The Italian leads home an Aprilia 1-2 as the podium fight between Bagnaia and Ogura goes to the wire in a memorable Italian Grand Prix
An Italian, in Italy, on Italian machinery, winning at Mugello. The best day of Marco Bezzecchi’s MotoGP career so far? Hell yeah. That’s what dreams are made of for the World Championship leader as the #72 delivered a faultless performance to send the record-breaking crowd into overdrive. And the day got better for Aprilia Racing as Jorge Martin earned the Italian marque a 1-2, while Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) held off a late Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) attack to return to the Italian GP podium to serve up some more delight for the famous Italian faithful.
THE OPENING EXCHANGES: PECCO POUNCES
From pole, Bezzecchi got away well, and so too did his teammate Martin, with the latter picking up the P1 baton at the opening corner as Sprint winner Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) ran deep into Turn 1. That saw the Spaniard go from P3 to P17.
It didn’t take long for Bezzecchi to grab the lead though. The Italian moved through on Martin at Turn 4, while another home hero was on the move in the form of Bagnaia. The Italian was up to P3 on the opening lap, and that became P2 when Martin ran slightly wide at Turn 1 at the beginning of the second lap.
A lap later, into San Donato again, Pecco then led the Italian Grand Prix. The three-time Mugello winner demoted compatriot and title race leader Bezzecchi to second place. Martin was P3, Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) was fending off the challenge of Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in the battle for P4, with Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Ogura lurking in P6 and P7.
At the end of Lap 7, Pecco was being shadowed by Bezzecchi, with Martin lapping just over a second behind the Italian duo. In turn, Martin was two seconds ahead of a barnstorming battle between Marquez, Acosta, and Aldeguer.
Acosta made a classy move underneath Marquez at Scarperia, but slipstream wasn’t in the #37’s favour as both Ducatis got the better of the KTM into the fast and furious braking zone of Turn 1. The scrapping meant the chasers were now nearly three seconds adrift of the podium; bad news for top three hopes, but good news for Sprint podium finisher Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team). The Italian was P8, and by Lap 10, latched onto the back of the Marquez, Acosta, Aldeguer, and Ogura group.
BEZ STRIKES
As we clocked through half race distance, Martin began to reel in the top two. The margin decreased from 1.1s to 0.7s, so was this the #89 beginning to apply some pressure? And speaking of, Bezzecchi began to mount pressure on Pecco – so much so that a move for the lead came at Turn 1 with 10 laps to go, and it was a pass that stuck.
Could Pecco respond? Well, straight off the bat, a 0.9s gap opened up between the two. Bezzecchi had pulled the pin here, and now, the second factory Aprilia began to swarm all over the rear wheel of Pecco. And sure enough, on Lap 16, Martin carved his way through on the Ducati star to demote Pecco to P3.
The gap between the top two in the championship was 1.4s, so if Martin had anything left in the tank, it was time to use it. Further back, Acosta and Marquez were still going at it, while Ogura and Di Giannantonio enjoyed front row seats.
OGURA BEGINS PODIUM ATTACK, BEZ CRUISES HOME
Pecco’s pace was a slight concern with six laps left. Was the Italian’s podium under threat? Potentially. Especially when Acosta, and then an aggressive Ogura, followed by Diggia, shoved Marquez to P7. Pecco’s advantage over Acosta and Ogura was 2.9s with five laps to go, with the double MotoGP World Champion consistently half a second slower per lap.
With four laps to go, contact. Ogura blasted past Acosta on the run into Turn 1, and having gone slightly wide, Acosta sniffed a chance to bite back. Two into one doesn’t go though, and with Ogura coming back onto the line, and Acosta coming up the inside, the Japanese and Spaniard clashed again. Neither crashed, but it was a bit of bumping and barging that cost Acosta crucial time. And soon, Diggia demoted the KTM star to P6.
Two to go. Bezzecchi was well on his way to a dream home Grand Prix victory, as Pecco led Ogura by a smidgen over a second. Could the #63 hold on? Ogura was 0.7s behind at the start of the final lap, and while the top two positions were set barring any errors or late drama, P3 wasn’t done.
