The streak of consecutive motoGp victories by Ducati was interrupted at 22. In Le Mans, in fact, it was the Honda LCR of Johann Zarco who knew how to best interpret the track conditions, crossing the finish line ahead of Marc Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer. Day to forget, however, for Alex Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia, both of whom fell. In the usual post on his Linkedin profile, Ducati general manager Gigi Dall’Igna commented bluntly on the performance of the two factory riders.

“It&#8217s been a crazy race, which should be watched more than commented on. It’ was one of those races that represent for everyone the’chance of the podium if you anticipate the right choices, even lucky ones, in the total chaos that is created and if you then make the most of a flawless ride in the wet then you can even get to an unhoped-for but definitely deserved victory, so congratulations to Zarco” began the Ducati general manager.

“When you have ranking responsibilities the situation is even more complicated to manage. That&#8217s why I consider Marc&#8217s test an excellent race conducted without taking unnecessary risks, a very difficult challenge and managed like a champion, rewarded by very valuable points after the falls of his direct rivals. One could not do more considering not only the various race situations, but also the skill of Johann” added the Veneto engineer.

“A great regret for Pecco, even more so for the chosen strategy that would certainly have seen him as a protagonist without the unfortunate fall determined by a mistake that was not his. A weekend that had started well, but then turned inexorably negative. We must all work together to resolve this situation and bring a smile back to Bagnaia” concluded Gigi Dall’Igna.

Not even rain stops Lorenzo Musetti at the Internazionali d’Italia. The Carrara native, eighth seed, beat Daniil Medvedev, number 10 in the seeding and 11 in the world, with a final score of 7-5 6-4 after just over an hour and a half of play and qualified for the quarterfinals.

The match already begins with a few drops of rain and on 2-1 for the Russian comes the first break. They restarted after 10 minutes with the serve being the dominant factor until 4-4 when Musetti scratched the first break of the’match. The blue, however, does not close on serve (5-5) but gets a second chance (6-5) and this time does not forgive (7-5).

The second set starts great for Musetti, who takes the serve away from Medvedev in the opening game and confirms the break (2-0). Carrara retains it until 5-4 when he is called to serve for the match. Here, however, the rain returns: Musetti rises to 40-30 but it starts to pour and the referee is forced to stop the game on match-point. After almost three hours of stoppage time, it can be resumed and Musetti closes with a winning forehand.

Thanks to this victory Musetti flies to the quarterfinals of the Rome Masters 1000 where he will face the winner of the match between Alexander Zverev, world number two, and Arthur Fils, world number 14 and 13 in the seeding.

Vincenzo Italiano spoke at a press conference on the eve of Milan-Bologna, the Coppa Italia final scheduled to be played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Wednesday at 9 p.m. “Great enthusiasm is what has accompanied us on this cup run – he began -, we had the Dall’Ara packed for the return semifinal and tomorrow we will have a lot of people who will give us support to try to play a great game. After 51 years the Bologna returns to play such an important match. All together we will try to take another step towards history, knowing that we are facing a team full of champions but wanting to play our chances. We have some, we will have to be careful but with a desire and will to play a great game”.

“They are used to it, we a little bit’ less so – added the red and blue coach -. They lifted a trophy this year, Bologna hasn&#8217t done that for so many years. But every game starts from scratch and let&#8217s forget what happened on Friday in which we pulled the plug only 15 minutes. We will propose a few different players and I think they will too, we will have to play free, carefree, with happiness and without having remorse. We will try to be ready”.

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On the last finals lost when coaching Fiorentina: “This is my seventh final and already getting there is a great merit. Playing finals is nice, you get there through a path where you beat strong teams and amaze. Our presence here was not on the schedule, we did something superlative. Finals are played to win them but already getting there is a satisfaction. I am at 3 wins and 3 losses, if my men want to give me this gift tomorrow, I would be well pleased… But already it is good. I see the looks of the guys and how they prepare the game, but also the people’s affection is nice and we want to give them joys”.

He then updated on Castro’s condition: “The pain in his foot seems gone. The problem is that he hasn&#8217t played 90 minutes for two months, I don&#8217t know what kind of autonomy he can have from the start but I know the autonomy he can have if he takes over. I want to think it through, we can&#8217t make a mistake. But on Santi it&#8217s just a matter of minutes he lacks. Then the various Holm, Ndoye and Odgaard come back, we have to handle that” too.

“It will be exciting, we were able to give a whole city another important game after so many years. Something inexplicable is being experienced in the city…You can feel that there’s great anticipation for the game. For the rest, tomorrow from the moment the referee blows the whistle you have to think about the 29,000 red-blue animals who will be as hungry as we are to take home this trophy. I am sorry that they will not be able to enter the field but we will hear them, they want to be close to us” concluded Italiano.