Fernandez defeats Martin for Mugello MotoGP sprint win
Trackhouse's Raul Fernandez kept works Aprilia rider Jorge Martin at arm's length to win the Mugello MotoGP sprint, a fortnight on from their Barcelona collision.
After the returning Marc Marquez burst from fourth to briefly lead at the start, Fernandez muscled into first place by the exit of the first corner and stayed there.
Martin got the gap down to four tenths of a second at one stage but Fernandez had an issue to his pace and won by 1.3 seconds.
Practice pacesetter Fabio Di Giannantonio picked his way forward from seventh on the grid to complete the podium for VR46 Ducati.
Marco Bezzecchi's championship lead over team-mate Martin is down to from 15 to 12 points as he lost his pole advantage with a lacklustre start and first corner and had to settle for fourth.
Marquez was edged down the field in the opening laps but regained some ground to mark his MotoGP return with fifth ahead of fellow Ducati riders Fermin Aldeguer and Pecco Bagnaia.
LCR Honda's rookie Diogo Moreira charged through from eighth on the grid to third on lap one and held his ground in the first half of the race, before his pace faded and he was elbowed right back out of the points in 10th.
With KTM not on the frontrunners' pace here, Pedro Acosta battled valiantly just to finish ninth. Tech3's Enea Bastianini crashed out mid-race while battling with him to be top KTM.
Results
1 Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia)
2 Jorge Martin (Aprilia)
3 Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati)
4 Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia)
5 Marc Marquez (Ducati)
6 Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati)
7 Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati)
8 Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia)
9 Pedro Acosta (KTM)
10 Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda)
11 Brad Binder (KTM)
12 Alex Rins (Yamaha)
13 Luca Marini (Honda)
14 Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha)
15 Maverick Vinales (Tech3 KTM)
16 Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha)
17 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pramac Yamaha)
18 Michele Pirro (Gresini Ducati)
19 Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda)
DNF Joan Mir (Honda)
DNF Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM)
DNF Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati)
