Ogiwara and Ramadhipa blow Rookies Cup title race open at Sachsenring

2026 Red Bull Rookies Cup

Round Five – Sachsenring

The 2026 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup title fight was blown wide open at the Sachsenring, with Ryota Ogiwara and Kiandra Ramadhipa splitting the race wins while championship leader Beñat Fernandez left Germany empty-handed.

Fernandez arrived at the Liqui Moly German Grand Prix round with a 42-point buffer after a strong Assen weekend had seemingly put him back in control. Two races later, that advantage was down to 17 points.

Ogiwara did the damage on Saturday, charging from 12th on the revised Race One grid to claim his third victory of the season, while Fernandez crashed out of the lead group. On Sunday, Fernandez fell again in the incident that brought out the red flag, while Ogiwara had already slid out earlier in the race.

That left Ramadhipa to take a superb second win of the season in the shortened Sunday race, moving the 16-year-old Indonesian into third in the standings with four races still to run.

The Sachsenring’s tight 3.671 km layout, elevation changes and long succession of left-handers again produced proper Rookies Cup chaos, with track position, tyre management and late-race nerve every bit as important as outright speed.

Qualifying

Fynn Kratochwil gave the home crowd something to cheer about on Friday, the 15-year-old German taking his first Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup pole with a 1m28.217.

It was a tight session at the front. Kiattisak Singhapong was just 0.021 seconds slower, with Ramadhipa only 0.033 from pole in third. Carlos Cano was fourth, Beñat Fernandez fifth and Travis Borg sixth, while the top 13 riders were covered by less than eight-tenths.

Kratochwil’s lap was not only good enough for pole, it also compared favourably with the Sachsenring race-lap benchmarks. It was faster than Kiandra Ramadhipa’s 2025 best lap of 1m28.739, though still shy of Yaroslav Karpushin’s all-time mark of 1m28.016.

Ramadhipa had already shown his Sachsenring form earlier in the day, topping Free Practice with a 1m29.529. He was also comfortable with the layout, later noting that he enjoyed the circuit’s long left-hand character.

The Race One grid was then reshaped by penalties. Singhapong, Cano, Sullivan Mounsey and Cristian Borrelli were sent to the back of the grid due to slow riding in qualifying, while David Da Costa was handed a long-lap penalty. Those penalties did not apply to Race Two, where the original qualifying order was restored.

Race One

Saturday’s opening race was run in warm conditions, with track temperature at 40 degrees, and it quickly developed into the typical Sachsenring Rookies Cup brawl.

Ramadhipa led the opening two laps before Ogiwara, who had started 12th on the revised grid, cut through to lead by lap three. David González then took a turn at the front, before the order kept shuffling as the front group traded places through the flowing middle sector and down the hill.

The key championship moment came on lap eight, when Fernandez crashed out of the mid-pack battle. He rejoined briefly, but was shown a black flag with orange disc and then returned to the pits. With the championship leader out, Ogiwara suddenly had a major chance to claw back points.

He made the most of it. After dropping as far back as sixth at mid-distance, the Japanese 17-year-old was back into contention by the final laps and led across the line from lap 15 to the flag.

González pushed him hard to the end, closing on the final lap, but Ogiwara defended through the last section and won by 0.142 seconds. Singhapong, who had started from the back after his penalty, charged through to third, just 0.427 seconds from victory. Kratochwil was fourth, having been in podium contention until the last corners, while Ramadhipa rounded out the top five.

The numbers showed how close it was. The top eight were covered by less than a second, and the top ten by just over two seconds. Da Costa set the fastest lap of the race, a 1m28.748, despite having served the long-lap penalty, and still recovered to seventh.

For Ogiwara, it was a crucial win. He arrived at Sachsenring 42 points behind Fernandez. By Saturday evening, that gap had been slashed to 17.

Ryota Ogiwara

“Honestly, before the race, I’m thinking ‘this is gonna be tough’. But then, from the start of the race, my feeling was so good. I could lead the race, I dropped back a bit mid-race, but then pushed again and could manage to win. I saw on the big screen that Beñat was out so that changes the points a lot.”

