Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) last tasted victory at the Emilia-Romanga round of the 2021 season. Back on Italian soil and positioned slap bang in the middle of the front row, Sunday could see the end of his victory-less streak in the very same nation where the dry spell started! Find out more in 10 things you need to know ahead of race day at the Italian Grand Prix.
1) Championship leader Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) qualified on pole for the 14th time in MotoGP (21st overall in GP racing) setting a new all-time lap record at Mugello. Bagnaia is the sixth different polesitter over the last six events here. On his 13 previous poles, he went on to finish on the podium eight times, including five wins. After taking his third Sprint win, he will now be aiming to take his third GP win of the season (along with Portugal and Spain).
2) Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) qualified second for his third front row on what is his third start of the season so far, along with Portugal when he took pole and France when he also qualified second. He finished P7 in the Sprint, and he will be aiming to win his first Grand Prix race since Emilia-Romagna 2021 (595 days ago) and to score points in a Grand Prix race for the first time this year.
3) After passing through Q1, Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) qualified third which is the second time he has qualified within the top three along with Argentina, when he took his maiden pole. He will start from sixth as he has was given a 3-place grid penalty at the French GP. This is the first time both Alex and Marc have qualified within the top three in MotoGP. He crashed out at the first corner in the Sprint in an incident with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), but will now be aiming to take his maiden premier class win.
4) With Bagnaia and Alex Marquez, it’s the 46th race in a row with at least one Ducati in the top three in qualifying. With Bagnaia, Marco Bezzecchi, Jorge Martin, Johann Zarco and Marini, it’s the first Ducati 1-2-3-4-5 in a Sprint.
5) After passing through Q1, Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) qualified P5 (and starts from fourth) for KTM’s best MotoGP™ qualifying at Mugello. He finished sixth in the Sprint and remains in the running to make MotoGP history on Sunday by taking Grand Prix wins with three different factories (after already winning with Honda and Ducati).
6) Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) qualified P6 (and starts P5). It’s the fourth time he’s qualified in the top six this season. He finished third in the Sprint for his fourth Sprint podium and will be aiming to take his second MotoGP™ win after Styria 2021.
7) Second in the Championship and GP winner last time out in France, Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) qualified P7 which is the fourth time so far this year he has failed to qualify within the top six. He finished second in the Sprint and will be aiming to take his third MotoGP™ win on Sunday, as well as his first in back-to-back races in the class.
8) Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who crashed in Q2, qualified 11th and equalled his second-worst qualifying this season from Americas. He finished P11 in the Sprint after serving a Long Lap penalty following the first corner incident with Alex Marquez. He will now be aiming to take his third MotoGP win along with Brno 2020 and Austria 2021. During the Sprint, Binder set a new MotoGP top speed record with 366.1 km/h, equivalent to 101.69 m/s.
9) Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) has qualified 13th for his worst qualifying since has was 17th in Thailand last year. He finished P13 in the Sprint but like Miller, is in the running to make MotoGP history by taking GP wins with three factories (after already winning with Suzuki and Yamaha). He could also take a second podium in Mugello after a P2 in 2017.
10) Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was in Q1 for the fourth time so far this year along with Argentina, Spain and France, which is already as many times as between 2019 and 2022. He missed out on Q2 for the fourth time in the class and third time in a row. He qualified 15th, his worst qualifying result in the class in Mugello, and finished P10 in the Sprint. If he wins on Sunday, it would be his first Grand Prix win since Germany last year.