A thrilling three way battle for first position ensued between pole position starter Marc Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol), championship leader Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) and Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing), with the young Catalan rider emerging victorious at Mugello on Sunday.

The win made him the youngest ever rider to take back to back victories in the intermediate class in the world championship. He has now won three of the last five Moto2 races.

Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) made a mistake early to drop back to fifth, but quickly made his way back to the race elbow to elbow, assuming the lead several times and finally finishing second in a breathless last lap which saw all three lead at various points on the track.

Smith moved down to third from the lead after a close pass by Marquez literally pushed him wide, the third place his third successive podium of the 2011 season.

Fourth place finisher Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2) started from second on the grid and ran as high as second in the race, touching elbows with Bradl on at least one occasion, while last year’s race winner Andrea Iannone (Speed Master) suffered enough tire wear in the last few laps to take him out of the battle for fourth with De Angelis to finish fifth.

Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) headed up the battle for sixth, in front of Simone Corsi (Ioda Racing Project), Max Neukirchner (MZ Racing), Aleix Espargaró (Pons HP 40) and Technomag-CIP duo Kenan Sofuoglu and Dominique Aegerter in tenth and eleventh.

Pol Espargaró (HP Tuenti Speed Up) crashed out of 7th place but kept his FTR Moto2 machine running and re-entered the field to finish 28th.

Nicolás Terol (Bankia Aspar) had a stunning return to competition after missing the last race in Assen due to injury, shooting off the second row to lead the start of the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM 125cc race with first time pole man Zarco (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo) moving quickly into second, chasing his first GP victory.

The two broke away from the rest of the field, pursued by the pack of Spanish riders Maverick Viñales (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team), Efrén Vázquez (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo), Héctor Faubel (Bankia Aspar), Luis Salom (RW Racing GP), and Sergio Gadea (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team), and two German riders Sandro Cortese (Intact Racing Team Germany) and Jonas Folger (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport).

With 10 laps to go, pressure from Zarco caused Terol to run wide, and the Frenchman took over the lead. The Spanish rider sat back until the final corner, driving out of it to pass Zarco on the home straight despite the Avant-AirAsia-Ajo rider swerving to break the draft.

The win is the fifth for Terol of 2011, adding Mugello to the list of his previous wins at Losail, Jerez, Estoril and Catalunya.

Viñales dueled with Vázquez for the third spot on the podium, finally beating him across the line to take his fourth consecutive podium of the season, and moving into third place overall in the Championship.

Folger crashed out of the pack of seven riders tussling for third on lap 17, handing his second place in the Championship over to Zarco.