MotoGP 2026

Round Seven – Mugello
MotoGP Sprint Race

Emotional Fernandez takes Mugello Sprint win for Trackhouse Aprilia

Raul Fernandez delivered the ride of his MotoGP career at Mugello on Saturday afternoon, resisting the pressure of factory Aprilia man Jorge Martin to claim his maiden Tissot Sprint victory and the first Sprint win for Trackhouse MotoGP Team.

The 25-year-old Spaniard had arrived at the Italian Grand Prix under a cloud of uncertainty around his longer-term future, with his 2027 contract situation a recent talking point, but there was nothing tentative about the way he rode the 11-lap Sprint. Fernandez hit the front early, set the fastest lap on lap two, then absorbed Martin’s late pressure before stretching the gap back out to 1.289s at the chequered flag.

Martin made it an Aprilia one-two, while Friday pacesetter Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the podium for VR46 Ducati after coming through from seventh on the grid. Pole-sitter Marco Bezzecchi was fourth, Marc Marquez fifth on his injury return, and Fermin Aldeguer sixth.

Medium rear gamble proves decisive

One of the defining details of the Sprint was hidden in the tyre choices. While much of the field leaned towards the soft rear, the three podium finishers all went with the medium. Fernandez had not been comfortable with the soft after qualifying and pushed to race the medium, with his crew chief backing the call.

That choice proved pivotal. The medium rear offered slightly less outright grip than the soft, but that also meant it pushed the front tyre less. Around a fast, loaded circuit like Mugello, that gave Fernandez, Martin and Di Giannantonio more front-end confidence across the Sprint distance, especially through the long, committed corners where any extra load on the front becomes expensive.

Fernandez said the decision was not easy, but was based on feel rather than convention.

“It was not easy to choose the medium tyre today but after Qualifying, I felt strange with the soft rear, so I said to my crew chief I want to do the Sprint with the medium because I don’t feel comfortable with the soft,” Fernandez said. “He trusts me, he supports me and he confirmed my choice, so we did a great job overall.”

Martin admitted he followed Fernandez’s lead and also felt the call had been correct.

“I followed Raúl and went with the medium, which proved the right call for me,” Martin said. “I will look at his data because I could see he was faster in certain corners, and that is where we can improve.”

Bezzecchi, by contrast, stayed on the soft and said that was the right tyre for his race, but his poor opening lap meant he never had clean enough air or track position to exploit it properly.

Aprilia turns qualifying speed into race authority

The first warning shot came in qualifying. Bezzecchi took pole with a 1m43.921, a new all-time lap record at Mugello, heading an Aprilia front-row sweep from Fernandez and Martin. It was a notable statement at a circuit where Ducati had won the first three Sprints held at the venue.

Aprilia’s day was not just about lap time. Jorge Martin set a new all-time MotoGP top-speed record of 368.6 km/h in FP2, a mark team manager Fabiano Sterlacchini said was later matched by Bezzecchi in the Sprint. With three RS-GPs on the qualifying front row and four Aprilias inside the Sprint top eight, the Noale factory’s Saturday looked like more than a one-session spike.

Sterlacchini called it a day of “two historic achievements” for Aprilia: the top-speed record and, for the first time in the marque’s MotoGP history, three Aprilias filling the first three grid positions.

By Saturday afternoon, that qualifying performance had been converted into race control. Fernandez won, Martin finished second, Bezzecchi salvaged fourth, and Ai Ogura took eighth on the second Trackhouse Aprilia.

Marquez launches, then gets roughed up

The first corner belonged to Marc Marquez. Starting from the second row, the Spaniard produced a brilliant launch and swept into the lead at Turn 1.

It did not last. The opening lap quickly became a reminder that Marquez is still racing with one arm tied behind his back, figuratively if not literally. Fernandez, Martin and Diogo Moreira all came past, then Di Giannantonio cleared him at Turn 12, and Bezzecchi followed on lap two. Marquez had the reflexes and instinct to lead into Turn 1, but not the physical condition to wrestle the bike with the front group once the race settled.

He is still struggling for strength in his right arm after recent shoulder surgery, and Mugello is not a gentle place to be short on leverage. Heavy braking, violent direction changes and long loaded corners all punish a rider who cannot quite attack the bars as normal.

