Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci
secured his maiden MotoGP victory on home soil at Mugello after edging out Marc
Marquez at the conclusion of a thrilling Italian Grand Prix. Petrucci held on
in a tense showdown, beating Honda rider Marquez by only 0.043 seconds on the
drag to the finish line, with Andrea Dovizioso making it two Ducati’s on the
podium in third.
It marked the first win on his
125th start in the premier class for 28-year-old Petrucci, who replaced Jorge
Lorenzo at the factory Ducati team for 2019. Petrucci led much of the second
half of the race after he hit the front of the field at the start of the 11th
lap of 23, as a pack of five riders broke clear of the rest following a chaotic
first half.
Dovizioso, Marquez, Alex Rins and
Jack Miller all followed in Petrucci's wake, but the Pramac rider crashed out
of fifth spot. Petrucci briefly ceded the lead to team-mate Dovizioso at San
Donato at the start of lap 20, but the less experienced Ducati rider was able
to wrestle back the advantage later that lap at Scarperia. Dovizioso was able
to draft back ahead to lead the final lap, but found himself squeezed by
Marquez - who benefitted from a double tow on the outside and Petrucci on the
inside.
In
the morning, Petrucci rode a 1min 46.056sec lap, surpassing the previous record
achieved by seven-time MotoGP champion Rossi last year. Dovizioso established a
new outright speed record in MotoGP, clocking 356.7km/h in the third practice,
to overtake the mark of 356.5 km/h also achieved at Mugello last year.
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