MotoGP hits Mugello this weekend – Preview – Who is your tip..?

2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round Seven – Gran Premio d’Italia Brembo
Mugello – Preview

The Mugello circuit has hosted the MotoGP world championship for almost 50 years – since 1976 – and this year, the venue will celebrate its half-century since its inauguration in 1974. Over time, its layout has not changed, just like its rural setting in the heart of Tuscany.

Located not far from Florence and very popular with riders, the 5.245 km Mugello circuit has nine right turns and six left, along with the longest straight in the championship at 1.141 km. Bought by Ferrari back in 1988, the track has been renovated to a high standard and has a growing reputation as one of the world’s most up-to-date, scenic and safest race circuits.

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) reached 366.1 km/h during the sprint race on Saturday afternoon last year. The all-time lap record was also broken last year when Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) became the first rider to ever dip under the 1m45s mark at Mugello, his marker to beat a 1m44.855 recorded in qualifying last year.  Bagnaia won the last two editions of the Italian GP.

Francesco Bagnaia

“Racing at Mugello is always an indescribable emotion, and being able to count on the warmth of all the Italian fans and Ducatisti on the track makes this event even more incredible. The two victories obtained here in the last two years have been more beautiful than the other, and I dream of being able to do it again this year. Our Sunday at the Italian GP will be even more special as we will wear the same colours as the national team! I’m excited and can’t wait to get on the track!”

Last weekend in Catalunya, Jorge Martin was not the fastest rider, but the 26-year-old still left Spain with an increased points lead in the championship. His willingness to take points in the Sprint – even when that meant missing out on the podium – speaks to a rider playing the long game, and his 39-point lead speaks to it paying off.

Marc Marquez, meanwhile, has one focus first: to qualify better. In France, he still managed to charge up to the fight for the win, but in Barcelona, he “only” managed to fight for the rostrum. Twice. With that, though, he remains very much in contention near the top of the Championship, and that’s more than slightly worrying for his rivals if he does qualify much further forward. Mugello is also enemy territory where a win would be a big statement.

Home hero Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) wants to prove there’s more to his current form than protest votes and dalliances with the Stewards.

Enea Bastianini

“Returning on track right after Barcelona is what I need to finally be able to put last Sunday behind me and try to redeem myself. Racing in front of the home crowd wearing “Azzurro” charges and motivates me a lot. Let’s hope the weather is on our side! I will do my best to fight for a good result and give a great show to all my fans and Ducatisti, who will be at Mugello this weekend.”

Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) wants to find that Jerez form to overturn team-mate Fabio Di Giannantonio’s advantage in the standings.

Marco Bezzecchi

“I’m always happy to race at Mugello, a truly special place. The track is certainly one of my favourites, perhaps my absolute favourite, some sequences of corners are among the most spectacular of the entire calendar. Then there is the atmosphere: we are at home, the cheering and all the fans. We come from a difficult GP, we will continue to work on the aspects that affected us in Barcelona, we won’t give up and we hope to have a great weekend right in front of the Italian crowd. I will also have a special helmet, it’s beautiful and I can’t wait to show it to you on Saturday.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio

“When I think of Mugello, I always have heart eyes: it is a fantastic track, and the atmosphere of the fans is magical, both those in the stands and those who animate the hills around the circuit during all three days. I hope there are a lot of people, neon yellow everywhere, we need all their support. We are close, we come from the first top five with the Team, we are consistent and this is a very important aspect. I want to do well, we are so close.”

Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) is looking for a step forward, and Luca Marini (Repsol Honda Team) even more so. They all know Mugello rather well. Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) is also racing on home turf for the team.

Aprilia, too, is on home turf. It’s not just Ducati who wants to raise the tricolore. As the “maybe now we’ll get an Italian on an Italian bike” echoes round the paddock from Massimo Rivola, everyone who could win or lose from that statement will be wanting to make their cases at Mugello as well. After an emotional weekend for Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) announcing his retirement, he’ll want to show his speed is still very much there at Mugello, and team-mate Maverick Viñales will want to flip the form book for the Noale factory back in his favour.

Aleix Espargaro

“I had said at the beginning of the season that these two weekends were extremely important for me. Barcelona and Mugello are two of the best Grand Prix rounds of the season, at home for me and at home for Aprilia. I’m hoping to find that same good feeling I had with the bike in Barcelona and to battle for the podium in Mugello. I can’t wait.”

Maverick Viñales

“Mugello has been a demanding track in recent years for me and I have never managed to find the right feeling. I’m rather curious to see how I’ll do with the new bike. I’m certain that we’ll be able to do a good job because this is Aprilia’s home GP. I’m highly motivated and we’ll be giving it one hundred per cent.”

Trackhouse Racing MotoGP Team arrives in the beautiful heartland of Italy for the first time in its short history, fresh from its double points score in Catalunya. The team is excited to be racing close to the birthplace of its Aprilia RS-GP prototypes. For Miguel Oliveira, Mugello has been a happy hunting ground throughout his career, with victories in Moto3 and Moto2 and a second-place finish in MotoGP with KTM in 2021.

Miguel Oliveira

“Mugello is one of the most special events of the year in the amazing scenery of Tuscany. The track layout is quite challenging as we have many changes of direction and that makes it really hard with these heavy bikes and all the speed we do on the main straight, which makes it quite difficult to stop for the first corner. But it’s a fantastic track. I have great memories there with my first Moto3 victory. It’s just a very special place.”

His young team-mate, Raul Fernandez, led the Sprint race at Catalunya before crashing out but then went on to score sixth place on Sunday.

Raul Fernandez

“The first back-to-back round is coming up for us. It will be very nice to get to Mugello, especially after a successful weekend in Barcelona we arrive at another track that I enjoy a lot. Mugello is different, it’s an old school track and I like it a lot. You need to be very confident as the layout is like a slalom, so you have to find the full potential and power from the bike to do well.”

Aprilia also field test rider Lorenzo Savadori as a wildcard ahead of the test on Monday as they look to take the fight to Ducati and KTM even further.

For KTM and GASGAS, there’s also plenty swirling about the future, but the bigger focus as the circus kicks into gear is simple: move forward from a tougher Barcelona after their form so far this season has promised more.

Twenty-year-old MotoGP rookie Pedro Acosta won the Moto2 contests at Mugello in both 2022 and 2023 but will face another layout to discover for the first time in the premier class.

Pedro Acosta

“I am super happy to be back in Mugello, a track where I have had good results before. Of course, it is a new track for us again, and our approach remains the same as every week. We will have to take it step by step, but I think that Mugello is a good track for our bike, and it gives me confidence that we can work well. Last week in Barcelona, we were competitive all weekend, and our target is to work in the same way. Let’s see how it goes there, but I am looking forward to this new race week!”

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), scored some solid points on Sunday – after having led and then crashed out of the Sprint – but that’s not why he goes racing and he’ll be raring to get back to that Qatar GP form.  For Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) it’s a tougher spell as they look for finishes and/or progress, and they’ll want both in Italy.

There’s also Pol Espargaro’s first wildcard with KTM, and it will be interesting to see what he’s testing ahead of the official test on Monday at Mugello and where he slots into the pecking order.

Mugello is a race weekend that the Yamaha Motor Racing staff always look forward to, as they consider the Gran Premio d’Italia their home GP. Fabio Quartararo has great memories of racing at the Mugello circuit with Yamaha. His brilliant win at the Italian GP in 2021 and his strong second place in 2022 underline why he is considered one of the most talented riders in the paddock. The Frenchman tested at the Mugello track about two weeks ago and is hoping that the extra data here can help him climb up from 12th place in the overall rankings.

After his Catalan GP Race was compromised by technical difficulties, Álex Rins hopes for more progress in Mugello this weekend. 

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“After Barcelona, we’ve travelled straight to Mugello. The private test a fortnight ago allowed us to evaluate our new aero package here with positive results. The extra data will come in helpful, and we are very keen to see how those of an actual race weekend will compare. We hope to make this a good outing for our team. Fabio is having positive momentum, which we want to continue. As for Álex: we found a technical issue after the Catalan GP Race which caused him to finish last. The fact that he completed the Race, despite the problem, is a testament to his professionalism and determination. During the Mugello private test, he was quite fast, and if he picks up where he left off this Friday, we think he will be on for a good race weekend.“

Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) and Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) also have recent testing data on the table, and a whole battle to be top Honda that rages on.

Local hero Luca Marini enters the weekend eager to embrace the boost from his home fans off the back of a weekend of progress in Barcelona. Recent upgrades and changes to the Honda RC213V have helped Marini to improve his feeling and close the distance to the other Honda riders, authoring a strong start to the Catalan GP where he challenged for top Honda honours.

Luca Marini

“Your home GP is always something nice and I am really excited to go there as a factory Honda rider for the first time. I really want to enjoy the weekend with the Italian fans and enjoy their support. We made progress in Barcelona, and I know that we can keep building on what we found during our private Mugello test for this coming weekend. It’s all about making this progress at each round and continuing to feel better and better. You can understand a lot about a bike around Mugello, so the weekend and post-race test will be very useful for us.”

On the other side of the Repsol Honda Team garage, Joan Mir is targeting a return to his early-year form. Despite taking points and fighting for top Honda honours in Barcelona, Mir is hungry for more around the Italian track. Mir’s best premier class result at the track came in 2021 when he finished third.

Joan Mir

“We have this race and a test before a bit of a break in the calendar. I want to extract the maximum possible from this weekend to recover from the tricky weekend we had in Barcelona. Everyone in the team and in HRC are working hard to make improvements and continue development. We have some ideas already from the test we had here, so let’s keep on going and enjoy riding.”