David González

“The race was difficult. I started P11. I fought into the lead positions. I then lost some places, at the end, it was crazy. On the last lap, I passed Fynn for 2nd. I pushed so hard to catch Ogiwara, going down the hill on the final lap, I was closer, just not close enough to try at the last corner.”

Kiattisak Singhapong

“With the grid penalty, I had to come from the back. I was careful, I didn’t want to use up the rear tyre. I just started to push in the second half, and I pushed really hard over the last two laps. Tomorrow should be a bit easier, starting from the front row. I will keep calm, keep control and see what I can do.”

Red Bull Rookies Results – Sachsenring Race One

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap
1	R Ogiwara	KTM	28’24.653
2	D González	KTM	+0.142
3	K Singhapong	KTM	+0.427
4	F Kratochwil	KTM	+0.537
5	K Ramadhipa	KTM	+0.673
6	Y Karpushin	KTM	+0.707
7	D Da Costa	KTM	+0.922
8	C Cano	KTM	+0.971
9	F Bujosa	KTM	+2.112
10	T Borg	KTM	+2.187
11	M Marulanda	KTM	+9.100
12	G Pugliese	KTM	+9.131
13	A Daquigan	KTM	+23.338
14	E Sparks	KTM	+23.434
15	J Van Crugten	KTM	+23.647
16	C Borrelli	KTM	+23.731
17	A Schmidt	KTM	+23.786
18	A Almeida	KTM	+47.637
Not Classified
NC	B Fernandez	KTM	+10 Laps
NC	T Varga	KTM	+11 Laps
NC	K Daniel	KTM	+15 Laps
NC	S Mounsey	KTM	+17 Laps
NC	K Tinez	KTM	+17 Laps
NC	L Agostinelli	KTM	+18 Laps
DNF	G Planques	KTM	DNF

Race Two

Sunday’s second race was scheduled for 19 laps but was stopped with a red flag after incidents involving Fernando Bujosa and Fernandez. The official result was declared after 14 laps.

Ramadhipa was a worthy winner. He crossed the line first on 11 of the 14 laps that counted towards the result, and was second on the other three. González was the only other rider to lead across the stripe, but the timing of the red flag left him seventh in the final classification despite having been a genuine victory contender throughout.

Ramadhipa’s ride was particularly impressive because it was not simply a matter of straight-line pace. The Indonesian was last on the Race Two top-speed sheet at 196.3 km/h, while several rivals were above 200 km/h. The difference was made through commitment, positioning and getting the KTM stopped, turned and fired out of the Sachsenring’s left-hand sequence.

Yaroslav Karpushin finished second, 0.230 seconds behind Ramadhipa, while Kratochwil gave the home fans a podium with third, 0.327 from the win. Kristian Daniel was fourth, Guillem Planques fifth, Cano sixth and González seventh.

The front pack was again ferociously tight. The top 11 were covered by just 1.125 seconds, and even after the red flag countback there were seven riders within eight-tenths of victory.

Ogiwara had already crashed out earlier, unhurt, which meant he could not fully capitalise on Fernandez’s second non-score of the weekend. Bujosa and Fernandez fell in the incident that caused the stoppage, with Bujosa recorded as rider OK and Fernandez taken to the medical centre. Both escaped serious injury.

Tibor Varga set the fastest lap of the race with a 1m28.978 on lap nine, despite finishing 12th, another indicator of how much track position mattered in the compressed Sunday fight.

Kiandra Ramadhipa

“I tried to go from the start. I just said to myself, if somebody overtakes me, I need to overtake them back. I wasn’t expecting the Red Flag, of course, but staying at the front worked. We changed the suspension slightly from yesterday, and I think that helped the tyres. I have missed this winning feeling.”

Yaroslav Karpushin

“It’s not been easy this year, but I feel like I’ve made a step. Here, I had way more confidence in practice and in the races. In Race 1, I was doing quite well, in my opinion, but I just didn’t have that last step to get into a winning position. I would say I’m happy, but after a Red Flag, I’m just hoping everyone is OK.”