“We got a good start, but at the beginning I wasn’t able to ride as I would have liked,” Marquez said. “The top three or four riders were out of my reach in terms of race pace. The goal was to continue recovering on track and lap as much as possible, and we were able to get a good result.

“I’m lacking a bit of energy compared to yesterday, but my riding position has definitely improved. My pace was quite consistent, even though I had to brake earlier than usual. This is a demanding track, and I’ll probably have to suffer a bit more tomorrow, but the strategy remains the same.”

Fifth was therefore a sensible result rather than a disappointment. It was only the second time this season that Marquez has crossed the line in a Sprint without finishing on the podium, but given his physical state, those five points mattered.

Fernandez rides through the noise

Once Marquez had been shuffled back, Fernandez took charge. He was not simply benefiting from others’ mistakes or a tyre gamble; he was fast immediately, setting the fastest lap of the Sprint on lap two with a 1m44.712.

By lap three, he had a margin of around half a second over Martin, while Di Giannantonio had passed Moreira with a sharp move at Arrabbiata 1 and was already more than a second behind the Aprilia pair. Bezzecchi soon displaced Moreira as well, but the pole-sitter had already given away too much.

For Fernandez, the emotion of the day had started before the race even began.

“On the out lap I was crying a little bit because the situation I’m in at the moment is not the easiest,” Fernandez said. “But I have my family — my brother and my parents — and they always support me in difficult moments like the last few races and I feel very lucky to have them by my side. Also, the team did a great job today. I think we confirmed that all the hard work we put in the last few races paid off.”

Trackhouse team principal Davide Brivio said the victory was impressive not only because Fernandez won, but because of the way he built the day from Q1, into a front-row qualifying result, and then into race command.

“Getting to the lead after a few corners and being in control for all the race has been amazing,” Brivio said. “It was not easy, also with Jorge Martin behind and pushing, but he managed very well.”

Martin closes, Fernandez answers

The middle of the Sprint looked like it might become a Martin hunt. With four laps remaining, Fernandez had a margin of roughly seven-tenths, but the factory Aprilia rider gradually edged closer and brought the gap back to under half-a-second.

That was the most important phase of the race. Fernandez could have tightened, overworked the front, or left the door open into one of Mugello’s heavy braking zones. Instead, he responded cleanly. The gap went back out to around eight-tenths starting the final lap, and by the finish it was more than a second.

For Martin, second was still valuable. It was his 34th Sprint podium, moving him alone to the top of the all-time Sprint podium list ahead of Francesco Bagnaia. He also gained points on Bezzecchi, although Bezzecchi remains the championship leader heading into Sunday.

“I am pleased with second place — I gave it everything,” Martin said. “I am gaining confidence and self-belief lap by lap, and today’s race was important because I started to feel the bike’s limit. In the race, I hope to push even harder and be even faster.”

Di Giannantonio best of the rest

Di Giannantonio’s third place was another strong Saturday marker for the Italian, even if Aprilia had the answers at the front. Starting seventh, he made early progress, picked off Moreira with a fine move through Arrabbiata 1, and then held the final podium place with enough margin to avoid a late Bezzecchi challenge.

It was also his third Sprint podium of the season after Brazil and Catalunya, and ensured Ducati still had representation on the rostrum on a day when Aprilia otherwise stole much of the story.

“After today’s difficult Qualifying, we needed to bounce back and show our true potential,” Di Giannantonio said. “In the Sprint, I wanted to be more aggressive in the opening laps and close the gap to the riders at the front. Of course, it’s great to achieve a strong result when you start from the front rows, but it’s even more satisfying when you start further back and fight your way through the field: you become the comeback rider!”

Bezzecchi’s fourth was not the result he would have wanted from pole, but it was not a disaster either. He took six points, retained the championship lead, and still has a front-row start for the Grand Prix.

“At the first braking zone, I misjudged my braking point and lost a few positions, which complicated my Sprint,” Bezzecchi said. “The soft tyre was the right choice, but I was too far back in the opening laps to make the most of it. We have plenty of data to analyse because both Raúl and Jorge were very strong on the mediums.”

Moreira promises early, fades late

Diogo Moreira was again one of the interesting subplots. The Brazilian rookie had qualified eighth, started brilliantly, and briefly looked like a podium contender as he swept past Marquez and ran with the front group in the opening laps.

