Heading into the race Bagnaia was the clear-cut favourite to make it two wi♌ns from three races, but after the opening lap, the race had taken a much different complexion.ꩵ 

Bagnaia, who started fifth, was pushed down to ninth by the fast starting Honda’s of Takaaki Nakagami and M✨arquez, while also losing out to championship rivals Fabio Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro. 

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But after contact with Marquez at turn four - initiated by the eight-time world champion - Bagnaia started a superb rec🍷overy which saw him pick off five riders in six laps. 

After being stuck behind pole sitter Fabio Di Giannantonio for♌ longer than he wanted, Bagnaia, who was trying to move forward while keeping performance in his tyres, finally got through ꦫat turn one, as was the case on Fabio Quartararo for second. 

Clearl📖y his favourite spot to overtake, Bagnaia made his race winning overtake with 15 laps to go as he blasted past Marco Bezzecchi on the run down to, yes you guessed it, turn one. 

"This is something𓆉 I dreamed of," claimed the factory Ducati rider. "For sure, Misano is my home Grand Prix but this one is the Italian Grand Prix, it’s incredible to win here. It’s one of the toughest tracks ever. 

"I started quite well but the problem꧒ was that I had three Ducati’s in front and🃏 I had to close the gas. 

"I saw a lot of riders overtake me and [Marc] Marquez touched me in corner four. So it was not easy. I was just trying to be smart with tyres and when you try to be smart it can be difficult because the guys in front of you are always push🍸ing a lot. 

"I just used the advantage that we have with the Ducati in the slipstream and when I overtook Marco [Bezzecchi] I tried t♔o open a gap."

Bagnaia shows that overtaking in MotoGP is possible!

Pr💃ior to the Mugello MotoGP, overtaking, or lack thereof, was a big talking point after a lack of action in Jerez and Le Mans led to𒁃 several riders voicing their frustration.

With tyre pressures going through the roof, wings increasওing downforce and therefore making it much tougher to get close, Mugello was expected to be more of the same, but that was ꧃not the case.

Mugello’s start-finish straight which is the longest on the calendar, provided enough slipstream for overtakes to take place into turn one, while Bagnaia also believes that more action was a product of riders with much better pace starting further down, as opposed to it beiꦏng a straight shootout betwe♐en title contenders.

Bagnaia added: "When you are going faster it’s much easier to overtake. When you are running the same pace it’s more difficult because details can make the difference and the wings, the turbulence; when you are sp🔴eaking about tenths it’s very difficult and easy to make mistakes. "When I was behind Di Giannantonio it was the most difficult to overtake, I don’t know why. 

"He was pushing a lot on his tyres while I was trying to manage it. I think it was easier because all three riders on the podium had ♐a better pace compared to the others.&nb🎀sp;

"When you are faster by three or four tenths a lap then it’s a bi𒁏t easier to overtake."

I got sucked into Espargaro’s slipstream’ - despair for Bastianini as he crashes out

Another Ducati rider who had the pace to win and was ꦉmaking seriously quick progress was Enea Bastianini. 

However, the Italian got ♑caught up in the podium battle as he became frustrated at not getting through on Espargaro. 

The🌠 three-time race winner in 2022 subsequently made a mistake ❀at turn four which ended his chances. 

"It’s a shame: we had a great pace, and I was fast," claimed Bastianini. "Unfortunately, I got sucked into by Aleix’s slipstream𝐆 and got a bit too quick into turn four, and that led to my front-end tuck.&nb🌱sp;

"With clear track ahead I was really fast, while it’s always hard💙 ওin the slipstream at Mugello."