Marc Márquez shows the Italian public that he has no rival this year.

BarcelonaIt's not easy being a motorcycle fan in Italy these days. On the one hand, they see Ducati dominating, but it's thanks to Marc Márquez. The Cervera rider (Ducati Desmosedici GP25) has achieved his fifth victory of the season on the historic Italian circuit of Mugello, in front of a section of the fans who booed him, as Márquez defeated the local riders. The Catalan is even further ahead of the World Championship in the category after another exhibition, in a race in which he waited for the key moment to overtake his brother, Álex Márquez (Ducati Desmosedici GP24), and his teammate, the Italian Francesco. Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati Desmosedici GP25). Unlike other times, Bagnaia was unable to defend his third place on the podium against the attacks of his compatriot Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati Desmosedici GP25), who, with two laps remaining, overtook the two-time world champion.

Márquez's relationship with the Italian public changed in 2015 when he collided with Valentino Rossi in that famous late-season race. Mugello, the temple of Italian motorcycling, received the Cerveri rider unfriendly after that incident. Rossi has since retired, but many Italian fans haven't forgotten the past and have dedicated their whistles to Márquez. "Yes, I heard some whistles, but I also heard applause, so I hope all these fans who applauded me had fun with the race, which is the best part of motorcycling," says Márquez. Ducati team boss Davide Tardozzi tried to silence the whistlers on Saturday by showing off the red of his jersey, the Ducati color. "For God's sake, it's red," he kept saying. Meaning, if Márquez wins, he wins for Ducati.

And it looks like Marc Márquez is going to win the World Championship, judging by his performance. He didn't make any mistakes at the start, unlike what happened to him on Saturday in the race. sprint, who had to fight back after falling to seventh place. Bagnaia got off to a strong start, but by the second lap the Márquez brothers had already passed him. "My greatest rival is at home; he's at a great level," Marc said after the race, referring to his brother's performance, who is second in the world championship standings.

Neither the Márquez brothers nor Pecco Bagnaia gave up on their desire to dominate, aware of the importance of leading the race in the opening laps. The result was an emotional start to the race, with the three of them fighting for the lead. But, as expected, Marc Márquez gradually pulled away from his brother Àlex and Pecco Bagnaia. Past the halfway point of the race, on the fourteenth lap, Marc Márquez held a lead of eight-tenths over his brother and Pecco. Álex Márquez held off Bagnaia's pressure to consolidate second place, while Marc secured his fifth win of the season, and Italian Fabio Di Giannantonio closed in on Bagnaia, eventually overtaking him. "The truth is that we worked harder than in Aragon, and we enjoyed it and suffered in the first laps with the close combat. Bagnaia came out with a lot of desire. I decided to stay calm. I'm very happy to have been able to win in Mugello. And, once again, we have our main rival at home, really, because Álex Már. I really promise to defend our position and not lose too many points, but yesterday I saw that it was possible to win.

This is the 93rd world championship victory for a rider who usually wears the number 93. It had been 11 years since Marc won in Mugello, a hostile territory. It remains so even though, thanks to him, the Italian anthem plays when his Ducati wins.