For a few minutes, Honda had something much more substantial than a top-Honda headline. Moreira looked genuinely in the game.

The problem was making that speed last. As the race wore on, tyre wear and the relentless pace of the Aprilias and Ducatis began to tell. Moreira dropped behind Di Giannantonio, then Bezzecchi, and eventually slipped out of the points to finish tenth after also receiving a track-limits warning.

“I had fun today and really enjoyed the Sprint,” Moreira said. “The final result was not what we wanted, but I struggled with tyre wear and just tried to do my best until the end. We are working really well and improving race after race, which is the most important thing. We are on the right path.”

Even without points, it was another useful signal from the rookie. He has been Honda’s brightest performer across much of the weekend, but Sunday’s longer race will ask more again from his tyre management.

Bagnaia recovers, Aldeguer rues start

Fermin Aldeguer followed Marquez home in sixth, ahead of Bagnaia, Ogura and Acosta. Aldeguer’s sixth was a decent salvage after getting tangled up early and losing places off the line.

“Actually, my launch off the line was good, but I got tangled up with Di Giannantonio and lost the slipstream a bit,” Aldeguer said. “We probably dropped back to 11th place and then worked our way forward. Sixth place is a good result, and I know we can do much better tomorrow over the full race distance.”

Bagnaia’s seventh was more frustrating. After looking sharper on Friday, the Italian made a mistake at Turn 10 in qualifying and then again lost ground at the start of the Sprint. His late pace was useful, but at Mugello, in this field, recovering lost positions has become harder than ever.

“We have the pace to do well, as was evident towards the end, but we need to keep working to improve our starts, also because overtaking has become more difficult than in the past,” Bagnaia said.

Ogura’s eighth made it a double-points Sprint for Trackhouse, although the Japanese rookie was blunt in his own assessment.

“P8 was the maximum I could do today,” Ogura said. “The race tomorrow is longer, but we definitely need more speed.”

Acosta took the final Sprint point for KTM, but he and Brad Binder both made clear that KTM had not found the step it expected after Barcelona. Acosta said the bike remained at “Friday’s level”, while Binder said he did not have the speed to go with the riders ahead and struggled when the front tyre dropped.

Yamaha still fighting the engine battle

For Yamaha, the Sprint was again difficult. Alex Rins was the leading M1 in 12th, Fabio Quartararo 14th, Jack Miller 16th and Toprak Razgatlioglu 17th.

Miller’s comments cut to the heart of Yamaha’s challenge at Mugello. He said many of the difficulties still stem from the engine side, with the riders forced to brake later and pick up the throttle earlier just to stay in the game. That creates a knock-on effect through the lap and punishes both the rider and the tyres.

“We were pushing the soft rear tyre right to the limit,” Miller said. “Here at Mugello we can at least stay in the slipstream, even if converting that into overtakes remains difficult.”

Pramac Yamaha team director Gino Borsoi made a similar point, saying the chassis still shows encouraging signs in the corners, but the bike lacks the performance needed to complete passes and hold position.

Razgatlioglu’s Saturday was also shaped by a strange Q1 crash. He said he unexpectedly lost the front while working with the front ride-height device on the straight, severely damaging the bike and making it difficult to rebuild confidence before the Sprint.

Crutchlow, meanwhile, completed his comeback Sprint in 19th for LCR Honda. He admitted the track’s physical demands were a shock to the system, but said his goal was to complete laps and give Honda useful feedback.

Turn 10 bites Bastianini and Morbidelli

The main incidents came close together at Turn 10. Enea Bastianini crashed while battling to keep Pedro Acosta behind him, and moments later, Franco Morbidelli also went down at the same corner. Both riders were listed as OK.

Bastianini said he had been struggling with corner entry and could not match the corner speed of the others, while Morbidelli said his poor start left him buried in the group without clean air before he lost the front.

“It’s a pity because this morning our pace was the third fastest,” Morbidelli said. “The tyre choice will be crucial, the riders at the front were very competitive on the medium tyres, so we’ll see.”

Joan Mir also failed to finish after entering the pits with intense vibration from the Honda, while Michele Pirro finished 18th after an earlier FP2 crash and a late Sprint mistake.

The falls report logged seven crashes on Saturday across all classes, matching Friday’s tally and bringing the Grand Prix total to 14 heading into Sunday.

