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We always knew that the Italian Grand Prix would be an important race for the championship, with a real mixed bag of winners at Mugello in recent years meaning that it’s generally a good track to consider who has form for the main European thrust of the season – and who doesn’t.
With strong results from some championship candidates and a complete disaster for others, MotoGP’s return to the iconic Tuscan venue following last year’s hiatus gave us plenty of key insight into what we’re likely to see from the rest of the season as the action heats up with three races in the next four weeks.
With that in mind, we have, as usual, ranked the whole grid based on their Sunday performances.
Our MotoGP ranking system is simple: the riders who we believe performed the best are at the top, and the ones who underplayed are at the bottom, and scored appropriately.
It isn’t just about the end result though, with pre-race expectation and form heavily influencing their eventual score – not just the points they take home with them.
This weekend in particular, it is worth noting that every single MotoGP rider was affected by the untimely passing of Moto3’s Jason Dupasquier, which left the paddock reeling and clearly had an impact – one that’s impossible to really measure – on how Sunday’s event played out.
Fabio Quartararo – 10
Started: 1st Finished: 1st
An absolutely textbook performance from Fabio Quartararo, after making maybe the best Yamaha start of the season, leading almost from start to finish, applying pressure to his main championship rival until he crashed out, then clearing off Jorge Lorenzo-style with the precision of a metronome to extend his championship lead to nearly a full race in hand.
A perfect 10 is a rare score, but given that Mugello is a track where Ducati has firmly been in control of late and given the Yamaha’s disadvantages on top-end power, Quartararo delivered an absolute masterclass this weekend. Hands down the man who deserved to win.
Miguel Oliveira – 9.5
Started: 7th Finished: 2nd
Coming into this weekend, we had hints that things were improving at KTM, but we had no idea that Miguel Olivera would be able to do so much with the new frame brought along in an attempt to fix many of the bike’s woes. But while some of the credit for the success has to go to the Austrian engineering team, he was the man on the bike and he delivered the goods exactly when KTM needed him to.
What makes it even more impressive is that he did so without showing his cards all weekend, clearly finding something a little special for Sunday’s race and running with it. A typically Oliveira ride in the end, it massively exceeded expectations and sets him up well for the rest of the year.
Joan Mir – 8
Started: 9th Finished: 3rd
Joan Mir’s middle name might as well be ‘damage limitation’ at this point because the Suzuki rider is so good at reading a race, seeing who’s in front and knowing when to push – and Sunday was yet another example of that sort of ride as he tried to close the gap to runaway championship leader Quartararo and to exploit Bagnaia’s crash.
It might not have been a win, but it was a very important result. Sure, he needs to start finishing ahead of the Frenchman sooner rather than later if he wants to retain his title, but in the interim, more rides like this one will help him stay within touching distance.
Johann Zarco – 8
Started: 3rd Finished: 4th
Given the strength of the factory Ducatis going into Sunday’s race, you’d have got good odds of Johann Zarco ending up as top bike for the Italian manufacturer, especially as he was seemingly once again low on race pace. Yet he made the most of his situation, never quite looking comfortable but relying on racecraft to keep himself at the sharp end.
Emerging as one of the star performers of the season, he’s back into second in the championship again and has proved that he’s going to be able to keep his momentum rolling.
Jack Miller – 7.5
Started: 5th Finished: 6th
Jack Miller has a deeply unhappy relationship with Mugello, with a record that shows an awful lot more DNFs than points over his time as a MotoGP rider. Consequently, settling down and concentrating on not making needless mistakes might well have been the only strategy worth pursuing at his bogey circuit.
Straight off the back of two wins and looking like a more consistent rider this year, he needed to finish more than he needed to crash out trying to win an unwinnable race. Mission accomplished.
Lorenzo Savadori – 7
Started: 21st Finished: 15th
The Aprilia test rider promoted to MotoGP star continues to impress. Making his MotoGP debut at Mugello after missing out on the chance last year, the only reason he wasn’t challenging for a top 10 was because of the time he lost in the early laps battling with Alex Marquez.
