Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa will be the man to beat at this weekend’s Gran Premio d’Italia TIM in Mugello following two convincing successive victories in the previous races. His main rival could come in various guises, with his rookie teammate Marc Marquez continuing to shine at every race, and Yamaha providing a strong set of contenders.
Of those, it will be Factory Yamaha Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo who will be looking for the biggest turnaround in fortunes, after a set-up disaster in Le Mans left him in unfamiliar territory down the field. Lorenzo won convincingly at Mugello last year, though as the race in Le Mans showed – this does not count for much in the world on MotoGP™. Valentino Rossi will be hoping for a similar step forward, as he not only returns to his home race for the first time in two years on a Yamaha, but also looks to get the best out of his bike to impress the loyal home support.
One Yamaha rider who will not be looking for any kind of change is Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow, whose second place in Le Mans could be a distinct signal of things to come. Having managed the result with a fractured shin, the Brit could pose an even bigger threat after a few weeks recovery. Two satellite riders that will be taking note of his feats are LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl and GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista. Neither has challenged for a podium yet despite some good performances, hence both will be aiming to mix it up with the factory riders up front.
The Ducati Team is arguably the local star of the weekend, as a total of five Desmosedicis will line up on the grid. Factory riders Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden will hope to build on the positive weekend in Le Mans, as well as the two-day private test they had at Mugello before Le Mans. Ignite Pramac Racing’s Ben Spies returns from injury, whilst his teammate on the Energy T.I. Pramac Racing machine, Andrea Iannone, will be further into his healing process from an arm-pump operation as well as a knee injury. Official Ducati test rider Michele Pirro will make his third appearance this year, this time once again as a wild card on the Desmosedici GP13 “lab bike”.
Tech 3’s rookie Bradley Smith will aim to get to grips with the Italian track as soon as possible, whilst looking to stick with the Ducatis and be ahead of leading CRT contenders Aleix Espargaro and Randy de Puniet on the Power Electronics Aspar machines. They will be joined on the grid by NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards and Claudio Corti, Came IodaRacing Project duo Danilo Petrucci and Lukas Pesek, Avintia Blusens’ Hiroshi Aoyama and Hector Barbera, Cardion AB Motoracing’s Karel Abraham and Gresini’s Bryan Staring.
World Championship Standings MotoGP™
1- Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 83
2- Marc Marquez SPA Honda 77
3- Jorge Lorenzo SPA Yamaha 66
4- Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha 55
5- Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 47
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