By Turn 10, the gap was 0.4s. By Turn 11, the gap was nothing. Turn 12 came and went, and so did the Biondetti chicane. Now, Turn 14. Bucine. And Ogura pounced. But Pecco said, ‘Not today, Ai’. Quick thinking saw the Italian dive back through on the cutback and, by a very slender 0.034s, won the drag race to the chequered flag. What a finish in the fight for P3.
Not having to worry about that though were Bezzecchi and Aprilia. A sensational Sunday ride at home saw the Italian win at Mugello in MotoGP. Dreamy. And for Aprilia, a 1-2 at their home Grand Prix thanks to Martin’s superb ride to P2.
YOUR MUGELLO POINT SCORERS
Ogura was close to a second Sunday podium of the season, but P4 from P13 on the grid signals another classy comeback from the Japanese rider. Di Giannantonio loses ground in the championship with a P5, but after a sluggish start, the Italian will settle for that.
Acosta couldn’t have done any more to try and cling onto a top five, it was P6 at the flag for the Spaniard, with Marquez’s P7 an impressive one upon his return from his crucial right shoulder surgery. More to come, as we know, from the reigning World Champion.
Fernandez will rue his Turn 1 mistake which cost the #25 a shot at finishing – at least – on the podium, but from P17 on Lap 1 to P8 on the results sheet, it’s a comeback to be pleased about. Aldeguer slipped to P9, with Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) rounding out the top 10 to earn back-to-back top 10s following his Barcelona P9.
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol), teammate Luca Marini, Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), and Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) capped off the point scorers in Italy.
HUNGARY UP NEXT
A Sunday where dreams came true. Bezzecchi marches to a 17-point lead in the title race over teammate Martin, with a date in Hungary arriving swiftly.
Check out FULL RESULTS HERE.
Gonzalez escapes as Vietti mounts a comeback for home podium
A lights to flag victory and extending his Championship lead, Manuel Gonzalez (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) once again showed why he’s a favourite for the title in 2026. The Spaniard bagged a third win of the year and a sixth podium in seven GPs ahead of a heroic fight back from Celestino Vietti (MB Conveyors SpeedRS Team) saw him take a home podium in second whilst Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) rounded out the order.
Lights out and it was a mega start from polesitter Gonzalez, easing into the lead to grab the holeshot. As the field sorted themselves out, there were some early fallers with Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) crashing out before a separate incident involving Aron Canet (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and Xabi Zurutuza (KLINT Racing Team) fell at Turn 7 seeing both riders crash out. A lap later and front row-starter Alex Escrig (KLINT Factory Racing) was taken out by Alonso Lopez (ITALJET Gresini Moto2) on the exit of Turn 3 for which the latter received a Long Lap Penalty.
At the front, Ortola had charged up the order; after a brilliant start saw him in the top four on the opening lap, the Spaniard was now on the rear wheel of fellow countryman and Grand Prix leader Gonzalez from tenth on the grid. Just over three seconds back, Filip Salac (OnlyFans American Racing Team) was in a head-to-head with Holgado a battle for the final podium place. However, it was as the Grand Prix entered the second half that Ortola’s pace dropped off and Gonzalez’s lead was now over 1.5s. Behind, Holgado got P3 ahead of Salac with the Czech now being closed down by Senna Agius (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) behind.
Into the closing stages and there were changes in the top six; Agius finally caught and passed Salac and half a lap later, the #12 had been dispatched by Vietti. Ahead, Ortola had been usurped out of P2 by Holgado before heartbreak for the #4, who suffered a technical problem and was out less than 10km from the finish. Vietti was on a mission as he sniffed a podium, grabbing P3 from Agius with a lap and a half to go before pouncing at Scarperia on the final lap to bag P2 from Holgado. At the final corner, Agius got underneath the Spaniard too but it’d be a big run to the line to sort it all out for good.
At the front, nobody could keep up with Gonzalez who cruised to victory at the Italian GP for a second consecutive season. Vietti’s comeback was complete: 16th to P2 at the chequered flag, a mighty performance by the Italian at home to secure a third rostrum of the year and a second on the spin. Holgado managed to slipstream his way back into third on the run to the line, edging out Agius by 0.017s. A third top ten in a row and a best finish of the year for Salac, who bagged a first top five since Aragon last season.
