Poleman Pecco wasn’t waiting around once it was lights out, with the Italian taking the holeshot ahead of teammate Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team), who had executed a brilliant opening corner move to get ahead of Quartararo into P2. As per usual, it was impossible to take your eyes off the opening lap action as riders bustled past one another, the pick of the bunch was Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) standing up Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) coming into Turn 8, as the rookie moved into the top five. By the end of the first lap, Bagnaia had opened up an impressive one second lead over Miller in second, with Quartararo and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) not far behind the Aussie.

At their home track, the Ducati one-two began to put some space between themselves and the Championship leader on the next lap, while they got a helping hand from their satellite counterpart Martin as the Bologna bullets looked to bully the Championship leader. The rookie had moved past Marquez and was looking to get himself in among the podium places on the front straight, but Quartararo struck back immediately, taking the inside line at Turn 4. The battle for third didn’t end there, with Martin and Quartararo exchanging more overtakes in the next couple corners, but hopes that this would turn into a race long fight were quickly extinguished as Martin lost the front at Turn 14, ending his podium chances. While that battle raged on, Bagnaia’s lead at the front had extended to over 1.5 seconds with 25 laps to go.