Mugello Day 3 Report
The last day at Mugello was amazing to say the least; it’s always like that: racing day really is another matter. Actually, our main thought was for the reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi who was recovering at the hospital after the surgery. A very nice and emotional present was being planned inside the main commentary booth at the Mugello Circuit, where people were trying to arrange something very special for the fans. But let’s take a look first to our full day at the track.
Warm up
In the 125cc class the warm up had Nicolas Terol taking the lead on his Bancaja Aspar Aprilia with 1′58.686 on his very last lap, with a top speed of 236.4 Km/h and a lead of 0.245s. Of course the Spaniard was followed by Pol Espargaro, as those two were always very close during the entire weekend. Espargaro took second position ahead of Marc Marquez and Efren Vazquez. After those riders, the only ones who could lap in the ’59s were Randy Krummenacher, Bradly Smith and pole man Sandro Cortese.
The Moto2 class saw Thomas Luthi taking the lead on his Interwetten Moriwaki machine with a time of 1′56.345 ahead of championship leader Toni Elias, Lukas Pesek and Yuki Takahashi. Fifth place was for Sergio Gadea, ahead of pole man Andrea Iannone, Alex De Angelis and Julian Simon. As always, in just a second we could count nineteen riders so everything was looking good for a really packed and thrilling race.
The MotoGP session was Dani Pedrosa’s show, seeing the Repsol Honda #26 being quiet for most of the time and then explode in the very end with a good time of 1′49.750, a lead of more than three tenths. Jorge Lorenzo was looking strong with his pace and secured a second position; Casey Stoner was third and Andrea Dovizioso was fourth. Colin Edwards, Randy De Puniet and Ben Spies were following while sixteenth place holder Hector Barbera was setting the top speed of the group with 345.7 Km/h.
Races
The quarter-liter class saw Marc Marquez triumph, the number 93 Red Bull Ajo Derbi made a perfect last lap to secure his first win of the season. The podium was completed by Nicolas Terol, still the championship leader, and Pol Espargaro. At the beginning of the race, these two last riders were taking the lead but lap after lap Marc Marquez and Bradley Smith joined the duo and a great battle unfolded in front of the crowd. Despite the pole position, Sandro Cortese fell on the very first lap and then definitely retired after 13 laps and another crash. One thing has to be said: those riders are so brave to get in each other’s slipstream in the long, exciting, and scary Mugello front straight. In the championship Nico Terol leads with 85 points, Pol Espargaro is in second position with 79 points and third is Marc Marquez with 57.
The Mid-class race was just an unbelievable one for the Italian fans; Moto2 really gave the maximum today for a superb show. Pole man Andrea Iannone had a great start on his Fimmco Speed Up machine and stayed in first position until the end of the race with a final gap of almost three seconds, that was more then double with six laps to go. This could have been enough for Mugello but the fans enjoyed another great rider today: Simone Corsi. The number three Jir machine was starting from 26th on the grid, but in the middle of the race was leading the group that was chasing Andrea Iannone. After all the overtaking he did, three of the them in the arrabbiata’s corners which is something exceptional, the crowd was really on fire and after the loss of national hero (Editor’s Note: I would say even world wide hero here), Mr. Valentino Rossi, they really needed this. Sergio Gadea made the move on the last lap, in order to take a spanish flag also on the Moto2 podium. Nothing changed in the championship; Toni Elias is in first with 74, followed by Shoya Tomizawa with 55 and Simone Corsi with 51.
In the MotoGP race everybody felt that something was missing. Not only the crowd but even the riders and after the fastest bikes in the world were aligned on the grid, there were many best wishes signs presented by the riders directly to the king of Mugello: Valentino Rossi. So there was no better moment than this one to get one of the biggest surprises ever experienced: circuit commentator Giovanni Di Pillo managed to call “The Doctor” directly from the hospital and after putting the loudspeaker on his cell phone he connected it on the mic, to get direct contact between the fans and the Fiat Yamaha Team rider. An emotional moment followed and everybody was screaming Valentino’s name. Then concentration entered the riders minds again and everything was ready for the red lights to be switched off. A great start from Dani Pedrosa saw him taking the lead at the very beginning, but his teammate Andrea Dovizioso made even a greater one coming from eighth directly to the front. Jorge Lorenzo was packed in the duo and stayed there until the end. Dani Pedrosa had a perfect weekend, setting the pole and then leading the race from turn one with a more than four second lead in the end. It was sensational to see him on the exit of the Bucine corner (Editor’s note, the last corner), he is probably one of the fastest riders in the world to raise the bike up and open the throttle. Jorge Lorenzo made a great race finishing it in second place, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso who gave the crowd a fantastic podium. A great battle took place just behind them, with Casey Stoner, Marco Melandri and Randy De Puniet who finished in this order after the chequered flag. Marco Simoncelli was out in the gravel on the very first lap, but finish in ninth position after a very good comeback. In the championship Jorge Lorenzo is still leading with 90 points, Dani Pedrosa jumped to second with 65 and Valentino Rossi is still in third with 61.
The incredible Mugello weekend is over now, stay with us to enjoy the exclusive content we will be publishing in the next few days and…hope you enjoyed the races as much as we did!
