Italian MotoGP: Bagnaia leads Ducati 1-2 at Mugello

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

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