Masterful Pecco Bagnaia Wins in Mugello!
Author: Myanna Wedes
The 2022 Mugello Grand Prix was won by Pecco Bagnaia after a battle royale with Fabio Quartararo, Aleix Espargaro, Luca Marini, Marco Bezzecchi and of course Bagnaia himself after the defining mistake made when he led a race and succumbed to the pressure of Enea Bastianini. This time around, Bagnaia led a solid race and was more mature about the lines he took, race pace, strategy, balancing the pressure and staying focused. We were very impressed with Valentino Rossi’s two riders Marini and Bezzecchi considering their previous struggles. Both Italian riders pushed the limits on the track to stay with the front runners and Bezzecchi showcased his strengths and the ability to grow as a competitor. It was a real classy display on home soil considering the pressure to perform in front of a home crowd.
Ride of the day must go to Fabio Quartararo. The French rider was outstanding and put everything on the line fighting the Ducati machines and no doubt slower than the other manufacturer. Quartararo put his bike in a place normally it would not appear based on straight line speed and the Mugello circuit overall which does favour the Ducati power. This race was a true display of courage for Quartararo and a reminder as to why he is a World Champion. Some will say it was the best race of his career in how he managed to finish second, stay ahead of the competition, continue to make passing manoeuvres and not burn his rubber too significantly. As a fierce competitor, the Yamaha rider is also incredibly supportive of his competition sending well wishes to Marc Marquez who is stepping away from the sport for his fourth arm surgery. The Multi-World Champion believes his humerus bone is strong enough for the surgery and to allow him not to be limited in performance. Quartararo is a true gentleman when it comes to his competitors and looks forward to racing against Marquez in the future months, hopefully once again in 2022.
In comparison, there is a consistent theme with Aprilia and that is the performance levels of A Espargaro. He achieved another stand out podium finish with a third place, more points in the bank for the title and further progress for the team at home in Italy. As we have said previously, A Espargaro is having the time of his life and with the job security for the next two years, he can just focus on winning races, achieving podiums and securing as many points as possible without the worry of a contract renewal like so many others are starting to scramble for with negotiations ramping up. For other riders like Joan Mir, Alex Rins and Andrea Dovizioso, it has been a disaster couple of weeks and overall season for the former Ducati rider DesmoDovi. All three riders are not enjoying the current situations they are in: the fear of not riding in 2023. Whereas, Miguel Oliveira has taken the possible demotion to KTM Tech3 as a direct blow to his career and is exploring options outside of KTM from what we have heard. The sport can reward you with some of the best career moments in history whilst also forcing you to sit up, pump the brakes and understand where you sit in terms of future sustainability as a permanent rider on the MotoGP tour.
Pecco Bagnaia #63:
"For us Italians, this is a very important race, so this is definitely a special victory. Mugello is a challenging track, but we worked all weekend perfectly to achieve this result, and we did it. Yesterday in FP3, I destroyed the bike, but my team worked so hard to allow me to use it today in the race, so I have to thank them! After the start, I found myself bottled up, and some riders passed me. I knew that by staying calm, I could make a comeback. I'm happy, and I think we really deserved this win."
Fabio Quartararo #20:
“I didn’t think that the podium was possible today. But before the race I believed in myself and said ‘I have the pace to be in the top 5 today’ and we did a second place. That was, I think, one of the best races of my career. Of course, I would have preferred to win, but I’m pleased to be on the podium after a tough race like this one. I made a good start and did good overtakes, despite sliding with the front and rear. Before the race I wasn’t feeling that good on the bike. During the race it was not perfect, but it was better, and I could feel where the limit was. I love riding my bike, I was having a lot of fun, and I could get a really good result. We did a massive job!”
Aleix Espargaro #41:
“I'm obviously happy with this podium but I must be honest: I would have liked to win today. Maybe if I had been a bit more aggressive in qualifying and in the opening laps, I would have been able to stay closer to Pecco and Fabio. The reality is that all the riders are extremely fast and they don’t make mistakes, so overtaking is not at all easy. But we must not make excuses. We must work hard to keep improving. In any case, it was great to be on the podium for the fourth time in a row and to do it right here in Mugello - in Italy. We’ll see if we can find a little something more next weekend and battle for the win.”
We are wishing MM93 the best recovery possible because without him, the sport is not the same. The Spanish rider is super brave in taking the time mid-season to make this surgery happen because we know that other younger riders are hunting at the opportunity to sign up to the premier class. We know the personality of Marquez is one where he wants to be able to win and right now, he feels limited in his abilities as a MotoGP rider. There are no guarantees, although the gamble to have surgery is something a rider is used to undertaking with arm pump surgery a common one and never a guarantee. What we can say is that when MM93 comes back, should the surgery go well, he will be hard to beat because he will give 110% to be the best again. There is a fire within his belly to be a World Champion once again and his mind working around the clock to crack the Honda bike in order to ride like a loose goose as he does with elbows down, sliding in and out of corners and making saves multiple times in a race weekend.
