Bagnaia storms to victory at Italian Grand Prix

The title defender took the lead early on after a magnificent start from fifth on the grid and managed his advantage from there to lead a factory Ducati 1-2 over the line.

“Incredible,” Bagnaia said in parc ferme. “It wasn’t easy, starting from P5, but I had this strategy to go in from the outside and it worked perfectly. Then I started to push.

“It was difficult to manage the rear tyre well because I was pushing the front a lot. But finally, a win today after a weekend like this is fantastic.

“I love the crowd, it’s incredible. And I’m also very happy for Enea [Bastianini] who did a really good job.”

Starting from fifth on the grid, Bagnaia pulled off a magnificent move at lights out, choosing the outside line through Turn 1 to cut inside and take the lead off Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) at Turn 2.

The Italian started to break from there and established a consistent lead of around six tenths of a second over Martin who kept his title rival honest.

Behind, a battle for third was developing between Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) as the top four edged away from the rest of the field and held station.

Bastianini had the upper hand for the better part of proceedings, making the best of the 2024 Ducati’s acceleration advantage, until Marquez found a way past coming out of the slipstream into Turn 1 on Lap 18.

Martin saw a chance for a late charge and momentarily cut the gap to Bagnaia down to three tenths with three laps remaining. However, Bagnaia had it covered and responded to open his advantage back up and secure his fourth GP win of the season.

It was Bastianini who found some great late-race form. The Italian retaliated on Marquez on the penultimate lap to claim third back and went on to hunt down Martin.

Having closed the gap, Bastianini went down Martin’s inside through the final corner to steal second at the death and make it a factory Ducati 1-2 in Mugello.

“It feels incredible after a difficult period,” Bastianini said. “Something was wrong, but we have resolved the problem and today we were pushing really hard. I can be really happy.

“I slept a bit during the hard part of the race, but after Marc [Marquez] overtook me, I understood that now I had to push, I had to come back.

“During the last lap, I saw Jorge [Martin] really close to me and I thought, okay, it’s possible to get second place. I overtook him at the last corner and I’m grateful and very happy.

“I want to dedicate this race to my dog; she passed away a week ago and she was my baby.”

Martin had to settle for third and saw his championship advantage cut to 18 points over Bagnaia. “For sure I’m frustrated about the last lap,” he admitted.

“We made a big step, I was keeping Pecco [Bagnaia] on pace. In the end, I thought I could make a move for victory, I was closing the gap, but then I saw that I was too much on the limit.

“I am frustrated with myself because I didn’t close that last line and then Bastianini overtook me. But the podium on a difficult weekend is crucial. Now it’s time to rest and we will be back stronger in Assen.”

Marc Marquez’s run of six consecutive podiums came to an end in fourth, while Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) concluded the race in a lonely fifth place.

Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) prevailed in a fight with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) for an encouraging sixth-placed finish. Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) rounded out the top 10.

After a run of difficult races, Bastianini looked back close to his best.

In a box office last two laps, the Italian overtook Marquez, closed a one-second gap to Martin, and pulled off a last-corner overtake for runner-up, delivering the undisputed highlight of the race.

The reinvigorated performance could not have come at a better time for Bastianini who is already rumoured to have lost his spot in the factory Ducati team. With a place in MotoGP at stake, he has put himself right back into the window.

1/23: BAGNAIA STEALS LEAD AT LIGHTS OUT – Martin gets a great getaway from pole and takes the holeshot, but Bagnaia immediately beats him to P1.

5/23: BAGNAIA OPENS LEAD – The gap at the front is now up to more than half a second. Behind, Martin is sitting pretty in second, but Bastianini has M Marquez behind him who, in turn, is being shadowed by Acosta.

12/23: FIGHT FOR THIRD – M Marquez has been shadowing Bastianini for a good while now but couldn’t quite get within striking distance so far. The duo is edging further away from Acosta though who, in turn, has a good gap to Morbidelli.

18/23: MARQUEZ INTO THIRD – There’s the move from M Marquez who finds a way past Bastinanini at Turn 1 and slots into third. Martin is more than a second ahead now though.

21/23: LEAD DOWN – Martin is on a late charge and the front gap is suddenly down to three tenths. Behind, Bastianini too is finding some late form to challenge M Marquez.

22/23: BASTIANINI INTO THIRD – Bastianini finds a way back past M Marquez into third.

23/23: BAGNAIA IN CONTROL – Courtesy of an unreal Lap 22, Bagnaia is now comfortable in the lead. Bastianini too fired out an excellent lap and gained some ground over M Marquez. Indeed, he’s now closing in on Martin.

23/23: BAGNAIA WINS IN ITALY – Bagnaia brings it home, but the drama is happening behind him as Bastianini dives down Martin’s inside through the final corner and makes it stick for runner-up spot.