FERNANDEZ WINS MUGELLO SPRINT AFTER HOLDING OFF MARTIN
Raul Fernandez took a brilliant Sprint win at Mugello after holding off Jorge Martin in the final laps. The Spaniard stayed calm under pressure and crossed the line 1.2 seconds ahead, taking a strong victory on Saturday afternoon.
Martin finished second after chasing Fernandez for most of the race. Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the podium with a strong ride in front of the Italian fans.
The race started with plenty of action. Marc Marquez made a great launch from the second row and took the lead into Turn 1. But he did not stay in front for long. Fernandez, Martin and rookie Diogo Moreira all passed him early in the race.
Di Giannantonio was next to attack Marquez. He made his move at Turn 12 and pushed Marquez down to fifth place. Marco Bezzecchi, who started from pole, had a slow start and dropped to sixth. On Lap 2, Bezzecchi also passed Marquez at the final corner.
By the end of Lap 3, Fernandez was leading Martin by half a second. Behind them, Di Giannantonio moved past Moreira with a clean move at Arrabbiata 1. At that point, he was 1.4 seconds behind the leading pair.
On Lap 4, Bezzecchi passed Moreira and moved into fourth place. But by then, he was already more than three seconds behind Fernandez and almost one second behind Di Giannantonio.
Further back, Enea Bastianini crashed at Turn 10 while fighting to stay ahead of Pedro Acosta. Soon after, Franco Morbidelli also went into the gravel at the same corner.
With four laps to go, Fernandez still led Martin by seven tenths of a second. Martin kept pushing and reduced the gap to just under half a second with three laps remaining. It looked like he might have a chance to fight for the win.
But Fernandez responded well. He kept Martin under control and rebuilt his gap. On the penultimate lap, he increased his lead to eight tenths, giving himself breathing space for the final lap.
Fernandez then completed a clean and controlled ride to take the Sprint victory. Martin finished second and gained some useful points in the Championship fight. Di Giannantonio finished third after starting seventh, making it a strong comeback ride for the Italian.
Bezzecchi finished fourth after losing ground at the start. It was not the result he wanted from pole position, but he still scored important points after a difficult opening lap.
Marc Marquez finished fifth on his return to Sprint action. Fermin Aldeguer took sixth, while Francesco Bagnaia recovered to seventh after a poor start.
Ai Ogura finished eighth, and Acosta took the final point in ninth. Acosta had been fighting higher up the order, but he lost places to Bagnaia and Ogura in the closing laps.
The Sprint belonged to Fernandez. He took the lead early, managed the pressure from Martin, and delivered one of the strongest rides of his MotoGP career.
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