TNT Sports expert Sylvain Guintoli believes the Italian GP will be a “dogfight” after Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) showed his pace to get the better of Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Ducati) in a battle for second in Saturday’s Sprint. Francesco Bagnaia came out on top, cruising to first place after stealing the holeshot at lights out before breaking away from the rest of the field.
Sylvain Guintoli believes the Italian GP will be a “dogfight” after Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) and championship leader Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Ducati) went head-to-head for second place in Saturday’s Sprint race.
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) won in front of an adoring home crowd after stealing the holeshot at lights out and breaking away from the field.
However, there was a closely contested battle for second place, with Marquez going past Martin at Turn 1 at the halfway point of the race.
Marquez secured second place, but Martin’s Sprint ended in disappointment as his front end folded, leading to a crash with four laps to go.
Guintoli believes the Sprint was an arm wrestle but insists Sunday’s main event will be a dogfight after Marquez showed impressive pace at Mugello.
“I think with a fresh tyre Martin is competitive and efficient today, but as soon as the tyre dropped a bit after three laps, Marquez had the pace,” Guintoli said on TNT Sports.
“It was a similar pace to Pecco [Bagnaia], which will be good for tomorrow, that means we are going to see another good race.
“Today was like arm wrestling at a distance, tomorrow they can be a little bit closer and have a dogfight.
“Marc Marquez had a bit more race pace and he was trying to line Martin up on the straight which meant he was on the outside for Turn 1 meaning Martin was able to hold position there.
“He was really good on the brakes and there was absolutely no way through, but obviously Marquez found a solution.
“On the next lap, Lap 6, he went on the other side, it is always delicate when you go on the right side.
“You have to be careful, there is grass and you have to go on the paint.
“It was a great manoeuvre from Marquez, he had a little bit more pace like I said.”
Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) completed the podium in third despite suffering from hayfever.
Michael Laverty praised Acosta for persevering despite finding it hard to breathe.
“He’s a character and he is struggling a little bit [with hayfever],” Laverty said on TNT Sports.
“It’s tough and you feel it with a little bit of breeze coming in, and you always feel it at those high speeds and it makes your eyes stream.
“If you’ve got hayfever, your nose gets bunged up and you can’t breathe. It’s physical around here, so he is feeling it.
“That was only 11 laps, he’s got to go double the distance tomorrow, but I think the pace he has is there.
“The overtakes were happening in those early laps. Diving up the inside into the final turn, he was not even drifting a metre off the apex.
“He’s so good at making overtakes.”
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