MotoGP Italy, increasingly fast at Mugello: will they reach 400 km/h?

The Italian GP is now underway, an event at which we wonder, each year, about what kind of speeds the bikes will reach along the long Mugello straight. This year is no exception of course, and so what do we think we're going to see in terms of top speed?

It’s clear that, over the years, Ducati has been the fastest bike, thanks to work carried out on the Desmosedici’s engine and aerodynamics. So far this year, the D16s are once again at the head of the pack, at least in terms of top speed, and so Mugello could be the ideal place for a new record.

While Zarco has said he’d ‘settle’ for 365 km/h after setting 362 km/h in Qatar, let’s look at how speeds have risen in recent years.

Dovizioso still the fastest at Mugello

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The Italian GP still speaks Italian thanks to Andrea Dovizioso, Danilo Petrucci and the Ducati. Dovi holds the speed record at the Tuscan track, having recorded 356.7 km/h during FP3 in 2019, 0.2 km/h faster than the time he set the year before (356.5 km/h).

In recent years, Ducati has always been the bike with best top speed. Here’s the 2015-2019 data.

2015: Andrea Iannone 350.8 km/h in practice

2016: Andrea Iannone 354.9 km/h in the race

2017: Michele Pirro 354.7 km/h in the race

2018: Andrea Dovizioso 356.5 km/h in the race

2019: Andrea Dovizioso 356.7 km/h in practice

So what does this tell us? That between 2015 and 2016 there was an increase of 4.1 km/h, -0.2 km/h between 2016 and 2017, a 1.8 km/h rise between 2017 and 2018 and just a 0.2 km/h increase from 2018 to 2019.

But the most interesting fact, if we look further back, is the 24.3 km/h difference between the first Desmosedici MotoGP, that of 2003, and the more recent 2019 version. An incredible generational leap that serves to highlight the hard work going on in Borgo Panigale.

Translated by Heather Watson

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