Mugello, Italy: MotoGP Pre-Race Report
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Mugello, Italy: MotoGP Pre-Race Report

By FORMULAMotoGPMag - 29 May 2015

The famous Italian race is here! Mugello has arrived and all of the riders are very excited about getting started for the weekend. The Ducati MotoGP team have a bunch of smiles going into the race as it is classified as their home grand prix. Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso want to bring home the cake for the team and showcase to the Italian fans their improvements from last year. Mugello is 5.2km in length with 6 left and 9 right hand corners and a long straight of 1141m. It is located 30k northeast of Florence in the beautiful countryside of Tuscany, which brings tourists to its food and wine stalls every year. Last year Marc Marquez took the crown and won Mugello followed by Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. Formula Magazine is pretty confident that the tides have changed and the reverse could happen with Lorenzo or Rossi taking the crown away from the Repsol Honda rider.

Ducati Corse Press

Rossi has a love affair with Mugello and it is Lorenzo’s favourite track out of all on the calendar. It is a circuit that will be fun for the riders and if the fans have anything to say about the winner, they will be wanting an Italian holding up that trophy. If Rossi wins, the crowd will go wild and so will he! For other riders like Cal Crutchlow and Jack Miller, Mugello is a race that they are keen to get involved in with their LCR Honda machines. Jack will be riding his Honda MotoGP bike for the first time at Mugello and is excited as compared to riding it on a Moto3 bike. Whereas, his teammate Cal is aiming to finish the race this year after taking out LCR’s solo rider last year in what was a dramatic MotoGP race.

CWM-LCR Honda MotoGP Team

This week is guaranteed to showcase endless emotion and pain. Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Iannone are pushing on through their injuries to ride and achieve a positive result. Iannone just discovered after an MRI that he has a fracture on his funny bone, no pun intended and Aleix is recovering from surgery on his hand after ligament damage. The strength and courage that a rider demonstrates is truly inspiring and incredible. When the lights turn and the riders take off, be sure to watch where Aleix and Andrea are considering the fitness levels they are currently displaying.

Ducati Corse Press

In Moto2 and Moto3, Johann Zarco wants to win more and more races whilst Danny Kent is aiming to recover and focus on team strategy so that a mishap in qualifying is avoided in the future. The Kalex bike in Moto2 is the winner at this present moment in this class with 21 out of 28 bikes based on the German manufacturers chassis and overall performance.  The character of the bike and how it operates has significantly changed and the rider’s adaptability is what truly makes it a successful relationship in order to win races. In Moto3, the battle of the manufacturers also continues with Honda dominating, KTM catching up and Mahindra proving their forward momentum. Formula Magazine is excited about the event and all that is to come!