This weekend at Mugello, we expect a real clash between the two Ducati riders separated only by one point at the top of the MotoGP world championship, Francis Bagnaia et Marco Bezzecchi. Also running with a machine from Borgo Panigale, Alex Marquez does not seem able to get involved in this duel at the top and will above all seek to put an end to the bad patch he is currently experiencing.
The 2023 season had started well for the man who profitably swapped his Honda LCR for a Ducati Gresini, with Argentina as the highlight, the Catalan obtaining pole position and a podium at the finish. Unfortunately, the following round, in the USA, marked the start of a series of bad results, with four crashes including two in the race in Austin, the first during the Sprint where he vomited in his helmet while he was 5th, the second during the GP, hit by Jorge Martín from the third turn.
Jerez only brought 8 points to the man who was starting to make a name for himself in MotoGP, then Le Mans once again proved to be as catastrophic as it was scoreless, in the Sprint following contact with Aleix Espargaró, in the Grand Prix by falling on the motorcycle of Luca marini almost to the ground.
Alex Marquez is therefore impatient to leave behind the unfortunate events of the last GPs, as well as the tragic events which affected the town of Faenza and its surroundings, headquarters of the Gresini team, even if he will first have to pay the bill for his action on John Zarco, Brad Binder et Aleix Espargaro during the first round at Le Mans: 3 places on the grid for the Italian Grand Prix!
To try to get things back on track, the Spaniard, ranked 12th in the championship, took advantage of the unusually long break of almost an entire month to carry out a test at Mugello in order to get back in top shape, both physically and mentally. His gap of 53 points with the leader is still far from being crippling, since there are 111 points to register, in the three coming weekends alone…
Alex Marquez : " This very long break allowed me, on the one hand, to rest mentally and, on the other hand, to prepare myself as best as possible physically for these three consecutive rounds. These weekends will be intense and we will have to give the best of ourselves, like at Le Mans, and I am sure that the bad luck will end soon. I'm looking forward to redeeming myself and we'll start at Mugello, a circuit that can be very favorable for me and the Ducati. »
