Italian MotoGP: Bagnaia leads Ducati 1-2 at Mugello

Bastianini passed Martin at the last corner to give Ducati a dream double on home ground.

Published on Jun 03, 2024 04:58:00 PM

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Francesco Bagnaia won both races at Mugello to reinvigorate his title hopes, as a near-perfect weekend saw him collect the maximum 37 points available.

Enea Bastianini pulled off a last corner pass on Jorge Martin to make it a double podium finish for Ducati on home soil. The Italian team donned a special blue livery (a nod to the colour of the Italian national team in sports) for the event, instead of its traditional red.

  1. Bagnaia won, 0.799 secs ahead of Bastianini
  2. Martin’s championship lead slashed to 18 points

Bagnaia wins Italian GP

Starting from fifth on the grid, Bagnaia charged to the front of the pack on the opening lap. And while plenty of drama unfolded behind him, the reigning world champion focused on stretching his lead.

Martin closed the gap significantly with three laps to go, but Bagnaia responded with another lightning quick lap to take victory. "It wasn’t easy as I was fifth on the grid, but the strategy of going for the outside line worked out perfectly, also due to Maverick (Viñales) running a little wide. I started dictating the pace from the get-go, but it was hard to manage the rear-end of the bike as the bike was moving a lot at the front, meaning I could only be effective for a couple of laps each time," reflected Bagnaia after the race.

"In the end we were able to get the win in what was a fantastic weekend, with an incredible atmosphere coming from the crowd I love. To witness the sea of people below the podium was crazy," he added.

Bastianini vs Martin

By this point, Bastianini had overtaken Marc Marquez to move up to P3, and he started closing in on Martin ahead. Bastianini launched an attack at the final corner to secure a dream 1-2 finish for Ducati. Less than a second separated the top three as they crossed the chequered flag.

Marc Marquez had to settle for fourth place, ahead of Pedro Acosta and Franco Morbidelli. Fabio di Giannantonio charged from P14 to P7, followed by Maverick Viñales, Alex Marquez and Brad Binder.

2024 MotoGP championship standings

Martin still leads the championship, but Bagnaia has now slashed his lead to just 18 points. Marc Marquez is third overall, 17 points behind Bagnaia.

The postponement of the Kazakhstan GP, which replaces the Indian GP in September this year, leaves a lengthy break in the calendar. The next round will be the Dutch GP on June 28-30.

2024 Italian GP results

2024 Italian GP results
PosRiderTeam
1Francesco BagnaiaDucati
2Enea BastianiniDucati
3Jorge MartinPramac
4Marc MarquezGresini Racing
5Pedro AcostaGasGas Tech3
6Franco MorbidelliPramac
7Fabio Di GiannantonioVR46 Racing
8Maverick VinalesAprilia
9Alex MarquezGresini Racing
10Brad BinderKTM
11Aleix EspargaroAprilia
12Raul FernandezTrackhouse Racing
13Marco BezzecchiVR46 Racing
14Miguel OliveiraTrackhouse Racing
15Alex RinsYamaha
16Jack MillerKTM
17Pol EspargaroKTM
18Fabio QuartararoYamaha
19Johann ZarcoLCR Honda
20Luca MariniHonda
21Lorenzo SavadoriAprilia
NCTakaaki NakagamiLCR Honda
NCJoan MirHonda
NCAugusto FernandezGasGas

Also see:

New 2027 MotoGP rules explained: 850cc engines, no ride height devices

Confirmed: India MotoGP race pushed to March 2025

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