As short as Sprint races can be, there was no shortage of drama at the MotoGP Super Saturday event in Mugello. Disasters plagued riders early on in the race, and although he was not immune to problems, Marc Márquez was unstoppable with another Sprint victory.
As It Happened
After being topped in almost every session this weekend by a non-Ducati rider, we were back to a regular Ducati front-line lockout at the start of the sprint. Ducati Lenovo teammates Marc Márquez and Francesco Bagnaia were 1-2, and Gresini rider Álex Márquez started in third.
Just before the lights went out, Marc was distracted by something to the side of his bike and failed to get off the line fast enough to retain pole position out of the first turn. Brad Binder and Johann Zarco came together in that first corner and crashed out of the race. Fabio Di Gianantonio was also involved after coming into contact. However, the FIM decided it was a racing incident with no further investigation.
Pedro Acosta tumbled down the grid before the second lap began, marking it a horrible start to the KTM race weekend. It looked like he was coming into the corner too hot and overcommitted, losing the front tyre and sliding off into the kitty litter.
After replaying the race start, it looked like Marc had forgotten to turn on his launch controls. Álex took opportunities where he could to get in front of his older brother, but eventually, he was overtaken. With all this drama on the track, the skies got darker and darker. Despite the weather forecast being sunny, the heat had built into black storm clouds rolling over the Tuscan countryside. Thankfully, the skies remained dry.
Australian rider Jack Miller continued to fall behind the pack, suggesting a possible technical issue with his Yamaha. Despite suffering from a partial dislocation of the left shoulder, Fabio Quartararo tried to hold his own. However, it wasn’t long until Fermín Aldeguer came up behind and past him.
Bagnaia was under massive pressure from Maverick Viñales. As he pushed his Ducati to the limit, he received a warning for track limits. In the last lap, Álex decided that it would be in his best interest to stay in second behind Marc. At the checkered flag, Bagnaia managed to hold on to his third-place position, making it another epic Ducati finish.
Your Nine Point Scorers
How Does This Impact Tomorrow
The grid resets to their qualifying session positions, and there are more points at stake to put toward riders’ world championship campaigns. With no further investigation into incidents that occurred during the race, no rider is being penalised or disadvantaged. There will be plenty of discussion about why Marc Márquez waited so long to adjust the bike’s launch settings. It certainly is not a risk that will pay off a second time in tomorrow’s feature race. We’ll be keeping an eye on the updates and weather reports as they come rolling in before the lights go out once again at the Brembo Grand Prix of Italy.