Bagnaia wins at home in Mugello MotoGP

Pecco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) was back to his winning ways at his home grand prix, scoring his first-ever win at the Mugello circuit. He took the lead to start lap nine and held firm until he crossed the line well over half a second clear of championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Yamaha). Title rival Aleix Esparagaro (Aprilia Racing) did what he needed to do to keep his championship hopes alive and rounded out the podium with a hard-fought third place.

And while a Bagnaia win in Mugello ahead of Quartararo and Espargaro was in many ways an expected outcome, the way the weekend unfolded was anything but. It started with two rookies qualifying on the front row with Gresini Ducati’s Fabio Di Giannantonio scoring an unlikely pole position ahead of the Mooney VR46 pairing of Marco Bezzechi and Luca Marini, marking the first time two rookies have been 1-2 on the grid since Jorge Lorenzo and James Toseland did it in 2008.

There were no rookie nerves on show when the lights went out to start the 23-lap race though, with the VR46 duo holding firm at the front with Quartararo relegating Di Giannantonio to fourth on lap three, before passing Marini for second place just one lap later.

Bagnaia’s charge started on lap five, passing Di Giannantonio for fourth before using the top-speed of his GP22 to pick off both Marini and Quartararo at the end of straight to start the sixth. At this stage of the race, Espargaro was mired down in seventh, desperate to try and find a way past the five Ducatis in front of him. But he used a mix of patience, experience and his much-improved Aprilia RS-GP to find himself in fifth by lap 10, fourth by lap 14 before finally taking the last podium spot off the very impressive Bezzechi with seven laps to go. By then, Quartararo had used the clear track to pull a big enough gap to be able to manage his top-speed disadvantage in what he eventually called “the best race of my career.”

It was the fourth consecutive podium by the elder Espargaro brother, though he said he felt he had the pace for a better result than third, but consistency is what’s needed to win world championships and that’s exactly what he’s been able to do in the opening eight rounds of this season.

Not so for early title contender Enea Bastianini (Gresini Ducati), whose home grand prix ended in the gravel, along with the Ecstar Suzuki teammates Joan Mir and Alex Rins, and Repsol Honda’s Pol Espargaro all in separate incidents. It could’ve been that way for Aussie Jack Miller (Lenovo Ducati) too, who was out on the grass before his first time into Turn 1 as he got pushed wide at the start. The best he could do was 15th and a single point. “I got beaten up, plain and simple,” he said.

The experience of Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) meant he eventually pipped Bezzechi for fourth place, with Bezzechi and Marini scoring strong fifth and sixth places respectively ahead of Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM), Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM). Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), who announced he’s stepping away from ’22 season to undergo yet more surgery to try and rectify his troublesome right humerus, rounded out the top 10.

Aussie Remy Gardner (Tech3 KTM) finished 19th, 30 seconds behind Bagnaia but more than 12 seconds ahead of his rookie teammate.

Quartararo extends his lead over Espargaro to eight points, with 122 to the Spaniard’s 114. Bastianini (94) remains in third despite his crash, while Bagnaia (81) jumps three places to fourth ahead of Zarco (75).

From the middle of the front row and resisting the pressure of more experienced riders, Moto2 rookie Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) became the youngest rider in history to win an intermediate class race.

Championship contender Aron Canet (Flexbox 40) was pushing the 18-year old throughout the 21-lap race but tucked the front on lap 13 giving Acosta some breathing space back to Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) and Tony Arbolino (Marc VDS).

That piqued the interest of the chasing pack, with Joe Roberts (American Team Racing) and Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46) pushing their way through to second and third. Though a mechanical error forced championship leader Vietti out of the race with just three laps left to run, handing Ogura the final place on the podium.

Despite the mechanical, Vietti stays on top of the points tally on equal points with Ogura on 108. Canet stays in third on 89, just three points clear of Joe Roberts (86).

After crossing the line 0.021sec behind his GasGas Aspar teammate, Sergio Garcia was declared the winner of the 20-lap Moto3 race after Izan Guevara was slapped with a one-place penalty for exceeding track limits on the final lap.

It was dramatic from start to fiendish and lap 10 was a turning point; pole man Deniz Oncu (Red Bull KTM) crashed out after contact with Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Honda) before Dennis Foggia (leopard Honda) lost the rear and crashed out of the lead just seconds later. John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) highsided a corner later, leaving Danny Holgado (Red Bull KTM) nowhere to go. It left Suzuki in the lead, but he was handed a long-lap penalty for his collision with Oncu, gifting Andrea Migno the lead in his home GP.

But it was Guevara who led the lead group of seven over the line to start the final lap as his teammate moved up a couple of places to settle in behind. And while Garcia made what looked like a race-winning move in the final corner, both Suzuki and Guevara pulled out of his slipstream and the three crossed the line within three-hundredths of a second – the third closest in lightweight class history. Though Guevara’s victory celebrations were short lived.

Aussie Joel Kelso (CIP Green Power) was as high as eighth after the drama, but a mistake on lap 15 dropped him back to 14th, he dug deep to crossed the line in 12th.

Garcia extends his lead over his teammate in the title chase, with 137 points to Guevara’s 109. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM) finished out of the points and drops one place back to third on 95 points, equal to Foggia in fourth. Kelso currently sits 18th overall on 18 points.

Practice for Catalunya’s Round 9 begins in just four days’ time.