The triplet that will give the answer to Marc Márquez

And Marc Márquez wants to re-engage in this fight, after the start of the year was not as expected due to that injury to the finger of his right hand. He only has 12 points in the standings and is 82 behind leader Pecco Bagnaia, but the man from Cervera has high hopes that this hat-trick will allow him to close the gap. “We are very far away, we have missed three races due to an injury caused by my mistake, and I did not score points on Sunday at Le Mans either. But it is true that we will wait to see what happens after these three races to say if the title is already sentenced for us or see if there is even the slightest possibility, “commented the Catalan driver on Thursday before starting the action on the track.

He also recognized that these three weeks off had been very good for him to finish recovering. And it is that during the last grand prix he still suffered from that period of inactivity. «I arrived right at Le Mans and now I have been able to train on the bike and pick up the pace, which is what you need when you are stopped for so long. Now I feel physically the same as when I arrived at the start of the season in Portimao. I feel strong and here in Mugello we are going to need it on a circuit with so many changes of direction”.

Ducati plays at home

Mugello is not a circuit that has traditionally been good for Marc Márquez or Honda. In the MotoGP class he only won once, in 2014. This track has traditionally been dominated by Yamaha (first with Rossi and then with Lorenzo) and in recent years, of course, by Ducati, who have won four of the last five racing here. Italian motorcycles display their full potential (in the most literal sense of the word) on the long straight of more than one kilometer and where last year Jorge Martín from Madrid broke the absolute top speed record in MotoGP, with 363.6 km /h.

The winner in 2022 was the champion Bagnaia, who landed in Mugello with a crutch that supported his battered right ankle. And it is that in the last race of Le Mans the Italian suffered a mishap with Maverick Viñales and his fall caused a small fracture in the talus of his foot. “I’m not one hundred percent, but I’m fine,” explained the current MotoGP leader, who did not want to give many clues about his physical condition. And that before coming here, Bagnaia had already ridden in Mugello with a street Ducati to test it and he doesn’t think the injury will affect him. “During changes of direction it bothers me a bit, because I can’t put all my weight on my foot, but in the end, I can do the movements that I have to do.”

If Bagnaia suffers from his injury, Ducati has another seven bullets to keep the Mugello fort conquered. Starting with the revelation of 2023, Marco Bezzecchi, winner in Argentina and France, and second in the championship, one point behind his compatriot. Or Bagnaia’s partner in the official team, Enea Bastianini, who returns to action after missing all the races of the year due to injury. And also the two Spaniards who compete for the Bolognese house, Jorge Martín and Álex Márquez.

The other brand playing at home this weekend is Aprilia, which has Aleix Espargaró (podium in 2022) and Maverick Viñales on its team as alternatives to the predictable red Ducati dominance, without forgetting the always competitive KTM and Fabio’s Yamaha Quartararo, now in low hours, but who was second in Mugello last year. The first practice sessions on Friday will already give some clues as to where the shots will go in this grand prix, where the MotoGPs start their engines again after three weeks at rest.