Bagnaia calls Mugello win a ‘dream’, Bastianini ‘sucked into slipstream’

Heading into the race Bagnaia was the clear-cut favourite to make it two wins from three races, but after the opening lap, the race had taken a much different complexion. 

Bagnaia, who started fifth, was pushed down to ninth by the fast starting Honda’s of Takaaki Nakagami and Marquez, while also losing out to championship rivals Fabio Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro. 

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But after contact with Marquez at turn four - initiated by the eight-time world champion - Bagnaia started a superb recovery which saw him pick off five riders in six laps. 

After being stuck behind pole sitter Fabio Di Giannantonio for longer than he wanted, Bagnaia, who was trying to move forward while keeping performance in his tyres, finally got through at turn one, as was the case on Fabio Quartararo for second. 

Clearly his favourite spot to overtake, Bagnaia made his race winning overtake with 15 laps to go as he blasted past Marco Bezzecchi on the run down to, yes you guessed it, turn one. 

"This is something I dreamed of," claimed the factory Ducati rider. "For sure, Misano is my home Grand Prix but this one is the Italian Grand Prix, it’s incredible to win here. It’s one of the toughest tracks ever. 

"I started quite well but the problem was that I had three Ducati’s in front and I had to close the gas. 

"I saw a lot of riders overtake me and [Marc] Marquez touched me in corner four. So it was not easy. I was just trying to be smart with tyres and when you try to be smart it can be difficult because the guys in front of you are always pushing a lot. 

"I just used the advantage that we have with the Ducati in the slipstream and when I overtook Marco [Bezzecchi] I tried to open a gap."

Bagnaia shows that overtaking in MotoGP is possible!

Prior to the Mugello MotoGP, overtaking, or lack thereof, was a big talking point after a lack of action in Jerez and Le Mans led to several riders voicing their frustration.

With tyre pressures going through the roof, wings increasing downforce and therefore making it much tougher to get close, Mugello was expected to be more of the same, but that was not the case.

Mugello’s start-finish straight which is the longest on the calendar, provided enough slipstream for overtakes to take place into turn one, while Bagnaia also believes that more action was a product of riders with much better pace starting further down, as opposed to it being a straight shootout between title contenders.

Bagnaia added: "When you are going faster it’s much easier to overtake. When you are running the same pace it’s more difficult because details can make the difference and the wings, the turbulence; when you are speaking about tenths it’s very difficult and easy to make mistakes. "When I was behind Di Giannantonio it was the most difficult to overtake, I don’t know why. 

"He was pushing a lot on his tyres while I was trying to manage it. I think it was easier because all three riders on the podium had a better pace compared to the others. 

"When you are faster by three or four tenths a lap then it’s a bit easier to overtake."

I got sucked into Espargaro’s slipstream’ - despair for Bastianini as he crashes out

Another Ducati rider who had the pace to win and was making seriously quick progress was Enea Bastianini. 

However, the Italian got caught up in the podium battle as he became frustrated at not getting through on Espargaro. 

The three-time race winner in 2022 subsequently made a mistake at turn four which ended his chances. 

"It’s a shame: we had a great pace, and I was fast," claimed Bastianini. "Unfortunately, I got sucked into by Aleix’s slipstream and got a bit too quick into turn four, and that led to my front-end tuck. 

"With clear track ahead I was really fast, while it’s always hard in the slipstream at Mugello."