Unprecedented Speed: 2024 Italian MotoGP Riders Outpace Last Season’s Winner

The 15 fastest riders in this year's Italian MotoGP, among them Yamaha's Alex Rins, had the speed to secure victory in the 2023 Mugello race.

The surge in MotoGP's performance this season was highlighted by the Italian Grand Prix held at Mugello.

On June 2nd, the first 15 riders to cross the finish line completed the 23 laps in a time quicker than Francesco Bagnaia's winning time on June 11, 2023.

Among the racers was Yamaha's Alex Rins, who finished 15th with a race time of 41 minutes and 14.998 seconds, which was faster than Bagnaia's winning time of 41 minutes and 16.863 seconds from the previous year.

In a disappointing turn for Rins and Yamaha, Bagnaia secured victories in both races for Ducati, finishing 25.478 seconds faster and leaving Rins trailing by 23.613 seconds at the finish line.

The race times in the Sprint were comparable, as the top eleven riders this year surpassed Bagnaia's winning time from 2023.

“The competition is incredibly intense, and we have to exert a lot of effort; the lap times are unbelievably quick,” stated championship frontrunner Jorge Martin. “During the Sprint, we matched the qualifying lap times from three years ago.”

"However, it's standard practice nowadays. The tires have improved, and the motorcycles have advanced."

One of the most significant personal year-on-year advancements at Mugello came from Maverick Vinales, who was approximately 33 seconds quicker for Aprilia in this year's Grand Prix. He commented, “But… I only finished in 8th place! I aim to improve by 45 seconds so I can win the race!”

Vinales commented: “[Ducati] has improved. I’m not sure if it’s just a one-time thing like at Mugello, but I also had a strong performance at Le Mans and still finished only in P5! So, we need to step up our game.”

"Let's look at Assen, a circuit that might be a better fit for our bike compared to Mugello."

When questioned about the source of Ducati's advancements in their 2024 race times, Vinales responded, "I believe one reason is that they manage to maintain the performance of the soft tyre until the end of the race."

"That's an indication. We need to determine whether we are applying excessive heat to the rear tire. It's essential for us to understand this."

"My concern is that after completing five laps on soft tires, they get extremely hot and I begin to lose traction, particularly when entering corners. This is the issue we need to address."

Romano Albesiano, the technical director for Aprilia, pointed out that Maverick's performance at Mugello last year was poor, which might make the 33-second figure somewhat misleading.

He also confirmed, "It appears that the [rear Michelin] tire has undergone more changes this year than anticipated."

"Occasionally, we experience some vibration or chatter as well… However, to be truthful, it happened more frequently last year. Our bike generally performs better with the new tire, so the change is acceptable for us."

At KTM, newcomer and leading RC16 racer Pedro Acosta mentioned that both he and the factory team have dedicated significant effort to prevent chatter caused by the increased grip of the updated rear tire.

“Since the Le Mans race, we've found ways to steer clear of it,” Acosta explained. “We've put in a lot of effort, both at the factory and personally, to adapt my riding style and prevent it.”

“It doesn’t come naturally to me yet, and it’s admittedly not the simplest method for me to ride, but it helps me to steer clear of [the chatter].”

"I need to be a bit smoother in certain sections of the track," he mentioned regarding his adjustments to prevent causing the vibration. "There might be areas where I could improve my entry, for instance, but if the vibration issue arises, it would be even more problematic at the exit."

"With this incredibly powerful bike, we need to focus on accelerating quickly and maintaining high speed on the straight sections to save time effortlessly. I'm working on it, and although it's challenging for me, I'm gradually improving."

Aside from that, Acosta merely asks "to add a bit more weight to both tires to increase [grip]."

Italian MotoGP: Comparing Race Schedules for 2024 and 2023 (23 laps)

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