Bring on Sunday…

Saturday leaves the Italian Grand Prix with a very different shape to the one many expected after Friday. Ducati had the emotional home-track momentum then, but Aprilia owned Saturday: pole, a front-row lockout, a Sprint one-two, and the championship lead still in Bezzecchi’s hands.

The medium rear will now be a major Sunday talking point. Fernandez, Martin, and Di Giannantonio showed that giving up a little rear grip can buy front-end confidence and stability, which may prove even more important over a full race distance.

Fernandez now has the breakthrough he needed, Martin has momentum and a record Sprint podium tally, Bezzecchi has Sunday redemption available from pole, and Marquez has the chance to chase a century of Grand Prix wins while still managing a compromised right arm.

Mugello rarely needs help creating theatre, but this Saturday gave Sunday storylines plenty to work with.

Mugello MotoGP Sprint Race Results

2026 MotoGP Championship Standings

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Moto2 Qualifying

Gonzalez smashes Mugello lap record to take pole

Manuel Gonzalez produced a decisive late lap in Moto2 qualifying at Mugello, taking pole with a 1m48.474 that put the championship leader nearly a quarter of a second clear and reset the all-time lap reference for the class at the Italian circuit.

The Intact GP rider had already looked strong on Friday, but his Q2 lap was a significant step forward from the field. It came on lap five of six, in hot and dry conditions, and shifted the tone of qualifying from close contest to clear statement.

Filip Salač had looked a genuine pole threat before Gonzalez’s final answer, but the American Racing rider had to settle for second, 0.249s adrift. Alex Escrig completed the front row for KLINT Racing Team, continuing a strong weekend for the Forward chassis at a track where straight-line speed alone is not enough.

Gonzalez lands the title-leader’s blow

Gonzalez’s pole was exactly the kind of session a championship leader wants. He was quick enough on Friday to avoid the stress of Q1, then clinical when the real grid-setting lap was required.

The lap record element matters too. Mugello’s Moto2 pace had already moved forward on Friday when Celestino Vietti topped Practice, but Gonzalez took another large bite from the benchmark in Q2. His 1m48.474 was good for an average of 174 km/h and gave him the clearest possible platform for Sunday’s 19-lap race.

Salač’s second place was still a strong outcome, while Escrig’s third continues one of the better undercard stories of the weekend. The KLINT Racing rider was sixth on Friday and then converted that speed into a front-row start, ahead of several riders with greater headline profile.

Holgado converts Q1 into row two

Daniel Holgado was the best of those who had to take the longer road. After missing the direct Q2 cut on Friday, he came through Q1 and then qualified fourth, giving himself a far better launch point than Friday had threatened.

He will share the second row with Collin Veijer and Alonso Lopez, the latter only 0.020s behind Veijer. That row has proper race potential: Holgado with momentum from Q1, Veijer continuing his adaptation to Moto2, and Lopez typically aggressive when he has track position to attack.

Senna Agius narrowly missed that second row, qualifying seventh by only 0.006s. The Australian will start alongside Izan Guevara and David Alonso on row three, with Ivan Ortola rounding out the top ten.

Vietti left with work to do after Friday high

The disappointment of the session was Vietti. After topping Friday Practice at home, the Italian crashed at Turn 10 in Q2 and ended up 16th, 1.187s from pole.

That changes his Sunday completely. Vietti had looked like one of the central threats after Friday, especially with Boscoscuro showing strong form, but he will now need to make early progress from the sixth row while managing the usual Mugello slipstream games.

Sergio Garcia also had a difficult Q2, crashing at Turn 3 and not being classified in the session. He is listed on the sixth row of the race grid, while Deniz Öncü was 17th in Q2 after being one of several big names forced to regroup from a poor Friday.

Agius inside the fight, Canet buried

Agius’ seventh place gives Australian fans a strong Moto2 angle for Sunday. He is not on the front two rows, but he is close enough to the sharp end to be part of the early race conversation if he launches well. His Q2 was tidy enough, though he was noted for one track-limits offence at TL15.

Ortola had two TL14 track-limits entries in Q2 but still secured tenth. In terms of straight-line figures, David Alonso topped the Q2 speed sheet at 301.6 km/h, with Holgado and Ortola both reaching 300 km/h.

