VR46 rider Fabio Di Giannantionio completing the podium. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo reports on the Mugello MotoGP round.
Having won the Sprint on Saturday, Marc Marquez was waiting for the lights to go out from the first starting position. The Spaniard had a much better start than yesterday, but his team-mate Francesco Bagnaia managed to pull ahead into Turn 2 to take over the lead.
The next laps saw Marquez and Bagnaia battle it out hard. The Spaniard overtook the Italian into Turn 1 on Lap 2, but Bagnaia fought back on the next lap retaliating at Turn 1 but Marc Marquez got under his teammate, only for the Italian bash his way back into the lead for Turn 2.
Although Marc Marquez barrelled back through two apexes later, Bagnaia was eager to retake the lead quickly. The Italian then kissed the rear end of the Marc Marquez's Ducati which allowed Alex Marquez through.
On Lap 4, Bagnaia fought back again, overtaking Alex Marquez to move himself back into second place before pouncing on Marc Marquez immediately at Turn 2. Although he could make the move stick, his lead did not last long as he made a mistake at the last corner which enabled Alex Marquez to take over the lead into Turn 1.
Into Lap 7, Marc Marquez pounced again, this time back into P2 as Bagnaia was forced to take third for the time being. Two laps later, he made a move on his brother to move himself into the lead.
Displaying eye-catching race pace again, Maverick Viñales was engaged in a fierce battle with VR46 rider Franco Morbidelli. The Italian was too eager to make a move into Turn 4, and made contact the Viñales' KTM which saw the Spaniard crash out into the gravel trap.
As a result of his ambitious maneouvre, Morbidelli was handed a Long Lap Penalty which he wanted to serve immediately. However, he served the penalty incorrectly and therefore, he was issued another.
Yamaha rider Jack Miller suffered a clutch problem which forced him to retire from the race. In the meantime, a fierce battle was established between the two KTM factory riders, with Brad Binder overtaking Pedro Acosta. However, the young Spaniard fought back and ultimately beat the South-African racer.
Displaying brilliant late race-pace, Di Giannantonio closed in on Bagnaia, who was unable to make a move on Alex Marquez. The VR46 rider got ahead of the two-time MotoGP champion at Turn 6 and was eager to use the final two laps to hunt down Alex Marquez.
While Alex Marquez, Bagnaia and Giannantonio fought for the final two podium places, Marc Marquez crossed the line to take an incredible 93rd win across all classes.
His team-mate Alex Marquez took second by a matter of metres as Giannantonio completely closed in on the Gresini rider, but he could not make a move and finished the Mugello race in third place.
Having taken three consecutive victories in the last three years, Bagnaia suffered a heartbreaking result with a fourth-place finish. Fellow home hero Marco Bezzecchi secured a fifth place, ahead of Morbidelli in P6 after his adventures.
Raul Fernandez crossed the finish line in seventh spot, ahead of the factory KTM duo Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder. Ai Ogura rounded out the top ten, ahead of Joan Mir, whilst Fermin Aldeguer fought back to 12th after almost crashing out at Turn 1 on Lap 3.
Miguel Oliveira was the top Yamaha in 13th whilst Fabio Quartararo dropped from P4 to P14, one place ahead of his teammate Alex Rins.