It’s not just team-mate Espargaro who’s making rapid progress on the RS-GP, and Savadori will be knocking on the door of the top 10 before too long.
Brad Binder – 7
Started: 6th Finished: 5th
It was obvious early on in the weekend that Brad Binder and KTM had found something, and that there was the potential for a good result on the cards for the South African – and he once again didn’t disappoint.
In fact, really the only thing preventing him from scoring higher than seven was that he wasn’t the top KTM, thanks to team-mate Oliveira ending up on the podium. But that’s not a reason to be disappointed after KTM’s key breakthrough weekend at Mugello, especially if it’s pace that Binder can replicate elsewhere.
Iker Lecuona – 6.5
Started: 20th Finished: 11th
The result might not have been his best in MotoGP so far, but Mugello was a very important weekend for Iker Lecuona, thanks in part to the lessons that one of MotoGP’s most inexperienced riders picked up along the way. Making the most of KTM’s newfound potential, he ended up missing the top 10 by a mere 0.006 seconds to Valentino Rossi.
But he also spent all race battling with the nine-time world champion, learning who knows what along the way. Less than two seconds from team-mate Danilo Petrucci, it was the perfect response to speculation about his 2022 position within the team.
Aleix Espargaro – 6.5
Started: 4th Finished: 7th
Mugello was a good weekend for Aprilia, but it’s hard to call it a great one simply because of Aleix Espargaro’s expectations going into it, with a podium once again the target for him – and the end result being far different.
It’s clear that he’s riding his heart out on the RS-GP even if it’s not quite the bike he needs it to be – but he’s dancing right on the limit nicely, not pushing too far to make mistakes but still managing to take the most from the machine. His time will come, but in the meantime, he’s going to be content with another top-eight finish.
Danilo Petrucci – 6
Started: 18th Finished: 9th
With the factory KTM riders upping their game this weekend, reigning Italian Grand Prix winner Danilo Petrucci needed to respond to make sure that any speculation about his position was limited, and he did exactly that with a solid top-10 finish that demonstrates well how he’s coming to grips with the RC16.
There’s a solid argument to be made now that, given all four KTMs suddenly found form, the problem is not limited to individual riders. He’s settling into his role within the Austrian manufacturer, and hopefully Mugello signals the start of something of a resurgence.
Franco Morbidelli – 6
Started: 10th Finished: 16th
Clearly, at some point in the recent past, Franco Morbidelli has broken a very large mirror, because bad luck just won’t leave him alone in 2021.
Once again caught up in an incident in the early stages of the race, he was punted into the gravel by Marc Marquez’s crash.
It’s a testament to his stubbornness that he got stuck back in and finished, albeit outside the points, but it’s not the way to challenge for a title for the second year in succession.
Valentino Rossi – 5.5
Started: 19th Finished: 10th
It seems wrong to be talking about Valentino Rossi finishing 10th at Mugello of all places as a reasonable result, but given his lack of pace all weekend, it’s probably the best he could have hoped for.
The reality is, he’s not going to do much better anywhere else this year (unless there are significant mitigating circumstances), so it’s about as good as we can expect now.
Taka Nakagami – 5
Started: 15th Finished: DNF
Sunday looked like a day that had much more potential for Taka Nakagami, after ending warm-up fastest and after finding some really impressive race pace ahead of Sunday’s showdown. But, leaving himself with far too much work to do after qualifying, he wasn’t able to utilise that potential as he was forced to work his way through the pack.
😱 @takanakagami30 has also fallen in the closing stages!#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/iaPPyto6vA
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 30, 2021
It’s disappointing, especially given the number of crashes he’s had this year, but it’s also a small sign of things potentially turning around for him again. Time will tell.
Luca Marini – 5
Started: 17th Finished: 17th
Not much to say about a fairly anonymous performance for MotoGP rookie Luca Marini on the Team Sky VR46 bike.
