MotoGP: Marquez delighted to win Mugello race despite "fast and risky rhythm"

Having secured his 93rd win of his MotoGP career (across all classes) at Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, Marc Marquez has revealed that - despite a seemingly dominant victory - the Mugello race forced him to a "fast and risky rhythm."

Having secured the first two places on the grid for the Italian Grand Prix, the factory Ducati MotoGP team starred in the nail-biting Mugello round on Sunday.

After a hectic early part of the race, with many position changes involving Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Márquez, Marc Márquez took the lead on Lap 9 and managed the race masterfully to the chequered flag. Bagnaia showed excellent form early on, but a near-crash at the end of Lap 5 cost him the lead. In the closing stages, Italian was overtaken by fellow Italian Fabio Di Giannantonio for third place.

At the end of the ninth Grand Prix of the season, Marc Márquez increases his tally to 270 points, with a 40-point lead over Alex Márquez. Francesco Bagnaia sits third, 110 points behind his teammate.

The Ducati Lenovo Team remains at the top of the teams’ standings (430 points), while Ducati continues to lead the manufacturers’ standings (319 points).

Reflecting on his 93rd victory in Moto3 / Moto2 / MotoGP, Marc Marquez noted: “At the start of the race, I tried to manage tyre wear so I wouldn’t compromise things too early. Every time I tried to control the situation, Pecco came back on the attack.

"He was braking very hard and very late, while I was focusing more on corner speed. When Alex took the lead, I knew it was time to start pushing, because he had a really strong pace.

"Track conditions were quite tricky today, and maintaining a very fast rhythm was risky. If anyone had closed the gap, plan B was simply to bring the bike home.”