Further back, Aron Canet’s weekend remains compromised. After missing direct Q2 on Friday, he will start 23rd, leaving one of the class’s proven front-runners with a long Sunday ahead.

Gonzalez, by contrast, has given himself the ideal starting point. A lap record, pole, clear pace and championship momentum: the only question now is whether he can convert all of that into race control around a circuit where Moto2 packs can form quickly if the leader does not break the tow.

Mugello Moto2 Qualifying Times

Moto2 Championship Standings

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Moto3 Qualifying

Almansa beats Danish by 0.018s as Kelso grabs front row

David Almansa timed his Moto3 qualifying run perfectly at Mugello, taking pole with a 1m54.862 and edging Hakim Danish by just 0.018s in another knife-edge session for the lightweight class.

The front row has a strong international flavour, with Spain, Malaysia and Australia represented after Joel Kelso produced a late lap to grab third for GRYD – MLav Racing. Kelso’s 1m54.987 left him 0.125s from pole and gives Australian fans a genuine front-row interest for Sunday’s 17-lap race.

The result was particularly sharp from Almansa because the decisive lap came early, on lap three of five. Danish had already gone fastest with a 1m54.880, but Almansa found the tiny margin required and the top two did not change again despite the usual final push.

Moto3 qualifying at Mugello is rarely just about a rider’s absolute lap speed. It is about traffic, timing, discipline and the fine art of finding a useful tow without losing the lap to congestion or track limits.

Almansa got that balance right. His pole lap did not quite threaten David Alonso’s all-time Moto3 lap record of 1m53.926 from 2024, but it was enough for pole and only just short of the listed best race lap reference.

Danish continued his impressive recent form with second and missed pole by less than two-hundredths. Given the way Moto3 races tend to unfold at Mugello, that is no disaster. A front-row start, clean air and a chance to attack into Turn 1 are all still in play.

Kelso’s late move was one of the key Australian moments of the day. Brian Uriarte had been sitting on the provisional front row after coming through Q1, but Kelso was the last rider across the line and displaced him to fourth.

That changes the complexion of Kelso’s Sunday. Starting third at Mugello is very different to starting fourth. He has a clear front-row launch, a good view of the pole-sitter, and enough Honda speed to avoid being immediately bullied down the straight. His 246.5 km/h top speed in Q2 matched Almansa and placed him in the stronger half of the speed sheet.

Uriarte still did an excellent job to qualify fourth after coming through Q1, and he will head the second row from Jesus Rios and Joel Esteban. Rios was the quickest Honda inside the top six and also had 247.1 km/h through the speed trap, while Esteban improved late to secure sixth by only 0.004s over David Muñoz.

Behind the first two rows, David Muñoz, Marco Morelli and Adrian Fernandez make up row three, while Friday pacesetter Scott Ogden will start tenth. Ogden had topped Practice with a late lap on Friday, but Q2 did not fall his way to the same extent.

The rider with the most work to do is championship leader Maximo Quiles. After only just scraping into Q2 on Friday, he qualified 15th, 0.888s from pole. At Mugello, starting that deep does not remove a rider from contention entirely, because slipstream groups can pull riders forward, but it does increase the risk of being trapped in traffic and losing the lead pack before the race settles.

Veda Pratama and Eddie O’Shea were 13th and 14th, respectively, despite being the two fastest riders through the Q2 speed traps at 248.8 and 248.2 km/h. That underlines the usual Moto3 Mugello lesson: top speed helps, but it does not guarantee a lap if the run through the rest of the circuit is not clean.

The Q2 infractions sheet was busy. Pratama was logged three times, Buchanan twice, Esteban twice, and O’Shea once. Most of those came at TL5, TL14 or TL15, the same areas that had already been catching riders across the weekend.

Buchanan also had a fall at Turn 12 in Q2 and was listed as OK. The New Zealander will start 18th, one place behind Matteo Bertelle and one ahead of Guido Pini, who had again been forced through Q1.

The front of the race now looks neatly poised. Almansa has pole, Danish has form, Kelso has front-row track position, and Uriarte has already shown he can recover from the extra workload of Q1. Mugello’s long straight will almost certainly keep the front group alive, but Almansa and Kelso have given themselves the best possible chance to avoid the early chaos.

Mugello Moto3 Qualifying Times

Moto3 Championship Standings

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2026 MotoGP Calendar

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