As happened in Jerez, the Italian won followed by the championship leader and the Spanish. Marc Márquez said goodbye to the World Cup with a tenth place.

It was not just any ordinary day in MotoGP, even if it seemed like it. The six-time champion, Marc Márquez , finished the race, shed a few tears, received the umpteenth ovation from his mechanics and left for the United States to undergo another operation on the right shoulder that grips him. Again, goodbye. Nobody knows when he will return, it is even in doubt if he will really return. In Mugello, precisely in Mugello, where he was hated so much, the World Cup said goodbye to the applause of whoever was his benchmark, his icon, his revolution.

The races continue, they continue, but without Márquez everything is different, something is missing. The championship has a void and only one candidate to cover it, although always partially. It is Fabio Quartararo , current champion and current leader. This Sunday in Italy a joy was given with an unexpected second place. There is no circuit faster than Mugello and there is no bike slower than his Yamaha and that is why he was supposed to be in other positions, further back, less happy. The Frenchman saved the race with a podium finish and extended his lead in the general classification, but if he does not fully cover Márquez’s loss, if he is not yet the media hook of MotoGP, it is because he is human. A superhero, like so many, lately Mike Doohan , Valentino Rossior Márquez himself, would have won the race; Quartararo settled for an excellent position.

Because he was close to the winner, ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia , and at no time did he discuss the victory. In the last laps, when both had escaped, Quartararo approached his rival in the corner sections, but lost distance on the straight and it was impossible. He needed a miracle, a superlative change of pace, and he’s not at that level yet.

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