Despite his Long Lap Penalty, Lopez was valiant to take sixth place ahead of Izan Guevara (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2), the #28 holding on to second place in the standings but now more than 30 points adrift of Gonzalez at the top of the standings. From 19th to P8, Barry Baltus (REDS Fantic Racing) got his second top ten of the season whilst Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Deniz Öncü (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) rounded out the top ten.
Onto Hungary then with a trip to central Europe in the next days for next weekend! Find full results from Moto2 here and see you at Balaton!
Uriarte pounces late to earn debut win as Danish clinches podium
Reigning MotoJunior and Red Bull Rookies Cup champion Brian Uriarte is a Moto3 race winner following a classic Mugello Moto3 battle. As expected, the fight for victory went down to the final lap, but escaping the scrap was the eventual winner, and clinching P2 was Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Alvaro Carpe. Malaysia’s Hakim Danish (AEON Credit – MT Helmets – MSI) earned his debut podium in Moto3 after a fine ride from pole, as World Championship leader Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team) is forced to settle for P11.
From his inherited pole position after David Almansa’s (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) unfortunate withdrawal due to illness, Danish got a dream start from pole position, but halfway around the first lap, Joel Kelso (GRYD MLav Racing) pounced to grab an early lead. Joel Esteban (LEVEL UP – MTA) then passed Danish for P2 at the end of the opening lap to jump into P2, with title race leader Quiles P14 at the end of the first lap in Italy.
Three laps later, Quiles had made his way up to P8, with Uriarte using a dose of classic Mugello slipstream to pinch the lead. A lap further into the race, Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) led for the first time, and another lap later it was Carpe – with Quiles now up to P2.
On Lap 7 of 17, Rico Salmela’s (Red Bull KTM Tech3) crash on the exit of Turn 4 broke up the group, meaning the top eight were 0.9s clear of the chasers. At this stage, Quiles was leading, with his closest championship challenger Fernandez in P2. But that emerging gap we talked about? Scrap it. Eddie O’Shea (GRYD MLav Racing) and co bridged the opening within a lap.
On Lap 13, after a brilliant rise through the top 10 pack, O’Shea grabbed a Moto3 lead for the first time, but it didn’t last long as Fernandez, Quiles, and teammate Kelso pounced. It was getting dicey. Track position began to matter with three laps to go, with Fernandez fronting the 15-rider-strong pack from O’Shea and Quiles.
At the final corner on the penultimate lap, Quiles had a huge moment on the rear end. The championship leader was out of the seat, and that dropped him out of the top 10. Then, it was last lap time. And at the Casanova/Savelli section, Uriarte leapt into the lead to demote Fernandez to P2, and an almighty scrap unfolded for the podium behind. This allowed Uriarte to have a rare, clean, and uninterrupted run to a dream debut win in Moto3, and winning the race to finish on the podium was teammate Carpe and polesitter Danish.
Fernandez lost out on a win and a rostrum on the final lap, but a P4 is a good result for the Spaniard considering Quiles’ P11. Esteban ended the race in P5 ahead of O’Shea, who, despite losing some places in a hectic final lap, managed to secure a career-best P6.
David Muñoz (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP), Veda Pratama (Honda Team Asia), Kelso, and Jesus Rios (Rivacold Snipers Team) rounded out the Mugello top 10, as a frustrated Quiles – as mentioned – had to settle for P11 after he and teammate Marco Morelli ran wide at the final corner trying to avoid contact in the pack.
Matteo Bertelle (LEVEL UP – MTA), the aforementioned Morelli, Scott Ogden (CIP Green Power), and home hero Guido Pini (Leopard Racing) were the final points scorers, with the latter losing ground on the last lap after a small trip in the gravel trap.
What a battle at Mugello. Quiles’ lead comes down to 52 points ahead of a trip to Balaton Park next weekend, as we strap in for more Moto2 action in Hungary. Check out full results here for all the scorers and see you there!