It was an Italian rider aboard an Italian bike that won the Italian GP.
At the first running of the Italian GP without Valentino Rossi since 1995, it was an Italian rider on an Italian bike that won under the Tuscan sunshine. And it was none other than Rossi’s protégé Francesco Bagnaia who emerged victorious aboard his Ducati.
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Quartararo finished second, extends championship lead
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Aleix Espargaro bagged his fourth straight podium
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Bastianini crashed out while looking strong
Italian domination in qualifying
Mugello is always one of the most special race weekends on the MotoGP calendar, but this year’s running of the race was a little extraordinary, even by its own lofty standards. 2022 was the first time in nearly three decades that Valentino Rossi would not line up on a racing grid at the Italian GP. But while he might not have physically been on track, his presence was still very much felt, in the form of his VR46 Academy riders contesting the races, as well as his own teams in Moto2 and MotoGP.
The two Mooney VR46 Ducati machines (which qualified second and third) competing in MotoGP were part of a massive armada of nine bikes that the Italian manufacturer entered in the Italian Grand Prix, (the usual eight, plus the wildcard race appearance of test rider Michele Pirro). Throw in the two Aprilias and nearly half the grid was aboard an Italian motorcycle for the Mugello race.
The domination began in qualifying, with Ducati bikes claiming the top five grid slots, and Aleix Espargaro’s seventh place making it six Italian bikes in the top seven. The only thing out of Kilter was championship leader Fabio Quartararo placing his Yamaha YZR-M1 in sixth, once again outrageously outperforming all the other Yamaha riders (the next best Yamaha qualifier was Darryn Binder in 20th).
Bagnaia wins ahead of Quartararo
Surprise pole sitter Fabio Di Giannantonio couldn’t quite nail his start, which meant it was the Mooney VR46 bikes that occupied the top two spots once the race got underway. Behind, Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro jostled for position, while Bagnaia had a subdued start and held eighth place. Over the next few laps, the Italian began to mount his charge through the pack, using his knowledge of the circuit and the Ducati’s supremacy down the home straight to pick off a rider at a time. At the same time, Quartararo climbed up to second spot, behind the seriously impressive rookie leading the race, Marco Bezzecchi.
Bagnaia then pulled off another couple of surgical overtaking manoeuvres to claim the lead of the race. By the time Quartararo could get past Bezzecchi and set pursuit behind Bagnaia, the Italian was already around 1 second up the road. The gap between the pair ebbed and flowed slightly, each rider and bike combination proving quicker in different parts of the circuit. But over the course of a full lap, there was barely anything to separate their lap times. Eventually, though Quartararo showed pace comparable to Bagnaia’s, he was too far back to mount any sort of challenge, and the two finished in that order.
Another third place finish for Aleix Espargaro
Further back, Aleix Espargaro got ahead of Bezzecchi around the halfway mark, and threatened to pull away, but the Mooney VR46 man did well to hang on to Espargaro’s coat tails. Nevertheless, he had no response for Espargaro, and was eventually overtaken by fellow Ducati rider Johann Zarco on the final lap, relegating him to fifth (still a personal best result). Aprilia man Espargaro withstood the pressure and brought home his fourth consecutive third-place finish – his excellent consistency placing him just eight points behind Quartararo in the championship.
Marquez likely to miss rest of 2022 season
Bezzecchi’s teammate Luca Marini, at one point the leader of the race, finished one spot behind him, rounding off a strong weekend for Rossi’s outfit. Some of the other independent Ducati riders were not quite so lucky. Enea Bastianini, who looked strong in the early stages of the race as he fought his way up the pack, eventually crashed out of the race, meaning he now finds himself 28 points off the championship lead. Brad Binder was once again the top KTM rider, bagging a seventh place finish. Behind him was the top Honda rider, who, for once, wasn’t Marc Marquez, but instead Takaaki Nakagami. Marquez suffered another painful crash in Saturday qualifying, which has prompted the six-time world champion to step away from the series for the time being, as he prepares to undergo a fourth surgery on his injured right humerus. Many reports suggest he may miss the remainder of the season.
