by S. Ancin & H. Mayor – photo: motogp.com |

The MotoGP World Championship is taking shape. The Italian Andrea Dovizioso took the victory home at Mugello, also home to Rossi and Ducati, after a steady and consistent race. It is the fourth winning name over the six races of the current Championship and the only one that has reached the top of the podium twice. He  has also been the only one to maintain a steady competitive level without ups or downs. But beyond Dovizioso’s victory, the race served as a confirmation of Maverick Viñales’ leadership.

Viñales is already 26 points ahead of the second qualifier; over a whole race distance, which at this point in the competition is very significant. In his début with Yamaha and despite his youth, the Catalan rider is exhibiting an extraordinary time and effort management capacity, attacking with precision and appeasing at the right times. Behind him, the Championship is shared out between a group of rivals whose performances are full of ups and downs and whose positions exchange  almost after every race. The race at Mugello exemplifies this very well. Dani Pedrosa, second in the classification, finished at  fifth position after a disastrous race which culminated with a crash against Crutchlow who almost had it out with him. Valentino Rossi started third in the classification and did well to finish the race as he was physically suffering not having completely recovered from his motocross crash last week.

But amongst all this swinging (let’s not forget Márquez qualifying sixth), an unexpected figure emerged. Andrea Dovizioso took the Ducati name to the top at his Mugello home, for the first time in eight years. Irrelevant up to this point, he is now second in the classification above the entanglement of rivals. Viñales simply acknowledged his triumph. Under those circumstances his comfortable and well tied second place tastes like a triumph. His distance with everyone else gets wider and wider.

Petrucci

The third position achieved by Danilo Petrucci deserves a special mention, after getting no points over the five past races. His was an excellent performance defending his position against the favourites and reaching that unexpected final podium.

With the favourites leading the grid, Rossi and Lorenzo fought ahead on the first laps but the Spaniard lost positions steadily (he finished eighth), and at the ninth lap it was clear one of four men would be the victor: Rossi, Viñales, Dovizioso or Petrucci. From then on, and after a number of take overs, Dovizioso lay down his pace and Viñales focused on keeping second place and securing the podium. Rossi, who  was unsure about taking part on the Grand Prix up to the last minute after his motocross accident, took fourth place as he struggled at just nine laps to the finish line.

Meanwhile, at the back, two battles were taking place. Bautista and Márquez fought for fourth position with the Ducati finally imposing itself. Zarco and Iannone, who climbed back from the 16th position fought for the 7th and 8th places.  Pedrosa was battling to come among the first ten when, at the last lap, he made a mistake causing him to crash and taking Crutchlow with him. Minutes later they had a mild confrontation which thankfully didn’t get physical. Mugello’s Grand Prix left four Ducatis amongst the first ten positions, two of them at the podium. It also confirmed Viñales’ leadership currently standing 26 points ahead of Dovizioso, now second, and 30 from Rossi that manages to remain at the top.