Italian MotoGP: Luca Marini: “Very difficult to fight against KTM, but Ducati has something more”

Marini, who missed out on the podium following a battle with Johann Zarco in Sunday’s Grand Prix, was embroiled in an early-race fight with Miller as the KTM rider went from fourth to first.

But after being passed by Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin, Miller then struggled to keep pace with the top two which instead caused a train of riders to be held up by the Australian.

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One of those was Marini who admitted he lost time when battling the KTM riders.

The Mooney VR46 Ducati rider said: "I didn’t expect this kind of race! I started very well and starting from the first row helps a lot with the management of the race. 

"It’s a much easier race. I tried to give everything. I made a mistake trying to overtake Jack [Miller] in the Casanova-Savelli [section] and then Martin overtook me and we lost a lot of time with Jack. 

"If I could stay in the slipstream of Martin for more than half the race then, for sure, I could manage my body a little bit more. 

"In the last four or five laps I didn’t have enough strength to keep the grip tight, especially when the bike shakes in turn one. It was really difficult. 

"Behind Johann I tried everything because I wanted this podium a lot. It’s a dream to jump on the podium at Mugello because it’s the best place in the world to get a podium."

While Ducati’s dominance continued at the Italian round, Marini was left in awe of KTM’s potential when it came to acceleration out of corners.

Quickly becoming the second best bike on the grid, KTM, in the hands of Brad Binder and Miller in particular, have been very close to Ducati’s fastest riders for several rounds.

Speaking after the race, Marini alluded to Ducati holding the overall advantage compared to KTM, but not when talking about acceleration.

The Italian added: "KTM accelerates really strongly. It has a lot of grip and in the acceleration it makes the difference. 

"They can put a lot of torque in the rear tyre and when the rear tyre keeps this torque they gain a lot of time in acceleration. 

"They are also able to try and overtake you every time because when you exit from one corner, the normal situation is that you lose a little bit of contact because the bike in front of you accelerates a little bit before you and you, without the aerodynamics, without the load in the wings, lose a little. 

"While the KTM accelerates behind you in a very good way and so they can try to overtake you and push you out in every corner. 

"It’s very difficult to fight against KTM now. They are really strong. Fortunately Ducati has something more."