The 11-lap MotoGP Sprint race will start at 2300 (AEST) on Saturday night, while the 23-lap Grand Prix will take place at 2200 (AEST) on Sunday night.

MotoGP Championship Standings

Moto2

They might have only completed six races in their short time as a Moto2 squad, but the MT Helmets – MSI outfit have already cemented themselves as the team to beat heading to the Gran Premio d’Italia Brembo after back-to-back one-two finishes. Sergio Garcia took the spoils in Le Mans, before Ai Ogura then found the perfect riposte in Barcelona for his first win in nearly 18 months. Garcia now comfortably leads the title chase, with Ogura heading to the Tuscan hillsides now sitting third.

A response is needed then from two names in particular: Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team) and Fermin Aldeguer (MB Conveyors SpeedUp). The American never quite got going in Barcelona, eventually coming home in eighth, but Mugello is another favourite circuit on the calendar, so expectations will be sky high. And it’s a huge weekend for Aldeguer too after a costly crash during the Catalan GP. The pre-season favourite is now 46 points back in fourth, knowing a big result will help shift momentum his way ahead of a few weekends off.

All that’s without mentioning the likes of Jake Dixon (CFMoto Inde Aspar Team), back on the podium in Barcelona, and the home heroes on the grid looking to make their mark and join Mugello history.

Senna Agius was very strong last time out at Catalunya, finishing fifth on the low-grip circuit. That brilliant performance saw Senna score more points from that race than he had in all his previous races combined. Fingers crossed he can bring that form to Mugello.

Moto2 Championship Standings

Moto3

Colombian David Alonso (CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team) arrives at the magnificent Mugello in serious form, after victory last time out in Barcelona saw him reclaim the lead of the Moto3 World Championship. The 18-year-old has topped a jaw-dropping 18 of the 20 lightweight class sessions, and his eight Grand Prix victories have all come in the last 18 rounds dating back to the British GP in August of last year.

Looking to bite back is the rider now second in the standings, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3’s Dani Holgado. The Spaniard came home sixth in Barcelona but will be buoyed by the fact that one of his four wins came at Mugello in 2023. On that day, he clinched victory on the final lap of a thrilling encounter by just 0.051 of a second.

Hot in pursuit of the top two in the Championship is a pair of riders looking to claw back their deficit: Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) and Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets – MSI). The Dutchman is 43 points adrift of Alonso after narrowly missing out on a third straight podium finish for the first time in his career last weekend, whilst Ortola pushed Alonso all the way in Barcelona before having to settle for second. Still, it’s a third podium this season to leave him 48 behind the #80.

After some bad luck and illness struggles, Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was right back in the mix in Barcelona, and David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) will be one to watch after a third top-five finish in his last four outings. The home heroes, meanwhile, will be absolutely pushing to overturn the pecking order of late as the mythical Mugello offers the chance for home glory.

Australian Joel Kelso took no points from Catalunya, which broke a long streak of points finishes for the 20-year-old and saw him slip to a still highly creditable seventh in the championship standings. Countryman Jacob Roulstone moved closer to getting back inside the top ten on the points table with his eighth-place finish last time out.

Moto3 Championship Standings

MotoE

Round 3 of the 2024 FIM Enel MotoE World Championship saw a seismic shake up in both the standings and the recent form book. Two crashes for winner of three of the first four races, Nicholas Spinelli (Tech3 E-Racing), opened the door for Championship leader Mattia Casadei (LCR E-Team) to win big on track and in the standings, but the #40’s record-breaking podium streak ended with P6 in Race 1 before he made his first error of the season in Race 2 and crashed out.

In the ensuing battle, Race 1 podium finisher Kevin Zannoni (Openbank Aspar Team) emerged after a stunning, sideways final lap to take his maiden win, and with that the points lead. Race 1 winner, rookie Oscar Gutierrez (Axxis-MSI), came home second in the second outing to jump up to third overall. That means Casadei is now sandwiched in second between two riders who had never won before Saturday in Barcelona, with three riders covered by two points. Spinelli is fourth, 13 off the top.

The mission at Mugello will therefore be clear for both Spinelli and Casadei: no more mistakes, and home turf glory. For Zannoni it’s also home turf glory at stake, and a case of pushing to ensure he can stay in that fight at the front consistently after an impressive recent run. The same is true of another Italian, Alessandro Zaccone (Tech3 E-Racing), after he took his first podium since he was fighting for the title in 2021. It was no flash in the pan either as his speed has been building in 2024.

Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE) and Andrea Mantovani (KLINT Forward Factory Team) will also want more on home turf, with both enduring tougher seasons so far. The likes of Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE) and Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) will want the spoils they missed out on at their own home round too, and Eric Granado (LCR E-Team), after serious speed in Barcelona and a podium in Race 1, will want to bounce back after his Race 2 DNF. The Brazilian’s most recent win was taken at Mugello last season.

MotoE Championship Standings

2024 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar (Updated)