2017 Italian MotoGP - A Victorious Italian On An Italian Machine

The 2017 ItalianGP started with a heartwarming tribute to Nicky Hayden 'The Kentucky Kid' with 69 seconds of silence, after which the presence of over a lakh spectators became evident as they burst into cheers and applause. The 2006 MotoGP champion had succumbed to injuries on May 22, after he was hit by a car while cycling in Italy.

The first few lap of the ItalianGP proved to be a stunner with positions being exchanged faster than one can keep track. In the first row, crowd favourite Valentino Rossi took a flying start and led the pack on the straight and into the first corner. But it was Jorge Lorenzo who stunned everyone with his start from the third row and on to trailing the two blues after the first corner in third place, soon going on to lead. But the dream would soon end for the number 99 Ducati as he started to fall back.

The lead group then started to take shape with Viñales leading the ItalianGP; followed by a determined Dovi, who was battling bugs in his stomach; Rossi, who was battling pain from his motocross incident; and finally Danilo Petrucci, the satellite rider who was 9th in qualifying on his Desmosedici. 13 laps into the race and Dovizioso's Ducati helps him outpower the Yamaha and take the lead. A few corners later, Petrucci successfully made a move on Rossi to take the third place. Rossi struggled to maintain pace with the pack and started to fall back while Viñales chased Dovizioso in an attempt to retake the lead, but the Italian showed his class and rode on to create a one-second gap.

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With 8 laps remaining in Mugello, Petrucci successfully capitalised on an overtaking opportunity and slid in the second position and Italy looked forward to a Ducati 1-2 finish. Slightly at the back, in 6th place, Marc Marquez was engaged in a battle with Alvaro Bautista on another satellite Ducati for the 5th place, a battle he lost to finish in sixth place.

It was not until lap 20 of the race that Viñales outbraked Petrucci on the straight and took back the second place. Rossi seems to have settled for fourth place; despite posting some seriously fast timings he was not able to cover the lead. Dovizioso meanwhile had created a safe buffer from the group and looked in perfect rhythm to take the chequered flag first. Viñales tried hard to get near Dovi but it turned out to be too little too late, and in the final lap, all the first four positions have settled with slight gaps. But, just as Andrea Dovizioso entered the final straight to take his first victory of the season, Pedrosa, in a desperate move to take 11th place from Cal Crutchlow, wipes the latter out from inside.

Andrea Dovizioso took victory home with an Italian finishing on an Italian bike at the ItalianGP. This victory also puts him on the second spot in the championship, ahead of Rossi, with 79 points, with Viñales leading the 2017 season with 105 points.

2017 Italian MotoGP Mugello Results
1. Andrea Dovizioso - Ducati Team
2. Maverick Viñales - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
3. Danilo Petrucci - Octo Pramac Racing
4. Valentino Rossi - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
5. Alvaro Bautista - Pull&Bear Aspar Team
6. Marc Marquez - Repsol Honda Team
7. Johann Zarco - Monster Yamaha Tech 3
8. Jorge Lorenzo - Ducati Team
9. Michele Pirro - Ducati Team
10. Andrea Iannone - Team Suzuki Ecstar
11. Tito Rabat - Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS
12. Scott Redding - Octo Pramac Racing
13. Jonas Folger - Monster Yamaha Tech 3
14. Hector Barbera - Reale Avintia Racing
15. Jack Miller - Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS
16. Karel Abraham - Pull&Bear Aspar Team
17. Sylvain Guintoli - Team Suzuki Ecstar
18. Loris Baz - Reale Avintia Racing
19. Sam Lowes - Factory Aprilia Gresini
20. Bradley Smith - Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
DNF
Cal Crutchlow - LCR Honda
Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda Team
Aleix Espargaro - Factory Aprilia Gresini
Pol Espargaro - Red Bull KTM Factory Racing