Marc Marquez #93:
“It was a tough race, like we were expecting. I gave everything in the first seven laps to see if I had the speed of the front riders and our pace wasn’t bad but then I started to struggle physically. I kept calm, I was riding with a comfortable rhythm, and I worked on understanding where we were losing compared to other bikes. The target was to give constructive comments to the team, and we achieved it. Now we have the most important ‘race’ of the season next week. It was difficult to concentrate because I know that next week is very important for my career, but I am proud to have done this race.
Unfortunately, I have to take a break from the 2022 season that will keep me away from competition for a while. After all these months of intense work with my new medical team in Madrid, my physical condition has improved and I have reduced the discomfort in my right arm to be able to compete at the Grands Prix, but I still have significant limitations in my humerus that does not allow me to ride the bike properly and achieve the goals I have always set for myself.” "It is for this reason, that together with my medical team, Dr. Samuel Antuña and Dr. Angel Cotorro, and after consulting with specialists from the Mayo Clinic, that I have made the decision to carry out a new operation with the aim of improving my position on the bike that will allow me to ride without the current limitations. Personally, I have the maximum motivation and enthusiasm to continue working and to make the effort to return to compete at the highest level." "I want to thank all the support that my family has always shown me, those trusted people around me, the Repsol Honda Team, my entire medical team and especially all the fans who are always there with me in the good and bad times."
The Mugello race was a big learning curve for Fabio Di Giannantonio, Enea Bastianini, Maverick Vinales and Jack Miller for all varying areas. Digi qualified on pole and did not feel the tyres were in his favour with a fault and not being able to push, Bastianini was sucked into the slipstream of A Espargaro which led him to crashing, Vinales had a poor qualifying result plus always comes to life at the end of a race and Miller was caught out on the first lap being pushed onto the grass and having to go from 22nd back up the middle of the pack as a result of qualifying out of place. It was a mixed bag for all four of these riders suffering from different issues and with Barcelona up next, they all need to pull up their socks and come to the MotoGP party ready to battle it out. They were all outperformed by Rossi’s Mooney VR46 team with Marini and Bezzecchi believing in themselves, throwing everything at it and going hard. Their attitude towards adversity is a reason why Rossi has put them on those Ducati machines, and it is certainly paying off slowly but surely. The major bonus is having a race coach who knows the bikes, tyres, tracks, strategies and is feeding all this information back to his leading riders. That is a gold nugget right there! This is just the start of the Rossi legacy with his juniors taking the reins.
Fabio Di Giannantonio #49:
“First of all, it’s great to start on pole at Mugello and lead on the opening lap. That and the Mugello crowed were really impactful on this experience. Too bad for the race, as I think a faulty tyre made things a bit more difficult. I never found the same feeling I had throughout the weekend and I struggled in keeping the bike stable. We could have stayed in the second group and battle for 7th/8th place, but we still made another step forward.”
Enea Bastianini #23:
“It’s a shame: we had a great pace, and I was fast. Unfortunately, I got sucked into by Aleix’s slipstream and got a bit too quick into turn four, and that led to my front-end tuck. With clear track ahead I was really fast, while it’s always hard in the slipstream at Mugello.”
Maverick Vinales #12:
"When I saw my pace at the end of the race, I was a bit annoyed! Once again, it was my starting position on the grid that penalised me heavily because then in the race I was able to be fast and overtake a lot of riders. On one hand, I find that satisfying but on the other, it shows us that we need to be more ambitious. Because the potential is there. The feeling is improving race after race and we really just need a small improvement to take a substantial step forward and bring home the results we’re missing."
Jack Miller #43:
"Starting so far back definitely didn't help. After the start, I got trapped in the group and went on the grass at the first corner, finishing 22nd. From there, it was a comeback race. I managed to pass a few riders, although I struggled a lot to overtake. Then once I got behind Alex Marquez, I could never get close enough to attack him again. That's how it went today, but luckily we'll have another race soon to try to bounce back!"
The title battle is close, with Quartararo on 122 points, A Espargaro on 114 points, Bastianini on 94 points, Bagnaia on 81 points with others trailing behind including Johann Zarco, Alex Rins, Brad Binder and Jack Miller. The momentum of the Ducati versus Yamaha battle is sure to continue at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya. We look forward to bringing you more track action from this weekend’s race.
Protect your Motorcycle. Call Shannons Insurance on 13 46 46 to get a quote today.