Struggling all weekend with rear tyre grip, new hotter conditions at Mugello will be another opportunity for him and the team to analyse what went wrong and try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Michele Pirro – 5
Started: 16th Finished: 13th
A pretty standard wildcard appearance for the Ducati test rider as he stands in for the injured Jorge Martin. Michele Pirro could have been rated higher had it not been for an off-track expedition that cost him a chance to come home inside the top eight. He was probably kicking himself for that missed opportunity, but it nonetheless shows once again how important he is to the Italian manufacturer.
Pecco Bagnaia – 4
Started: 2nd Finished: DNF
It was a tough Sunday for Pecco Bagnaia, and it’s hard not to feel more than a little sorry for him. Admitting afterwards that he was very affected by the tragic news of Dupasquier’s death, his head was never in the right place and a mistake was perhaps inevitable.
One of the big favourites out of the running! 😱@PeccoBagnaia is back on his feet, but his maiden win won't come today! 😲#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/Ro9otdlURT
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 30, 2021
It’s a shame, because there was a lot of potential there, but given Sunday’s emotions it’s also understandable.
Marc Marquez – 4
Started: 11th Finished: DNF
Quite simply, a rider of Marc Marquez’s experience shouldn’t be making rookie mistakes – but he did that on Sunday and as a result failed to finish for the second weekend in a row. It might not be unrealistic to suggest that his talent is writing cheques his body can’t cash as he continues with his physical recovery.
❌ @marcmarquez93 tumbles out on Lap 2!#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/nARUm7Ahbf
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 30, 2021
We know he’s still struggling with his shoulder, as a knock-on consequence of the injuries to his arm that kept him out of all of last year – but also in a joint that has caused him problems before. His real focus remains on what happens after the summer break, when he should get a chance to actually train properly.
Maverick Viñales – 3
Started: 13th Finished: 8th
A pretty textbook race from one of the two types Maverick Vinales normally delivers to us: blisteringly fast or disappointing from the start.
Sabotaged in qualifying by Marc Marquez, unable to get the bike off the line fast (as always), and then permanently playing catch up for the rest of the race – we’ve seen these performances time and time again from the factory Yamaha rider.
Alex Marquez – 3
Started: 22nd Finished: 14th
The younger Marquez brother compromised himself with a poor qualifying position, compromised himself with an incorrect tyre choice, and in reality taking home a couple of points was probably the best-case scenario from Mugello. Yet it’s still a long way away from his strong results of 2020 with no sign of light at the end of the tunnel.
Enea Bastianini – 2.5
Started: 14th Finished: DNF
So far, we haven’t seen the reigning Moto2 world champion make many rookie mistakes in MotoGP, but on a day when the pressure was admittedly high, he did just that by crashing before the race had even started. Running into the back of Zarco on the grid and falling off as a result, he wasn’t able to start and was maybe lucky to get away with it uninjured.
A bizarre incident eliminated @eneabastianini before the #MotoGP race had even started 😲#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/pnjjnyGvkG
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 30, 2021
It’s always the duty of the guy behind not to run into the one in front, be it in a MotoGP race or at a roundabout, and the blame is on him. He’ll never do it again though!
Pol Espargaro – 2
Started: 12th Finished: 12th
Really the only silver lining from Pol Espargaro’s weekend was that somehow he ended up top Honda thanks to Nakagami’s crash – but it was another tough one for the Repsol Honda rider as a transition he expected to be easy continues to be harder than he ever expected.
His race was compromised, admittedly, by losing a wing from the bike early on, but it’s hard to imagine that he would have ended up much further forward than 12th even with it based on his weekend’s performance up to that point.
Alex Rins – 0
Started: 8th Finished: DNF
Alex Rins needs to stop crashing when he’s put under pressure. It’s as simple as that. It cost him a championship in 2020, and in 2021 he’s gone even worse by now making it four from four. It’s simply not good enough for an experienced factory rider.
Four races without a point for @Rins42! ❌
The Spaniard slides out of fourth! 😲#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/YCx7kqEJZi
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 30, 2021
It’s made even more disappointing by the huge amount of talent that he clearly has – we know he is exceptionally talented on a bike and we know he’s even probably faster than his team-mateб the world champion. The answer is out there, but he needs to find the right people to help him solve the problem sooner rather than later.
