Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez won the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello for only the second time in his MotoGP career on Sunday, to also increase his 2025 championship lead to 40 points.
The Ducati rider had not triumphed in the rolling Tuscan hills since the 2014 MotoGP season with Honda. Yet Marquez made Mugello his playground last weekend, as the 32-year-old got his third Italian GP pole position so far and converted it to win the Sprint and the Grand Prix.
Doing the double at the Italian GP also now means Marquez has won eight Sprint Races and five Grand Prix from the first nine rounds since joining Ducati for the 2025 season. He is also 40 points clear at the top of the standings to Alex Marquez and 110 over Francesco Bagnaia.
His Italian GP pole was the 100th of Marquez’s career across all classes and 72nd in MotoGP alone. It ultimately also led to rider #93 scoring the 93rd Grand Prix victory of his career on Sunday, as Marc Marquez beat Alex Marquez to win the Italian GP in a comfortable manner.
Davide Tardozzi admits Ducati ‘have to help’ Francesco Bagnaia ‘regain his confidence’
But while Ducati’s team manager Davide Tardozzi notes that the Bolonga Bullets are ‘happy’ for Marquez to now lead his Gresini star sibling Alex by 40 points and his teammate Bagnaia by 110, the Borgo Panigale brand’s focus is now on helping Bagnaia to rediscover his speed.
Bagnaia conceded that the Ducati rider ‘can’t’ attack corners how he wants ‘anymore’ after watching Marquez win the Sprint at Mugello on Saturday. His hopes in the main race did not last beyond the early laps, either, as Bagnaia rued suffering understeer during the Italian GP.
Tardozzi told AS: “I’m happy for Marc, but we’re really focused on helping Pecco regain his speed. We’re sure he has the speed to stay with Marc and Alex, and we have to help him regain his confidence.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Francesco Bagnaia from net worth to race number
“There’s still a bit of a stretch to go, but the victory will be at stake with them in the end. We have to understand why he can recover eight tenths and then drop back again.
“There’s something we haven’t yet understood to help him, and we have to do it because he has the speed to stay with Marc and Alex.”
Francesco Bagnaia has failed to finish on the podium in four of the first nine Grands Prix in 2025
Marquez expected Bagnaia to be ‘very aggressive’ at the start of the Italian GP, but the 67-time MotoGP Grand Prix winner also expected the 28-year-old to fade away after the start as he lacked the speed to stay with the Spaniard. Bagnaia finished the race in just fourth place.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Marc Marquez from net worth to girlfriend
VR46 rider Fabio Di Giannantonio overtook Bagnaia at Savelli on the penultimate lap of the Italian GP for third place. The 26-year-old’s late-race pace even put Di Giannantonio on the tail of Alex Marquez for second, but he likely needed a lap or two more to eye an overtake.
The Italian GP also now marks the fourth Grand Prix over the first nine rounds of the season where Bagnaia has failed to finish on the podium. He also ended the Argentina GP in fourth, the French GP in only 16th and Bagnaia crashed out of the British GP fighting over only P12.
In contrast, his teammate has only failed to finish on the podium twice this year. Bagnaia got his only win of 2025 after Marc Marquez crashed in the lead of the Americas GP before then retiring. Marc Marquez finished the Spanish GP in 12th after crashing at Jerez, as Alex won.
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