MotoGP: Lorenzo Wins the ItalianGP Followed by Marquez, Rossi Retires

Jorge Lorenzo emerged as the winner in Mugello, clinching the title with a gap of 0.019 seconds after a ferocious last lap duel with Marc Marquez.

As in the previous seasons, the 2016 edition of the ItalianGP was quite interesting with lots of twists until the end. The crowd was rooting for the Italian star, Valentino Rossi, who started from the pole for the first time after 2008 here at his home track, Mugello. However, Rossi was not able to finish the race following a technical problem. His team-mate, Jorge Lorenzo had to start from the second row and he knew that a good start was important. So he did, and grabbed the race lead right at the first corner of the race, followed by Rossi and Suzuki rider Aleix Espargaro.

At the end of the first lap, Rossi tried to make a move on Lorenzo but he ran wide entering the first corner. The Suzuki rider, Vinales had a sweltering start along with the Ducati rider Andrea Iannone as they slipped to 11th and 10th position respectively. The Italian rider from Yamaha tried again to close down on Lorenzo with the quickest lap of the race, putting enormous pressure on his Yamaha colleague. However, the Spaniard showed immense resolve to hold on to the race lead.

The Honda rider Marc Marquez made steady progress, riding in the third position, and the battle for the lead was also working in his favour. Again, Rossi tried on the first corner and ran wide, followed by Marquez and the sequence remained the same. However, something unexpected happened with The Doctor as suddenly his engine blew, ending the race for him. Mugello went into disappointment after Rossi bowed out of the race but Lorenzo could breathe a sigh of relief as just 14 more laps lay ahead of him away from the victory.

It was the 250th GP appearance of Marquez's team-mate Dani Pedrosa, who was fully charged for action on the circuit. He passed Dovizioso to grab fourth, reaching near his Honda colleague. With three laps remaining in the race, Pedrosa made a spectacular move on the Ducati rider Iannone to take the third position. Marquez also took the race lead for once with just two laps remaining; however, it was not for long as Lorenzo regained the lead soon.

Iannone also responded tremendously in the last lap and regained the third position, passing Pedrosa. Marques also made his last try to win the race and took the race lead with just half a lap remaining. The climax was the most interesting as Marquez was ahead of Lorenzo, with a few bikes’ length. However, Lorenzo utilized the slipstream cleverly and managed a good drive out of the last corner to win the race by just 0.019 seconds.

Top 10 Results of the ItalianGP 2016: