The best MotoGP race of the year unfolded at Mugello earlier today as a very large pack at the front fought much of the race. In the last several laps, that number reduced to four riders, two Ducatis, a Honda and a Suzuki.
Alex Rins (Suzuki) fell slightly off the pace as the final lap approached, and left the podium fight to the Factory Ducatis of Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso, with Marc Marquez (Honda) in the mix. That final lap was a nail biter.
After all three riders nearly came together, Petrucci emerged with a lead that he held all the way to the checkered flag for his first MotoGP victory. Marc Marquez crossed the line just behind Petrucci with Dovizioso finishing third and Rins fourth.
Marquez leaves Mugello with a 12 point lead in the championship over Dovizioso. Follow this link to full race results. For additional details and points, visit the official MotoGP site here.
See more of MD’s great photography:
Lorenzo was signed with Honda at a discount and both have something to prove. Honda, that the machine is more important than the rider and Lorenzo, that he can win on anything. Honda has the knowledge and he is a bull dog, success will come.
By what sort of bizarro calculus is Moto GP virtually invisible on American streaming TV? If they would give it away they could build a fan base. Admittedly American riders would probably be the key. For better or for worse motor racing’s success depends upon stars giving people someone to root for. Watching any sport when you don’t care who wins is about 90% less entertaining.
Race was awesome and a new winner is always welcome. Not sure I believe Mark just held on for second so Dovi wouldn’t have a chance to get by.. calling BS. He got beat straight up and the last time mark didn’t try to win was never, it’s not in his makeup and he’s crashed while leading before riding too hard.
Just say great job and move on. Hopefully this signals the arrival of another front runner. He’s always ridden awesome. Maybe a few changes to him and his style along with a win will be the right potion for some more wins and podiums.
Congratulations Patrucci!!
Feel free to call Marc a liar. Personally, I find his candor and good humor refreshing. IMHO, you haven’t paid attention since 2015. That was the year that Marc learned that “win it or bin it” did not lead to World Championships. He still loves to win, but he wants the Championship even more than he wants race wins.
I watched the race last night. Marc clearly stated that Danillo was the fastest and that he was happy to come away with 2nd place, ahead of Dovi. I take that to be an admission that he did not believe he could have beaten him. His powt race celebration looked very genuine.
As a racing fan, it was a great race. OTOH, lots of us who are fans of a few particular racers sort of suffered through it. LOL I’m still hoping that Lorenzo figures out the Honda fairly soon, but this race was disappointing.
Marc is having an amazing year. Three wins, leading by a huge amount on his only race crash, and 2 second places that total less that a tenth of a second behind. Of course, there are no guarantees on the future, but Marc is clearly the man to beat.
Mixed feelings on the Petrucci victory. Obviously he has worked very hard to make it in MotoGP, riding for lesser teams, losing weight, improving his English, etc. I lost a lot of respect for him when he almost fell off the bike letting Rossi pass at Valencia in 2015, and his apology to Dovi for beating him in this race is a sign that he still doesn’t think he belongs in MotoGP. Hopefully it’s just humility, and not a lack of competitive spirit. We’ll see is Ducati starts showing him “Mapping 8” in the future.
No, Petrucci apologized to Dovi because he is well aware of the points battle with Marquez and is appreciative of all the help Dovi has been giving him this past year.
I don’t know what Petrucci is thinking, but his actions remind me of the Bob Seger song “Beautiful Loser”.
I’d like to see Petrucci offer his opinions on Fred’s career. Would he be impressed with Fred’s stellar achievements?
Nice having fresh blood on the top step of the podium.
Same is true of Yamaha, only worse.
Suzuki must find additional horsepower or they’ll only ever win the occasional race on a tight track. Rins was riding the wheels off his bike only to be blitzed down the straight. I think the announcers said they were down something like 18kph. Anyway, phenomenal race!
Same is true of Yamaha, only worse.
Yep, the Yamahas can’t even stay in the slipstreams of the Hondas or Ducatis. I’m not sure why they’ve been so stubborn about bringing more power to the fight. Granted they’ve got more problems than just power. Yamaha sure seems lost.
