MotoGP: Francesco Bagnaia has claimed his third successive MotoGP Italian Grand Prix victory after charging to victory in Tuscany.
Francesco Bagnaia ensured the Italian Grand Prix was exciting for the first two corners. Then Bagnaia ensured that it wasn’t.
Within 20 seconds, fifth had become first; while there were 23 laps still to traverse, the race was as good as over. Bagnaia knew it, too. From there, Bagnaia played puppet master, never romping away from Martin, but keeping him close and under control to defeat him mentally as well as physically. The gap ebbed and flowed, six-tenths of a second on one lap, four-tenths the next. It was all part of the plan.
The frenzied post-race podium scenes elicited memories of Rossi’s Mugello pomp, and while home-crowd expectation can stifle some riders, Bagnaia revels in it.“It’s like winning is the normality, and when you crash you are doing a disaster. I love to be under pressure, I prefer to be under pressure than to be sixth, seventh, 15th without pressure.As Martin’s faint hope of victory receded, Bagnaia’s teammate Bastianini was hatching a revenge mission.
After he’d been taken out by Martin in the sprint race – which the stewards deemed a racing incident and for which Martin wasn’t penalised – Bastianini’s retribution was sweet, and swift. Bastianini admitted the constant speculation over his future – he’s been repeatedly linked to Aprilia if his four-year run with Ducati does come to an end – has grated on him, but he was relieved to have been able to put that aside for an afternoon as he consolidated fourth place in the standings.“I want to enjoy this day because it has been really difficult, this period.Bastianini went from fourth to second in the final two laps to cement a factory Ducati 1-2.
“We changed a lot our strategy, which is normally don’t touch the bike, keep the same set-up,” he explained.
Marco BERTORELLO Brad Binder Maverick Vinales Short-Format Races Lap Counter Brilliant Start Race Tracks Back-To-Back World Champion BEAST MODE Familiar Feeling Francesco Bagnaia Race Time Final-Corner Mistake Penultimate Lap Reigning World Champion Italian Manufacturer Sprint Race Gp/Getty Images Clown Penalties Race Winner World Champion Pedro Acosta Italian Grand Europe Grid Positions Final Corner World Champion Strikes Grands Prix Western Europe Revenge Mission Post-Race Podium Scenes Finish Line Run Rolling Radical Change Exclusive Interview Crew Chief Germany Enea Bastianini Jorge Martin Puppet Master Agence France Presse Miracle Recoveries Race Weekends Frenzied Post-Race Podium Getty Images Inc. Benchmark Team Tyre Life Matt Clayton Hard-Earned Series Lead Title Rival World Championship Fight Final Turn Marc Marquez
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