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Motorsport

Rachit Thukral

Winners and losers from MotoGP’s pivotal Italian GP

MotoGP Enea Bastianini Marc Marquez Fabio Quartararo Francesco Bagnaia Jorge Martin Marco Bezzecchi Raul Fernandez Ducati Alex Marquez

Marco Bezzecchi and Aprilia delighted home fans with a brilliant victory in Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.

Although Ducati seemed like the team to beat in practice, Aprilia surged ahead when it mattered most, ending Borgo Panigale’s winning streak at Mugello.

Elsewhere, several riders delivered standout performances further down the order, while others left Italy with little to show for their efforts.

Here are the winners and losers from MotoGP’s Italian GP.

Winner: Marco Bezzecchi

Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing (Photo by: Andreas Solaro / AFP via Getty Images)

The previous two race weekends had not been kind to Marco Bezzecchi. At Le Mans, he took a direct hit from his team-mate Jorge Martin, who emerged as the championship favourite in many observers’ eyes. A week later in Barcelona, he was nowhere near the fight at the front, with even a podium proving beyond reach.

But the factory Aprilia rider proved that the downturn was nothing more than a blip as he bounced back in style at the Italian GP. Much like the opening flyaway rounds, Bezzecchi put himself on the back foot in the sprint race and paid the price for the rest of the afternoon. But again, he made amends for that error on Sunday, biding his time behind Francesco Bagnaia and pulling off the move just when Martin was beginning to loom in the mirror.

While he is still chasing a perfect weekend, a long-awaited victory in front of his home fans would boost his confidence and give him a psychological advantage over Martin in the next phase of the season.

Loser: Enea Bastianini

Enea Bastianini, Red Bull KTM Tech 3 (Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images)

Mugello looked set to be another weekend in which Enea Bastianini led the KTM charge. Pedro Acosta was already studying Bastianini’s data on Friday after the Italian finished third behind the Ducatis of Fabio di Giannantonio and Bagnaia. Even in the first half of the sprint, Bastianini was able to pass Acosta and lead the charge for the Austrian brand.

But then, the 28-year-old threw it all away with a crash at Turn 10 while pushing the RC16 to the limit. On Sunday, he went down at the very same corner, only this time while releasing the brakes. So while Acosta scored a hard-fought fifth place, Bastianini left his home weekend without adding a single point to his tally.

Winner: Factory Ducatis

Marc Marquez, Ducati Team (Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images)

Considering the circumstances, both Bagnaia and Marc Marquez can be pleased with how they performed at Mugello, even if they could not extend Ducati’s winning run on home soil.

Bagnaia flew largely under the radar in qualifying and the sprint, but bravely passed Bezzecchi’s Aprilia early in Sunday’s race to grab the lead. The fact that he was able to stay at the front for the first half of the race was an achievement in itself, even if his pace rapidly dropped off later. Crucially, he managed to keep a charging Ai Ogura at bay on the final lap, securing his second consecutive Sunday podium.

By now, Bagnaia is aware that there won’t be an overnight breakthrough. Instead, he and Ducati can only slowly chip away at the problems that have been compromising them for over a year now.

On the other side of the Ducati garage, Marquez exceeded his own expectations in every single session across the weekend. He was already on the right path on Friday when he directly progressed into Q2, but his comeback only got better with every passing day. Qualifying as the top Ducati showed his mettle, while his early sprint charge further demonstrated his fighting spirit. His valiant race-long duel with Acosta on Sunday was a highlight of the weekend, even if it ultimately yielded only seventh.

Marquez still needs some time to regain full fitness, but with his shoulder recovering and his motivation undimmed, a return to the sharp end may not be far away.

Loser: Fabio Quartararo

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images)

There have been several occasions this season where Fabio Quartararo has extracted every last ounce of performance from the Yamaha - and then some more. Mugello, however, wasn’t one of them.

Even before the Iwata-based brand fired up its new V4 engine for the first time in the garage, Quartararo was already bracing himself for a torrid weekend. He never appeared comfortable with the bike, and the crash at Turn 4 - and another moment at the same corner later - highlighted his early difficulties in practice. In qualifying, he struggled to 17th place, even as Alex Rins showed the bike had more potential.

But the lowest point came on Sunday, when he deliberately backed off his pace after running out of motivation, arguing that fighting so hard for a single point wasn’t worth the effort. The Frenchman eventually crossed the line in 17th, only ahead of Alex Marquez’s stand-in Michele Pirro.

Winner: Diogo Moreira

Diogo Moreira, Team LCR Honda, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team

On a weekend where the factory Hondas were largely anonymous and Johann Zarco was out of action, Diogo Moreira established himself as the standout rider within the Japanese marque’s line-up.

The 22-year-old carried forward the gains he made in the Barcelona test, with a first top-10 qualifying result of his rookie season setting up the tone for the rest of the weekend. He made a brilliant start from eighth on the grid on Saturday, even passing world champion Marquez to take third. While he rapidly dropped down the order and finished outside the points, he took a lot of confidence from that performance, which was evident by a more measured ride to 10th in Sunday’s race.

Moreira’s improved form couldn’t have come at a better time for LCR, with Zarco set to miss further races due to injury. It also vindicates Honda’s faith in the Brazilian, and shows why it is considering hiring another youngster to partner Quartararo next season.

Loser and winner: Raul Fernandez

Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images)

For a rider fighting to secure his future in MotoGP, Mugello was a weekend of extremes for Raul Fernandez.

The Trackhouse rider arrived in Italy under pressure after a collision with the factory Aprilia of Martin created tensions within the camp. Fernandez couldn’t afford another poor performance in qualifying, and he responded by putting his bike in the middle of the front row on Saturday.

His maiden sprint win was a masterclass in both speed and execution, as he successfully repelled a late attack from Martin despite battling a stomach illness.

Fernandez should also have featured prominently in Sunday’s race, but a small error while downshifting into Turn 1 left him down in 17th place. While he recovered to finish inside the top 10, it was his team-mate Ogura who stole the spotlight with fourth place.