Pecco Bagnaia "disappointed" to have missed out on victory in his Mugello home ground

The fans were waiting to see their king again, who had accustomed them in recent years to leaving only crumbs to his rivals at Mugello. But this year isn't quite like the others for Francesco Bagnaia. The Italian is struggling, drowning in the shadow of his teammate Marc Márquez and unable to compete with the Gresini of Álex Márquez. Third in the championship, the No. 63 is struggling every weekend, with the exception of the GP of the Americas, where he won his only race—so far—of the season.

At Mugello, Bagnaia was on familiar and conquered ground, but it wasn't enough for him to challenge the Spanish brothers: Marc Márquez won easily and relegated his teammate to 98 points in the championship. Worse still, Bagnaia conceded 63 points to Álex Márquez, who was clearly detached in second place in the general classification.

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“Honestly, I'm a little disappointed, I wanted to give more to this absolutely incredible audience, regrets Pecco Bagnaia on arrival, from the Parc Fermé. Unfortunately, this season I'm not able to do what I'm capable of. It's a real shame, but that's how it is. We're continuing to try to sort it out. I've gotten some good information about what I'll need tomorrow to give this crowd a lot more."

On Sunday, Pecco Bagnaia will set off in search of a second victory of the season, his fourth consecutive at Mugello. Having qualified second, he has a chance of ending his bad streak, provided he finds more pace and continues his apprenticeship on a GP25 machine that has been giving him a lot of trouble. Álex Márquez, on the other hand, seems much more comfortable this season as he rides… the GP24, last year's bike, which allowed Jorge Martín to win the championship from Pecco Bagnaia.