On Sunday, the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley will run at the Mugello Circuit. Ducati looks to bag another win, if not another 1-2 finish, on home soil. After a pair of disappointments in Qatar, Ducati as a manufacturer has had two straight 1-2 finishes, with Jack Miller winning the last two races and Francesco Bagnaia and Johann Zarco taking the last two second-place finishes. These three all sit in the top four of the MotoGP racer standings, also a first for Ducati, with Bagnaia just one point back of the lead.
Let’s take a closer look at this week’s MotoGP race, along with our sports betting suggestions.
MotoGP News: Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley Preview
Miller has to be the favorite to win once again. He won in Le Mans on a tough day for racing, following up his huge Jerez win in spite of two Long Lap penalties. He has the momentum he needs to get to three wins in a row, unless Bagnaia can pass him. Bagnaia led the MotoGP rider standings for the first time before Le Mans. He has shown speed at each course and has not made many mistakes. He has less experience in the top class than Miller does, but he has not shown many novice moments. At the French GP, he battled back from 19th place right after the start, moving all the way up to fourth in those same tough conditions. He also faced two Long Lap penalties but was able to deliver at the end.
Zarco is now back up to third in the overall MotoGP rider standings, and a win in Italy would be his first time atop the podium. Michele Pirro will ride on his team with him in place of Jorge Martin, out with injury. Pirro is familiar with the bike and with this course, and he has done very well in other wild card entries.
Even so, there are some other riders who could leave Ducati out in the cold. Fabio Quartararo delivered a solid podium performance at Le Mans after returning from surgery, and Yamaha bikes used to dominate Mugello before Ducati took a step forward. Jorge Lorenzo won for Yamaha here most recently, but Valentino Rossi rode a Yamaha to a podium finish in 2018, and Maverick Vinales did the same in 2017. The weather forecast is supposed to be dry, and the conditions should be improved this weekend, so the Yamaha group, which also includes Franco Morbidelli, could shoot up the standings.
Suzuki could also benefit from drier racing conditions. Joan Mir, the reigning MotoGP champion, had a double DNF in France, and so he plummeted out of the top five in the rider standings, and Alex Rins faces a ton of work to climb back into contender status. However, Suzuki has done well at Mugello in the past, as Rins was just 0.2 seconds away from the podium two years ago, hanging on the back of the Ducati tussle with Marc Marquez and almost zipped around them for the win. Suzuki is a solid bike for this course, and Rins has the experience and technical capacity to surprise here. Mir has less experience at Mugello, with MotoGP not having raced here in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aprilia is another Italian manufacturer that will bring optimism to Mugello. Aleix Espargaro keeps stacking up solid results, and Lorenzo Savadori raced well in the wet at Le Mans. Andrea Dovizioso could appear as well, and he has an extremely solid record at Mugello.
Marc Marquez rode well here in 2019 for Honda, and when he won here in 2014, he was the last rider still active in MotoGP who is still on the grid but not riding for Ducati to win at Mugello. He made an unusual mistake at the French GP and crashed out, but his comeback is showing more and more signs of progress.
MotoGP Betting Odds
Love betting on motor sports like MotoGP racing? | Xbet Sportsbook offers up to date Formula 1 betting Odds
