Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1501265
But Bagnaia still had to outperform the seven other Bologna bikes. Yes, Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) kept him honest throughout race two to prevent this being a total whitewash. But outright victory was never in doubt once the reigning champ clicked another gear on lap 14. With Honda and Yamaha, once again, floundering in what was a desperate week - end for the Japanese factories, it appears Bagnaia will retain his crown if he keeps a number of Satellite Ducatis at bay. On this evidence, he's more than up to the task. And Saturday had indicated Bagnaia's biggest threat would be Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Mugello has been a happy hunting ground for Ducati in the past. But never to this extent. Had Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) not carelessly crashed out of third place in the feature race, the Bologna bikes would have occupied the top five places on both Saturday and Sunday. The other manufactur - ers couldn't get close. "The thing I like but hate the most is how easy you see them ride," said Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) of the Ducati men. "Even Pecco's pole position lap, he had no movement at all. He looked like an F1 car, the stabil - ity that they have, the amount of power they're able to put on the ground. It's crazy." ROUND 6 / JUNE 9-11, 2023 MUGELLO CIRCUIT / TUSCANY, ITALY MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP P92 21 FRANCO MORBIDELLI 16TH/10TH MOTOGP "It was a nice race," said Yamaha's Franco Morbidelli who was the top-finisher on a Japanese manufac- turer. "I could engage in some fights in the beginning. I was believing in something good, but then the front pressure went up again, and I needed to step it down. In the end I brought the bike home with a top-10 result. We know that, even if the position is not what we want it to be, we are doing the maximum, and that we are doing good work at the race. But we need to keep going because we know it's not enough." 20 FABIO QUARTARARO 10TH/11TH MOTOGP Fabio Quartararo finished right behind his Yamaha teammate. "We couldn't make a great race today," Quartararo said. "I noticed already this morning that I was not feeling so great on the bike. The tire choice also didn't work out. We should have gone with the soft rear tire instead of the medium for the race. We are having a tough moment." MYOWNRACE The home hero won both the Sprint race and Sunday's main race.