After seizing a fantastic double podium in the French Grand Prix at Le Mans with Andrea Dovizioso in second position ahead of his teammate Danilo Petrucci, the Mission Winnow Ducati team is ready to resume action for its home race, the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello. In the last few seasons, the home round yielded memorable results for the Borgo Panigale factory and its fans, which culminated in two consecutive wins (with Dovizioso in 2017 and Lorenzo in 2018). Let’s discover 10 key facts about the Italian Grand Prix:
– Italy, together with the United Kingdom and Netherlands, is the only country to have hosted GPs consecutively from 1949, the year in which the World Championship started, to the present.
– Mugello is where MotoGP clocks the highest top speeds. Dovizioso currently holds the record after reaching 356.5 km/h last year on his Desmosedici GP. In 2018, behind Dovizioso in this particular ranking, were three more Ducati riders: Petrucci, Pirro and Bautista.
– With the second-longest straight on the calendar (1.141 meters) after the Circuit of the Americas, Mugello is among the fastest tracks in terms of average speed, but it also features hard-braking sections. Entering turn 1, in particular, the riders decelerate from 351 to 91 km/h over 5.6 seconds, covering over 300 meters.
– Ducati scored three wins at Mugello, the last of which dates back to 2018 with Jorge Lorenzo. Casey Stoner was the first rider to bring the Borgo Panigale factory on top of the podium in 2009.
– In the last four editions of the Italian Grand Prix, Ducati has always collected at least one podium: in 2015 and 2016 with Iannone (respectively second and third), in 2017 with Dovizioso (winner) and Petrucci (third) and in 2018 with Lorenzo (winner) and Dovizioso (second).
– Ducati scored 12 podiums in total at Mugello with Loris Capirossi (2003, 2005 and 2006), Alex Barros (2007), Casey Stoner (2008 and 2009), Andrea Iannone (2015 and 2016), Andrea Dovizioso (2017), Danilo Petrucci (2017), Andrea Dovizioso (2018) and Jorge Lorenzo (2018).
– In 2017, Dovizioso collected his first of six wins at the Italian Grand Prix and went on to fight for the title until the very last race.
– Dovizioso, who will celebrate his 300th race in the World Championship on Sunday, belongs to a selected group of Italian riders (3) who won at Mugello in the top class together with Valentino Rossi and Loris Capirossi.
– Ever since 2015, his first year with Ducati, Danilo Petrucci always finished the Italian Grand Prix within the top 10. His best result at Mugello came in 2017, when he finished third behind Dovizioso and Viñales.
– Thanks to Petrucci’s third place, adding to Dovizioso’s victory, Ducati scored its first ever double podium at Mugello in 2017.
