Selection concluded, it’s then time for the Global Series and action changes from online to on-site as gamers compete face to face on Lenovo Legion™ PCs. 12 riders, three events, six races and only one crown mean it’s everything to play for. The first event sees competitors head to Misano during the Gran Premio Octo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, where they’ll contest the first two races around Mugello and Aragon. The next on-site event is yet to be revealed, but the season finale will, as ever, take place at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana alongside the final MotoGP™ event of the year, and it’s the stunning Phillip Island and Jerez the competitors will have to master in their bids for the crown. What’s more, it’s double points for a finale with a bang.
Repsol Honda Team manager, Alberto Puig, came out after the French GP to back Lorenzo by stating he still believes in the 32-year-old’s “potential, history and five World titles” – support that he is hoping to repay them for: “The Repsol Honda Team has been working very hard and I am sure soon I will be able to achieve some results to thank them.”
Piero Taramasso, Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheel Manager: “Mugello is certainly one of the special tracks on the calendar, its magnificent location makes it stand out, but it is also one of the most demanding. The tyres really have to work hard through the whole weekend, and we have to have a selection that can cover lots of eventualities. It can be cold in the mornings, before the sun gets above the hills and warms the asphalt, and then when it does the track can get very hot, so we need a selection to cover that.
The lightweight class will begin Saturday’s proceedings at 09:00 local time, with MotoGP™ FP3 and Moto2™ FP3 following at the same time they do on Friday. 12:35 is the time to tune in for qualifying as the Moto3™ riders head out for Q1, with their Q2 going green at 13:00. MotoGP™ FP4 takes place at 13:30 ahead of qualifying, Q1 for the premier class fires into life at 14:10, with the battle for pole position at the Italian GP getting underway at 14:35. Moto2™ qualifying starts at 15:05.
Last year’s Mugello round of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup was a stunner. Aren’t they all? – You say. Well yes, but what a stage, what a race, what a finish! It was Yuki Kunii who took victory by 0.031 seconds from eventual Cup Champion Can Öncü and less than a full second covered the top eleven across the line.
And this is also one of the reasons why Mugello is on MotoGP™ fans’ bucket lists. Other reasons? Well, Tuscany hosts fascinating cities, stunning mountains and lakes, breathtaking coastline, great weather, excellent wine, amazing cuisine, thousands of years of history and classic architecture… What more could you want from a holiday destination?
MotoGP™’s newest destination, the KymiRing, is edging ever closer to completion. Ticket sales have already started for the test in Finland on August 19th and 20th with work continuing at a rapid rate, whilst at the same time being environmentally friendly.
For the partisan crowd though, there’s more: Ducati were the ones who took the baton from the Rossi winning streak when they won with Casey Stoner in 2009, but they have won the last two too: in 2017 with Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati) and last year with Jorge Lorenzo. It’s a venue the bike works well at, and it’s one that would provide the perfect stage for ‘DesmoDovi’ to fight back against Marquez. The Italian has a lot more points at this stage in the season than he had last year and the year before, so Marquez’s form aside, it makes for good reading. Can he cut his seven point deficit to the number 93’s Championship-topping 95 points? And can and will teammate Danilo Petrucci, on the podium in factory colours for the first time in France, get in the battle too?
The men with some momentum after Le Mans, however, are winner Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), newcomer to the front Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40), and Jorge Navarro (MB Conveyors Speed Up). Navarro has three podiums in a row now, and he’s chomping at the bit to go one better. Putting all the pieces together to perfection so far, a win can’t be too far away.
Records broken, five riders wide into Turn 1, thousandths deciding the podium…that’s what Moto3™ have to expect from the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley. Every season, it’s one of the most spectacular events on the calendar as the long, long main straight sees the masters of slipstreaming shuffle the order lap after lap.