I’m sure if Yamaha had a solution to their power deficit they would bring it to their teams. At this point it appears Yamaha doesn’t know how to add the needed power.
Yamaha can’t bring a new engine spec since all development is negated during the season. They’re sitting on sealed engines and the only way to power them up is with the spec ECU. Apparently, they’re also having problems with traction getting the power to the ground. It’s painful to watch Yamaha struggle like this. OTOH, phenomenal camera work and the track is beautiful. All 3 classes had great racing.
Yamaha can make a more powerful engine. That isn’t a problem for their resources or experience. Power and power delivery characteristics have a dramatic affect on handling characteristics. They’ve always been of the opinion that they had the right balance of power, braking stability, and corner speed to make a competitive bike. That was true not long ago. Just not anymore. The game has changed, and they have to change with it. The Yamaha can still be fast with clear track in front of it, but it can’t effectively race the much more powerful bikes at most tracks.
Keep in mind they can’t do a g-d thing about it during the season…. I get the reasoning behind the current rules (a joke when you consider the aero stuff ramping up) but for a team to be screwed the whole season is awful. The entire atmosphere at Yamaha must be terrible right now….
All manufacturers were well aware of the engine rules prior to the first race of the season…
Mugello is a unique track. Vinales and Quartararo will win races this year at tracks with much lower top speeds.
“Vinales and Quartararo”
I see what you did there.
🙂
Just remember the last time you wrote off #46 as being finished. I seem to recall a follow-up article not too much later, in which you admitted to eating crow over that call. Also, Valentino is still the top Yamaha points man, and he still finishes ahead of the other Yamaha riders more often than not.
What an exciting race. just top notch paint swapping racing. Congrats to Petrucci for the win, he earned it and deserved it.
Thought Rins was going to nip Dovi at the end. Heck of a ride coming from 13? to first before falling back to a really close 4th.
Poor Zarco, Lorenzo and even poorer Rossi.
That was a great race. Exciting from beginning to end. Rins really came out of nowhere. He wasn’t making any kind of impression in the practice sessions.
I do feel bad for poor Zarco, but personal decisions… He did this to himself.
Yah, Zarco made a very bad move…but so did Lorenzo, after the last few races Ducati May have kept him.
.Yamaha still hasn’t done enough to improve their bikes, Wheel spin and down quite a bit on top speed it’s sad to watch. 😭
Yeah, wheelspin, the electronics, etc etc etc – sure but the main problem is they are now simply massively outgunned. Someone there forgot they are MOTORcycles while Ducati served a reminder and Honda at least paid attention.
While Ducati seems to have the most peak power, they’ve really done something in managing it.
This has to be especially frustrating for those with slower top-speeds *and* bigger tire management problems.
Sorry, but I disagree on both counts. As I understand it, Zarco’s manager signed the KTM contract without getting Zarco’s input. It may well have been a mistake, but the mistake was trusting his manager too much.
Lorenzo did what he had to do. Ducati, at Dovi’s insistence, had already decided to not renew Jorge’s contract. All the good seats were gone, except for Honda. It was the only reasonable choice. In retrospect, the Petronas team would possibly have been a decent option, but it did not exist in a viable form at the time Lorenzo had to make a decision.
“As I understand it, Zarco’s manager signed the KTM contract without getting Zarco’s input. ”
Respectfully, I don’t know who reported that, but I’ll call BS on it all day long. The contract could have been totally negotiated by Fellon, but there is no way KTM didn’t have Zarco sign. Zarco decided where he was going.
Lorenzo pulled a rabbit out of the hat getting the Honda ride. He had nowhere to go and yet ended up on the most coveted team in the paddock. Good for him, and I hope he starts figuring out how to capitalize soon.
I agree with Jeremy, Zarco doesn’t go anywhere without his own signature on the contract.
Lorenzo would probably have done pretty well on Mir’s Suzuki, but Suzuki likes to go with you ng guys. He also would have done pretty well on a Petronas Yamaha which he was used to. Going to Honda was not a bad decision for Lorenzo, but after riding the Yamaha, learning how to re-ride on the Ducati, and then having to learn to re-ride on the Honda he probably doesn’t know HOW to ride fast anymore. He will figure it out. CHampions do that.