“Not so bad, right?” Diogo Moreira after a strong day in Mugello

– Although Diogo Moreira (LCR-Honda) did not quite manage to score World Championship points in the MotoGP sprint in Mugello, the rookie from Brazil made a lasting impression on Saturday. This did not go unnoticed by a former Honda rider and one of his current Honda colleagues, namely Marc Marquez and Luca Marini.

In qualifying on Saturday morning, Moreira secured a strong eighth starting position. The MotoGP rookie had already advanced to the Q2 segment for the first time during Friday’s practice. Even considering the two “latecomers” who made it to Q2 via Q1, Moreira was the only Honda rider in Q2.

In that very second qualifying segment with twelve participants, Moreira left established MotoGP names behind: Franco Morbidelli, Pedro Acosta, Enea Bastianini, and Alex Rins were all slower than the rookie. But there was more to come.

No World Championship points in the sprint, but …

At the start of the sprint in the afternoon, Moreira quickly moved forward from P8 on the grid. He finished the first lap as a strong third. Although Fabio Di Giannantonio and Marco Bezzecchi passed the rookie after a few laps, he then had none other than Marc Marquez behind him for several laps.

Marquez had won the dash to the first corner from P4 on the grid but was quickly overtaken by several riders, including Moreira. And after Marquez, a seven-time and reigning MotoGP World Champion, rode directly behind the rookie for three laps, he found a way past in the seventh lap.

Moreira was then overtaken by Fermin Aldeguer, Pedro Acosta, Francesco Bagnaia, and Ai Ogura. The rookie from Brazil ultimately finished in P10, narrowly missing the points positions in the sprint. Nevertheless, he is satisfied.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Moreira grins after the strongest performance of his still young MotoGP career. Even without World Championship points, the 22-year-old from Sao Paulo describes the sprint in Mugello as “a race I enjoyed.”

“Yes, I’m happy,” admits the 2025 Moto2 World Champion and emphasizes: “My starts have always been quite good, but today my start was probably perfect.” After suddenly finding himself among the top stars in the MotoGP field, he just wanted to “see what would come out of it in the end.”

The result: “At the beginning, I pushed too hard. That’s why I had hardly anything left of the front tire at the end. Sure, I had to fight for the top 10 today. The important thing for me at this point is to finish races and simply gain experience.”

Duel with Marc Marquez with a promise

Moreira learned a lot in the duel with Marc Marquez. “When I was behind him, I thought: ‘Okay, I’ll overtake him now and then we’ll see what happens.'” In his Spanish-language media round, Moreira reveals that he had talked with Marquez about such a scenario the day before.

“Yesterday I told Marc: ‘I don’t know when you’ll retire. That’s why I want to overtake you once in my life.’ And lo and behold, today I had that opportunity. I didn’t have to think twice.”

Marc Marquez confirms the friendly meeting with Moreira on Friday and praises the rookie after the duel in the sprint on Saturday: “I was close to Moreira today and have to say, he rides really well. It’s a true pleasure to see how he rides the Honda.”

That he was ultimately overtaken again by Marquez is no drama for Moreira, quite the opposite: “When I was behind Marc, Pedro, and Fermin in the final phase of the race, I could study their lines. I could see how they brake, how they delay their motorcycles.”

Barcelona test as the basis for strong Mugello form

When asked where he had advantages compared to the other Honda riders on Saturday in Mugello, Moreira answers: “I would say the basis was our good test in Barcelona. Here we tried something new again. That combination allows me to ride the bike more easily. And that showed especially in qualifying this weekend.”

As a teammate in the LCR team, Moreira has Cal Crutchlow this time, who is stepping in for the injured Johann Zarco. However, the direct comparison should be taken with caution because Crutchlow had not ridden a MotoGP bike for more than two years before this weekend. More interesting is that Moreira left both Honda factory riders Joan Mir and Luca Marini behind in both qualifying and the sprint.

In qualifying in the morning, both Mir and Marini were eliminated in the Q1 segment. The Spaniard qualified 15th, the Italian 16th. In the sprint, Mir retired with a technical defect but was clearly behind Moreira at that time, in 19th place. Marini finished in P13, three positions behind the rookie on the LCR Honda.

Luca Marini praises Moreira and calls on Honda

When Marini is asked about Moreira’s performance after the sprint, he replies: “I have to say, he is riding really strong this weekend. His laps are fantastic. He rides well and learns every time he follows other riders.”

That Moreira ultimately finished tenth after initially being in third place is no surprise to Marini. The veteran does not attribute the drop back in the field to the rookie’s inexperience but also to the characteristics of the Honda.

“Overall, the potential for this track is simply not good enough. That applies to him as well,” says Marini and explains: “After he was third at the beginning, he might have thought he could finish fifth. In the end, it was P10. That shows me that even when we are fast over one lap, overall we are simply not strong enough yet. Zarco is sometimes very fast over one lap, as is Mir.”

Moreira himself says after his strong Saturday in Mugello: “In the end, the further forward you start in this field, the easier the race. So now we have to try to build on that. I learned a lot today. For tomorrow, we have to take the next step by riding more smoothly because it will be a long race. But again: I am satisfied with the sprint.”