Fynn Kratochwil

“I was sitting in P2, P3 all the time, and feeling super comfortable, saving the tyres. Fighting a lot, but waiting for the last laps. In the end, perhaps I was lucky with the timing of the Red Flag; yesterday, I was unlucky and missed the podium. Pole and the good race yesterday – a great weekend.”

Kristian Daniel Jr.

“I made a few mistakes in the race, but didn’t crash. I’ve had really good pace the whole weekend. Yesterday was a bummer. In 2nd, I felt super strong. I guess it was a bit of a lapse of concentration. Today, I was focused the whole race. I had to fight back twice and felt strong for the finish.”

Schmidt’s Sachsenring weekend

Australian rookie Archie Schmidt had a difficult weekend. He qualified 25th, but grid penalties ahead of him moved him to 21st for Race One. From there he finished 17th, just outside the points.

There was at least some useful pace hidden in the numbers for Schmidt with a best lap of 1m29.855.

Race Two ended early. Schmidt crashed, rejoined, was shown the black flag, then retired to the pits.

Red Bull Rookies Results – Sachsenring Race Two

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap
1	K Ramadhipa	KTM	20m57.770
2	Y Karpushin	KTM	+0.230
3	F Kratochwil	KTM	+0.327
4	K Daniel	KTM	+0.426
5	G Planques	KTM	+0.554
6	C Cano	KTM	+0.719
7	D González	KTM	+0.772
8	D Da Costa	KTM	+0.793
9	S Mounsey	KTM	+0.995
10	E Sparks	KTM	+1.003
11	K Singhapong	KTM	+1.125
12	T Varga	KTM	+2.815
13	G Pugliese	KTM	+2.957
14	K Tinez	KTM	+3.111
15	A Daquigan	KTM	+1 Lap
16	A Almeida	KTM	+1 Lap
17	C Borrelli	KTM	+1 Lap
18	J Van Crugten	KTM	+1 Lap
Not Classified
NC	F Bujosa	KTM	+1 Lap
NC	B Fernandez	KTM	+1 Lap
NC	T Borg	KTM	+3 Laps
NC	M Marulanda	KTM	+9 Laps
NC	R Ogiwara	KTM	+9 Laps
EX	A Schmidt	KTM	Excluded

Championship

Fernandez still leads the 2026 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, but Sachsenring reshaped the title fight.

The Spaniard remains on 148 points after his double no-score, while Ogiwara’s Race One win lifted him to 131. Ramadhipa’s fifth on Saturday and victory on Sunday moved him to 101 points and third overall, ahead of Bujosa on 97 and González on 96.

With four races remaining and 100 points still available, the Cup is still very much alive. Fernandez has been the season-long benchmark, but the Sachsenring round proved how quickly a comfortable-looking advantage can be cut back in the Rookies Cup.

Red Bull Rookies Cup Points

Pos	Rider	Nation	Points
1	B Fernandez	ESP	148
2	R Ogiwara	JPN	131
3	K Ramadhipa	IDN	101
4	F Bujosa	ESP	97
5	D Gonzalez	ESP	95
6	K Singhapong	THA	90
7	F Kratochwil	GER	85
8	K Daniel	USA	74
9	C Cano	ESP	73
10	Y Karpushin	KGZ	68
11	T Borg	MLT	68
12	S Mounsey	GBR	61
13	G Planques	FRA	59
14	M Marulanda	COL	46
15	G Pugliese	ITA	46
16	D Da Costa	FRA	40
17	K Tinez	VEN	29
18	E Sparks	GBR	28
19	A Daquigan	PHI	16
20	L Agostinelli	VIE	12
21	C Borrelli	ITA	11
22	T Varga	HUN	10
23	J Van Crugten	NED	6
24	A Schmidt	AUS	3
25	A Almeida	POR	2
26	A Fernandez	ESP	1

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