“It was like Mugello from the past!”

Another cracking weekend of MotoGP™ action has been and gone and it’s safe to say the Italian GP was full of talking points. Here are a few we’ve picked out from across the four days at the magnificent Mugello.

In Thursday’s pre-event Press Conference, this is what the Repsol Honda Team star had to say about his potential future after former teammate Jorge Lorenzo suggested the #93 could end up at Ducati.

“I have a contract next year with Honda and I am fully committed to them because it will always be my Plan A. But it’s true I will always look for a winning project, doesn’t matter the colours, the names, where… I know the years are passing and it is something that every rider already knows. I took my first surgery in the arm to try and come back to my full physical condition, now I am, so I am ready to fight for a Championship. let’s see. My Plan A will always be Honda.”

The South African set a new all-time speed record at Mugello on Saturday, here’s what he had to say to the media about it on the same evening.

“My bike is fast! I can pass people at the end of the straight. So that is one thing I can keep in my pocket which is fantastic. The bike is working well [but] there are some small things I want to improve for tomorrow. I think today we were in for a good result. I saw that on the last lap I had the same time as the front guys. If I can somehow stay out of trouble tomorrow then I think I can do a good job.”

After Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) and Alex Rins (LCR Honda Castrol) missed Sunday’s GP through injuries, Marc Marquez then crashed in the race when fighting for a podium. The eight-time World Champion admits Honda riders are crashing too much, but it’s because they all have a winning mentality.

“In this circuit I was trying to control a lot myself because I know that a crash with high speed normally you get injured like Mir and Rins. But we are crashing too much.

“Honda has riders with a winning mentality and if you put riders with a winning mentality and you don’t have the chance to be there, the problem is that you will crash more and more time because we’re pushing more than the others to be on the lap times. And this is what happened.”

Morbidelli’s future has been a hot topic all season. Mugello saw the Italian beat Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ teammate Fabio Quartararo, which – from the outside – looks to be a result which will help his cause to stay at Yamaha in 2024. Here’s how Morbidelli reacted (link above). 

Despite riding injured, the Mooney VR46 Racing Team Italian was in the hunt for a dream Mugello podium throughout Sunday’s race. In the end, he narrowly missed out to a hard charging Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing).

“I didn’t expect this kind of result. I started very well and starting from the first row helps you a lot for the management of the race. It’s a much easier race. I tried to give everything. I make a mistake trying to overtake Jack in the Casanova-Savelli because then Martin overtook me and we lose a lot of time with Jack. Because if I could stay in the slipstream of Martin for more than half the race, for sure I could manage a little bit more my body. Because at the end, the last four or five laps, I didn’t have enough strength to keep the grip tight, especially when the bike shakes in the breaking of Turn 1 and the exit of Biondetti 2, and also in all the acceleration, it was really, really difficult.

“Behind Johann, I tried everything because I wanted a lot this podium, because it’s a dream to jump on the point here in Mugello, because it’s the best place in the world to make a podium. But we will try to repeat and achieve this target next year.”

Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and rocketship starts are becoming the norm in MotoGP™ in 2023. And at Mugello, it was the same. Sunday’s launch was so good, Miller admitted he even threw out a hand in celebration.

“I did a fantastic start, an amazing jump, I almost passed Pecco before he started to move. I even threw the hand up on the air to celebrate the start. I don’t know if you guys, you caught that.” (We certainly did, Jack).

After a perfect weekend, the reigning World Champion praised the support he received as the fans flocked to see their new hero claim maximum points on home turf.

“I’m happy. For sure is the best weekend so far. Pole position, win of the sprint, win of the grand prix. For me it’s the best way possible to do a weekend in Italy. I want to say thanks to all the fans because looking at the grandstands, looking around the track was incredible today. It was like Mugello in the past.

“I really want to say thanks to all the people that came yesterday or today. Was unbelievable. I really enjoyed the weekend. I really enjoyed the work we did to arrive at this performance. Today the race was quite tough, really, but very happy to finish in this way.”