This weekend, Italy will have the honors of the Grand Prix. A home meeting for a Valentino Rossi who will once again wear a special helmet, as is tradition. But if the stands of Mugello will be devoted to the Yamaha bearing the 46, the track has been given to Jorge Lorenzo since 2008.
It is a fact. Since the number 99 has been rampant in the premier category of Grands Prix, the Italian Grand Prix has been a Spanish affair. Previously, the Doctor had scored seven victories in as many editions on the San Donato side. Then Por Fuera arrived and claimed six podiums in six years of transalpine campaign, divided into four victories and two runners-up places. Sorry! Furthermore, for the same six years, all the successes have been Spanish.
Lorenzo therefore makes Mugello rhyme with hammer, but from Jerez, Red knows he can be comfortable. He declared after his poorly started but magnificently finished Battle of France that this year he would be a favorite at home with Michelins that he feels good about. And Márquez ? He lost the championship lead at Le Mans and arrives on a track which is not among his favorites. Along with Phillip Island and Jerez, it is the site where he has enjoyed success the least often. Apart from a materialization in 2014. And it is not with his current Honda that he seems able to change the trend. An RC213V shared with a Dani Pedrosa now reassured about his future. The Spaniard experienced the joys of the podium at Mugello on five occasions in his MotoGP career.
Those who will also be expected around the corner in Italy will be the Ducati. We will not only have to perform well but also behave well among the reds, at home. The straight line of a route which also serves as a test track for the Desmosedici should highlight the main quality of the Borgo Panigale missile: top speed. This year, there will be extra fins on the menu. The fact remains that we haven't seen the two Andreas classified at the end of a race since Phillip Island last year, which is starting to be a long time ago. Last year, Iannone had been heroic with an injured shoulder. A pole and a very first podium had been collected. During this time, Dovizioso was betrayed by technology. The one who is announced as holding the rope to be at the side of Lorenzo in 2016 had finished his national meeting sixth in 2014.
The name of Maverick Vinales should also brighten up this Italian deadline. Coming off his French podium, the first for Suzuki since 2008, the teammate of a Aleix Espargaró who has regained his full potential will undoubtedly make more headlines in the transfer market than at the top of the timesheet. It is in fact at Mugello that we await a press release on a future that we promise him at Yamaha. A Yamaha contract that already has, and for two years already, a Pol Espargaro which makes Tech3 happy since he is at the head of the satellite pilots ahead of Hector Barberá.
