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Danilo Petrucci takes maiden MotoGP victory in thrilling Italian GP

Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci secured his maiden MotoGP victory on home soil at Mugello after edging out Marc Marquez at the conclusion of a thrilling Italian Grand Prix

Petrucci held on in a tense showdown, beating Honda rider Marquez by only 0.043 seconds on the drag to the finish line, with Andrea Dovizioso making it two Ducatis on the podium in third.

It marked the first win on his 125th start in the premier class for 28-year-old Petrucci, who replaced Jorge Lorenzo at the factory Ducati team for 2019.

Petrucci led much of the second half of the race after he hit the front of the field at the start of the 11th lap of 23, as a pack of five riders broke clear of the rest following a chaotic first half.

Dovizioso, Marquez, Alex Rins and Jack Miller all followed in Petrucci's wake, but the Pramac rider crashed out of fifth spot.

Petrucci briefly ceded the lead to team-mate Dovizioso at San Donato at the start of lap 20, but the less experienced Ducati rider was able to wrestle back the advantage later that lap at Scarperia.

Dovizioso was able to draft back ahead to lead the final lap, but found himself squeezed by Marquez - who benefitted from a double tow - on the outside and Petrucci on the inside.

That allowed Petrucci to retake the lead, with Marquez now second ahead of Dovizioso, and Marquez was unable to get close enough to attempt a pass.

The reigning champion tried using Petrucci's slipstream exiting Bucine for the last time but fell 0.043s short, ensuring the Ducati rider claimed a popular maiden win on home soil.

Dovizioso followed in third while Rins, having worked his way forward from the fifth row of the grid, took fourth, half a second behind Petrucci.

Exactly six seconds adrift of Petrucci was Takaaki Nakagami, who passed LCR Honda team-mate Cal Crutchlow for sixth - which became fifth after Miller crashed ahead of him, giving the Japanese rider his best MotoGP finish.

Maverick Vinales, who made a trademark early slump down the order, also picked off Crutchlow with five laps to go to salvage sixth on an otherwise disastrous day for Yamaha.

Fabio Quartararo made a poor start from second on the grid, ending the opening lap eighth, and from there the Petronas SRT rider was unable to mount a comeback.

He found himself passed by Ducati wildcard Michele Pirro, Crutchlow and Pol Espargaro in the closing laps on his way to a lowly 10th place.

Valentino Rossi suffered an even worse race on the factory Yamaha.

Rossi was running 15th when he got tangled up with Joan Mir's Suzuki, both riders running across the gravel, and was down to 21st and last when he crashed at Poggio Secco on lap eight.

Franco Morbidelli had crashed two laps earlier on the second Petronas bike.

Mir recovered from the altercation with Rossi to finish 12th, a place behind Aleix Espargaro's Aprilia, while Lorenzo endured another torrid race for Honda, finishing 13th.

Karel Abraham (Avintia Ducati) and Andrea Iannone (Aprilia) completed the scorers.

Francesco Bagnaia made it a double DNF for Pramac after crashing at Bucine on lap 12, while Hafizh Syahrin (Tech 3 KTM) and Tito Rabat (Avintia) both retired in the pits.

Race result

Pos Rider Team Bike Laps Gap
1 Danilo Petrucci Ducati Ducati 23 41m33.794s
2 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 23 0.043s
3 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 23 0.338s
4 Alex Rins Suzuki Suzuki 23 0.535s
5 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda Honda 23 6.535s
6 Maverick Vinales Yamaha Yamaha 23 7.481s
7 Michele Pirro Ducati Ducati 23 13.288s
8 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda Honda 23 13.937s
9 Pol Espargaro KTM KTM 23 16.533s
10 Fabio Quartararo Petronas Yamaha Yamaha 23 17.994s
11 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia Aprilia 23 20.523s
12 Joan Mir Suzuki Suzuki 23 20.544s
13 Jorge Lorenzo Honda Honda 23 20.813s
14 Karel Abraham Avintia Ducati Ducati 23 27.298s
15 Andrea Iannone Aprilia Aprilia 23 28.051s
16 Miguel Oliveira Tech3 KTM KTM 23 30.101s
17 Johann Zarco KTM KTM 23 41.857s
- Jack Miller Pramac Ducati Ducati 15 Retirement
- Francesco Bagnaia Pramac Ducati Ducati 11 Retirement
- Hafizh Syahrin Tech3 KTM KTM 9 Retirement
- Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha 7 Retirement
- Franco Morbidelli Petronas Yamaha Yamaha 5 Retirement
- Tito Rabat Avintia Ducati Ducati 0 Retirement


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