Now Mugello is really starting to worry Marco Bezzecchi: the two reasons.

Marco Bezzecchi remains the leader of the MotoGP World Drivers’ Championship after Saturday’s Mugello, however, confirming his atavistic difficulties in the Sprint Races. Even in the one that preceded the Italian Grand Prix by a day came an underwhelming performance, at least ended with a fourth place and not a crash as happened in other seasonal circumstances. The Aprilia’s Romagna rider therefore wanted to explain what happened, also trying to predict possibilities and possible problems of his Sunday on Tuscan soil.

“In the first corner I braked a little too early, and this affected me a lot for the whole continuation of the race. I wanted to close Raul Fernandez, but in doing so I got a little distracted and missed the ideal point of the braking,” Bezzecchi explained to ‘Sky Sport’. Then, on the choice of soft tire, opposed to the average of the winner and runner-up (his teammate and rival for the title Jorge Martin), he glossed: “Both were fine.”

Bezzecchi’s real concern, however, now focuses on the Italian Grand Prix. “It will be tough, because at Mugello doing 23 laps is a real torture. I mean you struggle a lot on a physical level, even more so with the heat this year. It will be crucial to get the tire choice right, but also to set the first corner with a better strategy than today. But I’m optimistic, because today I was behind other bikes and in any case I didn’t suffer with the front,” added the Aprilia rider.

The Mugello Sprint Race, however, delivered a clear verdict: Raul Fernandez, who started from the second box on the grid, dominated the 11 scheduled laps with more than a second ahead of Martin and three ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio, third on the podium with the Ducati of the VR46 team. A success worth double for the Trackhouse Racing Spaniard, in his first overall triumph in a Sprint Race after winning the long race at Phillip Island. Bezzecchi, despite his fourth place, consolidates his rainbow leadership with 148 points, ahead of Martin (136) and Di Giannantonio (123), the only three riders so far in triple digits.

In Ducati’s house, however, Saturday at Mugello left more than a few questions ahead of Sunday. Pecco Bagnaia finished seventh, heavily affected by a revisable start.The Piedmontese rider, historically one of the best at the start, continues to struggle at this stage of the season. “You have to understand why I can no longer get a start right – admitted Bagnaia himself – I have always been very fast at the start, it was one of my strengths. Now instead, for some reason, I impenetrable a lot and this makes me lose a lot of time. Only in the stages of the start I take four tenths from Marc, an enormity.” Despite this, the Borgo Panigale rider said he was confident ahead of the long race: “In the race, if I start properly, I can close in the top four.”

Even more delicate, if possible, is the situation of Marc Marquez, fifth in the Sprint after a good start thwarted by the physical problems that continue to plague him. The reigning world champion, who returned to Mugello after operations on his right foot and right shoulder, told a touching backstory at the end of the day: “The best aspect of the day, for me, was being able to write the notes at the end of the Sprint. That’s no joke, because lately my hands were shaking and I couldn’t even write by hand on a sheet of paper anymore.” An encouraging sign on the neurological front, but one that starkly portrays the difficulty of the moment for Ducati’s Catalan, currently 85 points behind Bezzecchi himself. “In a single fast qualifying lap I can ride well,” Marquez added. “Clearly I feel much more limited in the race distance or even just when I have to push hard for several consecutive laps. I know that, in these conditions, when I’m driving I don’t enjoy it.”

The overall context of the weekend, finally, was also marked by the all Aprilia setting in the morning’s official qualifying, with Bezzecchi having hit pole position with a new track record of 1:43.921, followed by Fernandez and Martin to complete a front row entirely of the house of Noale. A domination that confirms the golden moment of the Italian project, now called to confirm itself even in the longest and most demanding test on Sunday.