Mugello is Rossi's home track, but even the sea of yellow spectators couldn't seriously imagine seeing another Valentino victory. With Lorenzo, Pedrosa and even a very beaten up Marquez (that crash really was something else, although not quite as good as Nakano's effort) on fire a fairytale win for Rossi was looking just that - a distant possibility. But you can never write off the Doctor...
John McGuinness in Dunlop colours at the TT
Unfortunately the dream lasted just a few corners as Bautista tagged him and down the pair went. You could almost hear the Italian sighs from the UK and you had to worry for Bautista's safety leaving the track.
At the front the usual suspects were setting the pace. Lorenzo was leading the way with the Repsol pair behind and Cal Crutchlow trying to bridge a fairly substantial gap. To be honest at this point you got the feeling you may as well fast forward until the last lap as even in practice these three were head and shoulders above the rest. Would this be the case?
Yes and no. Mid-race Lorenzo managed to put a second between him and Pedrosa while Marquez was looking as if his team mate was getting in the way. If he could slip past could Marquez close down Lorenzo?
A good weekend for Yamaha, if not Rossi
Despite looking faster than Pedrosa, it took Marquez too long to get past, leaving Lorenzo to open a huge gap. Then it all went wrong for Marquez as he threw away an easy second spot. The race win was secure, but could Cal catch a slowing Pedrosa and steal second place? Not quite, Lorenzo first, Pedrosa second and Cal third. Not a classic Mugello race with Rossi and Marquez's crashes the only real talking points.
Moto2 and could Scott Redding get a second win? A good start for Redding and a poor one for Espargaro was promising for the Brit, especially when Redding took the lead and started gapping the field. A few laps later Terol passed Redding, but the latter looked happy enough in his slipstream. In the final few laps Redding broke clear of the three bike battle for the podium spots and held on to take another win. Great work again Scott Redding.
Moto3 quickly developed into a six bike battle for the three podium spots. Eventually Salom took the win from Rins and Vinales, however it was the epic battle for eighth that was the most spectacular.
There's a new Dunlop ruling the Isle of Man
Over on the Isle of Man Michael Dunlop dominated the first superbike race, beating second place Cameron Donald by 40 seconds. Third place went to John McGuinness, who was riding with a special Joey Dunlop tribute livery. Despite a one-minute penalty for speeding in the pit, McG put the hammer down and set a new outright lap record of 131.67mph. With Dunlop bang on form and McGuinness fired up, the Senior promises to be a real barnstormer...
MotoGP
1. Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing)
2. Pedrosa (Repsol Honda)
3. Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3)
Moto2
1. Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team)
2. Terol (Mapfre Aspare Team Moto2)
3. Zarco (Came lodaRacing project)
Moto3
1: Salom (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
2: Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0)
3: Vinales (Matteo Ferrari)
Brit watch
Cal Crutchlow (MotoGP) - 3
Bradley Smith (MotoGP) - 9
Michael Laverty (MotoGP - CRT) - 17
Scott Redding (Moto2) - 1
Danny Kent (Moto2) -22
Kyle Smith (Moto2) - 21
Danny Webb (Moto3) - 17
John McPhee (Moto3) - 15