Podium finishes remain out of reach for Pedro Acosta in MotoGP for now. The KTM factory rider from Spain finished sixth at the Italian Grand Prix in Mugello and again had no say in the fight for top positions. Acosta ran fourth for a long time but lost two positions in the closing stages. Teammate Brad Binder (South Africa) scored points in eleventh.
Marco Bezzecchi meanwhile made history: the 27-year-old Italian won convincingly and secured Aprilia their first MotoGP victory at their home race. In the overall standings, Bezzecchi now leads with 173 points ahead of teammate Jorge Martín (Spain/156), who crossed the line in second.
It was already Bezzecchi’s fourth triumph of the season – and the fifth for Aprilia overall this year, making the manufacturer more successful than ever before in its MotoGP history. Only the two Spanish races in Jerez (Álex Márquez) and Barcelona (Fabio Di Giannantonio) went to Ducati this season.
Francesco Bagnaia secured third place in Mugello. His Ducati teammate and world champion Marc Márquez made his comeback following double surgery and finished seventh. The 33-year-old Spaniard had suffered a fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot in a crash during the Le Mans sprint and subsequently underwent two operations – a shoulder injury was also treated in the process. Márquez had therefore missed the French GP and the race weekend in Barcelona.
His younger brother Àlex Márquez was absent in Mugello following a serious crash in Barcelona.
