World champion Francesco Bagnaia shrugged off tricky Tuscan conditions to win his home Italian MotoGP sprint race at Mugello on Saturday.

The Ducati star capitalised on his record lap time to secure pole in qualifying earlier to beat Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin.

Bagnaia now has a four-point lead over Bezzecchi, riding for Italian legend Valentino Rossi’s VR46 team, going into Sunday’s sixth round of the championship.

Bagnaia, nursing an ankle injury from his crash last time out at Le Mans, led from Marc Marquez but Jorge Martin nabbed the lead at the end of the opening lap.

Alex Marquez, who set off in third, lasted only as far as turn one when he slithered out of contention on the gravel run off.

Read full story on www.sportsdesk.com.mt

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