Mugello, Italy: MotoGP Post-Race Report
It was the race of the year with Jorge Lorenzo taking victory over Marc Marquez at the 2016 Mugello Grand Prix. It was action packed from warm up and right up until the finishing line with Lorenzo and Marquez battling like warriors. It was an unfortunate race for home favourite Valentino Rossi after his engine blew up and forced him to sit out the rest of the race. The crowd went from roaring in a sea of yellow to silence. It was hard to stomach for the locals and others that had travelled from across the globe to witness the Doctor attempt surgery and win for the first time in a long time at Mugello. He has not been on the top step since 2008. Another year of a non-victory will have to be added to the tally. There were over 100,000 people waving, cheering and screaming as the race threw unexpected surprises, plenty of calculated manoeuvrers and risky overtakes to wet the appetites of motorcycle enthusiasts once again.
Lorenzo, Marquez and Iannone were superb throughout the entire race. They held their lines, hit the apex with precision and battled through any issues that arose whether that was mechanical or through physical challenges by one another. Iannone felt as though he should have been charging for the win but had clutch issues and found the track to be a little slippery which caused him some grief. The same kind of feeling hit Maverick Vinales as his start was terrible. He went from the front row of the grid to 11th position within seconds. Both riders recovered their weekends to bring home some quality points and head in to the next race feeling positive about their bike set ups and chances of reaching the podium on a consistent basis.
Andrea Iannone recorded the top speed for the race with his Ducati machinery. He clocked 354.9km/h setting a new record in the championship. This is sensational and demonstrates the quality of the MotoGP technology that exists today. Ride of the day goes to Lorenzo and Marquez in equal amounts as they put on a show that had the adrenaline in ones body going through the roof. The quality of the two World Champions is magical. They respect each other out on the track and were not afraid to push one another to the limit in order to win. At one moment, Marquez’s elbow slider went flying off his leathers as they tangled with one another. The confidence required to race like they did today is not easy to master. Lorenzo was thinking of three things on the last few laps and they were:
- Stay in second for the points if Marquez passes;
- He thought back to 2005 when he was in the 250’s racing against De Angelis and thought about how he could win by applying the lessons to the current race; and
- He knew that his bike had acceleration performance much more stronger than the Repsol Honda bike of Marquez and was happy with his ability to beat him if it came down to that which it did.
Marc Marquez knew all along that the Honda lacked in this department and Lorenzo utilised his skills to beat the former World Champion.
In the Moto2 and Moto3 categories, we had similar battles with excitement and jaw dropping moments, as Johann Zarco and Brad Binder were victorious. Binder has won another consecutive motorcycle grand prix and not with ease. Every lap was filled with courage and the ability to stay focused. His dream of winning a title is in full swing! Anything is possible in this sport if you put your mind to it. Bring on the next round.
