It was a superb one-two for the Ducati Lenovo Team at the Italian GP at Mugello, round seven in the MotoGP world series overnight.
Italy’s Francesco Bagnaia finished on the top step of the podium, while his fellow Italian team-mate Enea Bastianini took second place with a last-corner move.
Spain’s series leader Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) was forced to settle for third on the day.
Four Desmosedici GP machines were in the top four, with Spain’s Marc Márquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) claiming fourth, behind Martin.
All these rider put together scintillating performances aboard and thrilled the partisan Italian crowd.
Bagnaia’s start from fifth place on the grid was a perfect one, with the reigning world champion who was already in the lead after the first two corners.
Defending world champion Bagnaia managed the race in the best possible way as he rewrote the race lap record twice and pulled away from competition in the final two laps, crossing the finish line eight tenths ahead of his team-mate.
Bagnaia scored full points (37) for the first time since last year’s Austrian Grand Prix and made it three consecutive wins at Mugello on Sunday (he is the first rider able to do so at the Italian venue since 2012).
Bastianini also had an excellent start to the encounter and stayed in contention for a podium finish throughout the whole race. With three laps left, Bastianini managed to move past Márquez for third, before giving chase to Martín.
Despite the little time left, Bastianini managed to quickly bridge the gap to the opponent, ultimately overtaking him at the last corner and storming his way to second place at the chequered flag.
With the seventh Grand Prix of the season in the books, Bagnaia is now just 18 points behind leader Martín in second place, with Bastianini fourth and 57 points shy of the top.
After this week’s official test at Mugello, the riders will be back in action – following a three-week break – at Assen’s TT Circuit, for the eighth event of the season (June 28-30).
“It was an incredible race. It wasn’t easy as I was fifth on the grid, but the strategy of going for the outside line worked out perfectly, also due to Maverick (Viñales) running a little wide,” said Bagnaia.
“I started dictating the pace from the get-go, but it was hard to manage the rear-end of the bike as the bike was moving a lot at the front, meaning I could only be effective for a couple of laps each time.
“In the end we were able to get the win in what was a fantastic weekend, with an incredible atmosphere coming from the crowd I love. To witness the sea of people below the podium was crazy. I’m also happy for Enea and for the great race he had. Thank you Mugello, you all were fantastic.”
Bastianini was also in a cheerful mood after the race.
“This podium finish in front of our home crowd was incredible,” said Bastianini. “Something hadn’t been working right in recent times, but we fixed the issues and today, we really pushed to the limit.
“I’m very happy: I had a little bit of a slip in terms of form in the middle of the race, but after being overtaken by Marc (Márquez) I realised the time had come to start pushing. During the final lap I saw that Jorge (Martín) was getting closer and closer and there I understood that second place was really possible.
“I managed to do so at the final corner and I’m very happy. I’d like to dedicate this win to my dog, who passed away last week. In a manner of speaking, she was my baby!”
Photo courtesy Ducati
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Leading MotoGP World Championship standings after round 7:
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