Marco Bezzecchi cried as he crossed the finish line and unleashed a sea of tears among the fans and all the members of Aprilia present at Mugello. , achieved his fourth victory of the season in the Italian GP after starting from the pole position and defeat the challenge proposed by the three-time champion Pecco Bagnaia and his Ducati, great dominators here over the last five years. The emotion indicated that it was not just any triumph, and that the Noale factory managed to win the home grand prix for the first time with the help of its Rimini native. On the podium, in a new double for the official RS-GP while his Turin colleague from the Rossi academy saved third place at the last breath.
“It’s an incredible feeling, I’ve dreamed of this since I was little, I have no words,” the winner commented in English, unleashed in the celebration with the stands. And he asked to switch to Italian to address the masses. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Mugello, we had a great time today,” the 27-year-old driver managed to say. In enemy territory, where Ducati accumulated three consecutive triplets, and favoritism in the current campaign.
“I’m happy, the team has worked wonderfully well this weekend. We have to continue with this progression and I can only congratulate Marco, because winning here at home surely means a lot for him and for the entire group,” agreed Martín, who remains close to his teammate in the championship standings. 17 points separate them when a third of the competition has already passed, with no more rivals than the Ducati satellite of Fabio Di Giannantonio who is 39 points away in the table and this Sunday was fifth.
The men of the official Borgo Panigale team are still very far away, suffering their worst drought of victories since 2014 just as the brand celebrates its centenary. “I gave everything for the home fans. It was very hard, I resisted Ai as best I could, and we deserved a result like that at least,” said Bagnaia, third after resisting the challenge of Ogura’s Aprilia satellite in the last corner of the last lap and having no victories since the Japanese GP that crowned his teammate Marc Márquez as champion last year. The defending champion was finally seventh in his return to competition 20 days after his ninth operation on his right arm since 2019.
Breaking down to cry. Excited as ever. Fulfilling the dream of his life
Marco Bezzecchi, unleashed with his victory in Mugello. Winning in your country, with an Italian factory and in front of all the tifosi is UNIQUE 😍👏 🇮🇹 🏁
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES)
“I’m happy, the decision to come back was brave because it’s a tough circuit to get hurt. We passed with flying colors, I had flashes of speed, but in the race it was like a mountain pass, little by little I fell behind. I didn’t have fun, this is pure and hard work. But I know that you have to go through this process,” explained the 93, satisfied with his return. He is 102 points behind the leader in the standings when 37 are distributed each weekend. Although he wanted to conserve and not take more risks than necessary, he was the one who made the most overtakes in a test with double function.
The first began with a great start by Bezzecchi and an error by Raúl Fernández, winner with Trackhouse on Saturday. The man from Madrid went long and fell to the bottom of the classification after starting second, and in the first corner it was Martín who took command at times. Without He responded immediately and Bagnaia was aggressive as in his best days. Pulling with all his heart, the Ducati Italian took control from the third lap and did not let go until the winner decided to change pace and escape to the front of the pack once the halfway point of the race had passed.
If the three in front rode at will and at a different pace, , who rode fourth for most of the test, and the Murcians Pedro Acosta (KTM) and Fermín Aldeguer (Ducati Gresini). These three put on much of the show and the action then came to the fore when Bagnaia suffered his tires fading. Bezzecchi tore off the stickers in San Donato on lap 14, and the next time Martín had reduced the second difference he had in the previous laps. On lap 16, the man from Madrid secured the double of the official Aprilias, and behind him the Japanese Ogura emerged from nowhere to take everyone’s notice. From 13th place on the grid to giving the Turin rider the bike after cutting three seconds off him in four laps, with no final prize due to a matter of millimeters.
In case there was still any doubt, the overtaking from the Aprilia to the Ducati is confirmed with the milestone achieved in Mugello by those from Noale, finally prophets in their land.
