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Gallery: 2016 Mugello MotoGP

Action photos from the Grand Prix of Italy with quotes from the top riders

May 24, 2016

The 2016 Grand Prix of Italy featured one of the closest finishes in the series history and considerable drama throughout the race. Scroll through the gallery below to see images from the race as it played out, along with quotes from the top riders.

Jorge Lorenzo (99) made an excellent start from the second row of the grid to lead into turn 1, followed by pole-sitter Valentino Rossi (46), Aleix Espargaro (41) and Bradley Smith (38).Courtesy of Yamaha

Rossi briefly led after a pass into turn 1 on the second lap, but ran wide and allowed Lorenzo back into the lead. Marc Marquez (93), in third place, also ran wide and almost off the track.Courtesy of Yamaha

Movistar Yamaha teammates Lorenzo and Rossi were within feet of each other for the first eight laps, until Rossi's engine failed on lap 9. "I was very competitive in the race and very fast," said Rossi. "I had a good start and I was there. I think I could have fought for the victory because I had a very good feeling and a strong pace. It’s also a great shame because this zero points score for the championship weighs very heavily."Courtesy of Yamaha

Marc Marquez steadily gained on Lorenzo during the remainder of the race, until he was in a position to challenge for the lead in the closing laps.Courtesy of Yamaha

Behind the leading duo, Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso (4) had made an astounding start from the fifth row of the grid and was in third place for the middle third of the race. His teammate Andrea Iannone (29) had a disastrous start from the front row of the grid and was as low as 11th position in the early laps. As the race wore on, Dovizioso faded while Iannone posted the fastest laps of the race to work his way forward. Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa (26) had also made a poor start and was working his way toward the front.Courtesy of Ducati

Suzuki Ecstar rider Aleix Espargaro (41) was in third place on the opening laps, while his teammate Maverick Vinales (25) had to work his way from outside the top 10 after a poor start from the front row. Vinales eventually made it to sixth position, while Espargaro faded to ninth at the finish. "Unfortunately I made a very big mistake in the warm up," said Espargaro, "crashing the bike very badly and my crew had to work very hard to build it up from zero in such a short time and I am very grateful to them. But unfortunately, with the rebuilt bike, I didn’t feel the same confidence I had before, so I couldn’t push very hard. It’s a shame because in the warm up again we made a great step forward and I was feeling very confident."Courtesy of Suzuki

Marquez made a bid for the lead on the last lap, and actually led exiting the final turn onto the front straight, but Lorenzo was able to draft past and win by .019 seconds. "Today we made a good race," said the Repsol Honda rider. "We managed to get very close, and finally we made the podium which is always positive, but even with the slipstream I wasn’t able to overtake Jorge. We struggled throughout the weekend with acceleration and top speed. I tried to give my all and I did the best race I could do today, I really tried everything. I took several risks in an attempt to win, but on the home straight Jorge slipstreamed me."Courtesy of Honda

"I tried to escape," said Movistar Yamaha rider Lorenzo, "pushing so much on the changes in direction and I used a lot of energy and I thought I maybe I didn’t have enough to fight with Marc for the victory, because with him riding behind me he maybe saved more energy and was more powerful at the end, but my luck was the engine this time. When I stayed behind him I thought I was losing the race and tried a bit of a crazy move that I pulled on De Angelis in 250cc in the race in 2005. This memory was in my head, so I said to myself 'Why not try the same?' and did it. I passed him but went wide and he overtook me again. In the last corner I tried again under braking, but he closed the door so much that if I had released the brake maybe we could have touched and crashed together, so I decided to stay in second place and make a lot of speed in the last corner and exit with the slipstream and try."Courtesy of Yamaha

After fending off first his teammate Dovizioso and then Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, Ducati rider Andrea Iannone ended the race in third position, posting the fastest lap of the race on the final lap. Iannone also set a new speed record for MotoGP, registering 220.5 mph. "I am very happy because I made a great recovery and I had a better pace than all the other riders on the track, but unfortunately I couldn’t get a good start. I’m disappointed about that because if I had been closer to the leaders I think I could maybe have been able to fight for the win. I was quick throughout the weekend and this means that I have improved a lot as a rider and that the bike is competitive. In two weeks’ time at Barcelona we will try and do even better.”Courtesy of Ducati

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa eventually worked his way up to fourth at the checkered flag. "I managed to stick with Iannone and increase my pace to try to fight for third position, even if he was a little faster. I followed him, but it was difficult to overtake because he was very fast on the straight and it was hard to get even with him. We learned a lot about our bike in this race, so we’ll try to work on it to take a step forward in the future.”Courtesy of Honda

Dovizioso, after a run of bad luck and several DNFs through no fault of his own, finished in fifth place at Mugello. "We had worked well on race pace and so I was quite quick, but I was unable to be smooth and half-way through the race I had a problem with arm pump in my right arm and lost a lot of my strength. This problem forced me to drop my pace, but above all it caused me to make a few errors including one at San Donato, which prevented me from remaining in the battle for the podium in the last few laps."Courtesy of Ducati

Vinales' poor start was due to a problem with the electronics on his GSX-RR, although he managed to work his way up to sixth position. "I had a good jump, but then when it came to put it into fourth-gear something went wrong with the bike’s acceleration and this made me lose so many positions. Then the problem disappeared and everything was working fine for the rest of the race, but because I was behind so many riders, and I had to push very hard to recover, this destroyed the tyres, which were finally too-worn to get closer. It’s a shame because according to the timesheets my pace was as good as the leaders, so this meant that with a good start I could have fought for the podium, which I felt was achievable for us."Courtesy of Suzuki

Bradley Smith finished as top satellite rider in seventh place, on his Tech3 Yamaha M1. "I worked on my starts all weekend and we did way more practice than usual but it looks like it paid off! I pulled down the left-hand side and as a result, I was third as we entered the first corner. Yet, to be really honest, I didn't have such a great pace at the beginning but I aimed to stay as close as possible to the guys in front plus not make any mistakes because I knew that my pace would be better later on. Therefore, I tried to look after the tyres as best as I could and remain consistent."Courtesy of Tech3