Will Viñales lose out to Bookies favourite Rossi as Italy beckons just a week away?

With the 2017 MotoGP races now truly underway, a quick look at the standings and the sports bookies show that this year is looking to set a different sort of trend. In 2015, Lorenzo started the first three races badly before winning Spain, France, Italy and Catalunya on the trot before going on to win the Championship. In 2016 we saw a more consistent Marquez win two of his first four races and a podium place on the other two, but in both situations the Winning 3 riders were Lorenzo, Rossi and Marquez (reversed in 2016).

This year (despite two Catalonians still sitting in the Podium places) has seen a rather different pattern emerging however, with 2015’s 12^th place and 2016’s 4^th place Viñales heading up the leaderboard; having retired just once in America but going on to win 3 of his first 5 races (Qatar, Argentina and Italy). While it is early days and there are still 240 points on the table from the remaining 12 races, Marquez is the only previous member of the last two years 3 title contenders who has registered a win this season, and this has been heavily dampened by two early retirements.

So, what can Italy do to the 2017 standings when the season has already created a gulf between first place and the rest of the pack? The answer is not much to be honest, but it can certainly change the tides for the remnants of the season. The Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley has been won by Lorenzo for the previous two years, and despite languishing in 8^th place and some 47 points off pole position, he will be gunning for victory again. Rossi, the only Italian national in the top 5 and bemusingly the favourite of online sports betting companies like Sportingbet.com, could also be a threat as he looks to recover some of his lost ground after retiring in Italy and placing 10^th in Spain. While he is currently sitting 23 points below Viñales (the brick and mortar bookies favourite) – the knowledge that a strong finish could see him leapfrog Dani Pedrosa into 2^nd before Catalunya where he stands the 2016 winner may see him push a little harder on the Yamaha and close the gap before the Motul TT Assen (Netherlands).

Whatever happens at the Autodromo del Mugello, Viñales will still stay put in pole position, but hopefully for all you MotoGP fans out there, Rossi edges it – which will mean the race is wide open again and at least the punters have the opportunity to score big.