He started in the lead, but ran wide at the first corner and dropped to second place. He rejoined the lead a few meters later, but on the third lap, the lead slipped away again. At that point, he controlled the rider ahead of him, closed in on him at mid-race, and on lap 14 of the 23 scheduled laps, he regained the lead with a pass at the first braking point, where you go from over 350 km/h to under 90 km/h. He immediately pulled away, building a lead that ultimately exceeded three seconds. And as he crossed the finish line, a winner, he was moved.
This was Marco Bezzecchi's Sunday, as he took the Gran Premio Brembo d'Italia at Mugello ahead of teammate Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing), second, and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), third.
Risks and mistakes.
It was the Spaniard and the Italian aboard the GP26 who worried Bezzecchi. Martin did so at the first corner, taking the lead but failing to stem the Romagna rider's quick response. Bagnaia, who had taken first place on lap 3, held on until just past the halfway point, when he surrendered to the Romagna rider and Martin's comeback, which dropped him to third on lap 16.
The trio crossed the finish line in that order, though things remained undecided until the very end. In the finale, Bagnaia had to fend off the assault of a rider who had been involved in a four-way battle until just before the checkered flag. The battle between Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team), Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team), and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) was intense, with repeated exchanges, contact, flying parts, gambles, mistakes, near-limit maneuvers, and riders pushed out.
The podium was decided at the final corner,
with Marquez and Acosta, in particular, putting on a show for several laps. The reigning world champion ultimately finished seventh, with the factory KTM rider one place further ahead. Di Giannantonio finished fifth, having recovered after a less than stellar start.
The one who ultimately caused Bagnaia trouble was Ogura, who, after an aggressive maneuver on Marc Marquez with four laps to go, shed his rivals and even caught Bagnaia, who was third. On the final lap, under the final braking point, the Japanese rider launched an attack and took the lead. But he ran slightly wide, allowing the Italian to cross the line and reclaim the final step of the podium. Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team), yesterday's winner of the Tissot Sprint,
finished
eighth: his race was impacted by a mistake at the start that saw him run wide and slip out of the points zone, before rebounding.
Completing the top ten were Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), who at times battled with Marquez and Acosta, and Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR).