Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2 at Mugello as Bagnaia survives Ogura charge

Round Seven – Mugello

MotoGP Mugello Grand Prix

The grid watches the Italian flypast at Mugello, where a record weekend crowd set the scene for one of Aprilia’s biggest MotoGP statements.

Bezzecchi delivers dream Mugello win as Aprilia flexes again

Marco Bezzecchi gave Mugello the result many of the 178,723 spectators had come hoping to see, but it was not Ducati red that ruled the Italian Grand Prix. Instead, Aprilia left its home Grand Prix with a commanding one-two, a reinforced Championship lead, and further evidence that the 2026 MotoGP season is increasingly being shaped by the Noale marque.

Bezzecchi is overcome in parc ferme as Aprilia boss Massimo Rivola and the team share the emotion of a result that rewrote the marque’s Mugello story.

Bezzecchi won by 3.559 seconds from Aprilia Racing team-mate Jorge Martin, while Francesco Bagnaia rescued Ducati’s home pride by holding off Ai Ogura for third by just 0.034s. That slender margin denied Trackhouse Aprilia a second rostrum of the weekend, but Ogura’s charge from 13th on the grid to fourth only added to the sense that Aprilia’s current strength extends well beyond the factory garage.

Marco Bezzecchi takes the chequered flag at Mugello, converting pole into a dream Italian Grand Prix victory for himself and Aprilia.

For Bezzecchi, this was not simply another 25-point Sunday. It was Mugello, on an Italian bike, in front of an Italian crowd, wearing a helmet dedicated to Alex Zanardi, and delivering the kind of day that had been forming in his mind since childhood.

Bezzecchi stands above the Mugello crowd after the biggest win of his MotoGP career, with Aprilia’s Italian GP one-two sending the home fans into celebration.

“The win in Mugello was fantastic – a dream that I’ve had since childhood,” Bezzecchi said. “I used to always come here with my father, my mother, and my sisters to see MotoGP, and I dreamed of being there someday. Over time, that dream became a desire to win right here. Winning in Mugello was an indescribable emotion, as well as seeing all the fans and the team happy and emotional.”

Bezzecchi salutes the Mugello crowd after turning a childhood dream into a home MotoGP victory aboard an Italian Aprilia.

Aprilia starts from strength, Fernandez throws away early chance

Aprilia had loaded the front row with Bezzecchi on pole, Raul Fernandez second and Martin third, and for a brief moment it looked as though the race might be entirely theirs from the first corner. Fernandez, winner of Saturday’s Sprint, had the chance to turn that into a much bigger Sunday statement, but he ran deep into Turn One and dropped from the front row to 17th before the race had properly settled.

The MotoGP field launches away at Mugello, with Aprilia’s front-row strength immediately tested by the long run to San Donato.

Fernandez later explained that he had used the same braking reference as the Sprint, but the bike did not shift down as expected and he arrived at San Donato still in third gear. That mistake cost him track position, and while he recovered strongly, the damage to his podium hopes was immediate.

“I feel very sorry for the team and Aprilia,” Fernandez said. “This weekend we had the pace to fight for the podium and lost one important opportunity, which is disappointing and made it a difficult race.”

Raul Fernandez had podium pace across the Mugello weekend, but his Turn One mistake on the opening lap left him with a long recovery ride rather than another Aprilia rostrum challenge.

Martin took up the early lead, but Bezzecchi was in no mood to wait. He moved through at Turn Four on the opening lap, while Bagnaia made his own strong launch from sixth on the grid. By the end of the first lap the Ducati Lenovo rider was already third, and when Martin ran slightly wide at San Donato at the start of lap two, Bagnaia moved to second.

A lap later, Bagnaia hit the front. The three-time Mugello winner used the long run into Turn One to demote Bezzecchi and briefly restore the more familiar sight of a Ducati leading at Mugello. Bagnaia then set the fastest lap of the race on lap three, a 1m45.470s, and for the first half of the Grand Prix the contest looked like a proper Italian duel: Bagnaia on the Ducati, Bezzecchi on the Aprilia, and Martin hovering just behind.

Marquez finds the new guard waiting

Behind them, Marc Marquez had a very different kind of afternoon. Still coming back from right shoulder surgery, Marquez started fourth and initially held station in the front group, but the tone of his race was telling. The younger combatants seemed to have smelled blood in the water, and the wounded animal they wanted to pounce on was the reigning World Champion.

Pedro Acosta, Fermin Aldeguer and Ogura all spent portions of the race around Marquez, and there appeared to be rather less deference than normal in the way they attacked the Ducati star. Acosta was particularly forceful, making a clean move at Scarperia before the Ducatis used the Mugello slipstream to bite back into San Donato.

Acosta clearly enjoyed the scrap, even if it did not ultimately deliver a top-five finish.

“I hope the fans enjoyed that one,” Acosta said. “It was good from the inside also; some nice passes. It is always nice to battle with Marc! I was trying to understand what he was doing different to me and his lines. I recovered and could pass him but then I was struggling a bit in another area of the track.”

Acosta, Marc Marquez, Ogura and Di Giannantonio work through the chasing pack at Mugello, with the scrap ultimately costing them touch with the leading Aprilia-Ducati podium battle.

Marquez, for his part, was pragmatic. Mugello is one of the more physically demanding circuits on the calendar, and the heavy right-hand load was always likely to test his recovering shoulder over race distance.

“I was able to show my speed at times, but I knew I’d struggle more over race distance,” Marquez said. “I was still in the fight for fourth place for most of the race, and that’s positive. I struggled in the right-hand turns, and in the final stages, even in the changes of direction, but I think that’s normal as this track is one of the most physically demanding on the calendar. I tried to use all my cards, but the others had more. I’m happy because this is an important first step in my recovery, and we’ll see how much we can improve in the next races.”

Marc Marquez leads Pedro Acosta and Fermin Aldeguer, with the young guns applying plenty of pressure to the recovering World Champion throughout the Mugello race.

That fight was entertaining, but it also proved costly. While Marquez, Acosta, Aldeguer and Ogura traded places, the top three were escaping. By the end of lap seven, the chasers were already close to three seconds away from the podium contest, and Fabio Di Giannantonio was beginning to latch onto the back of the group.

Bezzecchi makes his move

Bagnaia led through the middle phase, but the pressure was building. Bezzecchi stayed close without visibly overworking the Aprilia, while Martin began to reduce the gap to the leading pair. What had been a margin of more than a second began to shrink, and with ten laps remaining Bezzecchi made the move that decided the race.

He attacked Bagnaia into Turn One and this time the pass stuck. More importantly, he immediately found the margin that had not been there while tucked in behind the Ducati. Within a lap the gap had opened to almost a second, and the race began to pivot decisively toward Aprilia.

Bagnaia later said Ducati had found something in the electronics that helped his start and early race management, but the second half of the Grand Prix exposed the same underlying weakness that has dogged much of his season: grip and tyre wear.

“It was a very intense race,” Bagnaia said. “I gave it my all, as I should, and maybe even a little more than usual. This morning we made a step forward at the start, improving an aspect of the electronics that helped me a lot. The goal right from the start was to get into first place and manage the race, and I managed that for half the race. But then there was a drop in rear grip, and after being passed by Bezzecchi, I decided not to continue pushing excessively: I think it was the right decision. Despite the improvements, we are still struggling with tyre wear and grip, especially on the straights, but we must continue working in this direction.”

Bagnaia beats Ogura to the line by just 0.034s, saving Ducati a Mugello podium after the Trackhouse Aprilia rider launched one final attack at Bucine.

Martin then closed on Bagnaia and made his own move on lap 16, turning Aprilia’s lead into a one-two. From there Bezzecchi had the race under control. Martin could not quite get to his team-mate, but neither did Bagnaia have the pace to re-attack the second factory Aprilia.

“I’m extremely happy for Aprilia and for Marco as well,” Martin said. “Seeing all the fans below the podium was truly spectacular. I had a few difficulties in the race, but I still gave one hundred percent. The bike is working, the team is working extremely well, and the work method is the right one.”

Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi share the Mugello podium, the Aprilia pair giving Noale a home Grand Prix one-two and a major Championship statement.

Bagnaia saves the podium by 0.034s

The final podium position became the late drama. Bagnaia’s pace had softened, and behind him Ogura was coming on strongly. The Japanese rider had already worked his way forward from 13th on the grid and, once Acosta and Marquez began to fade from the podium fight, Ogura became the biggest threat to Bagnaia.

Ogura’s race was cleverly built. He did not have the track position of the factory Aprilias in the opening laps, but he did have tyre life left when others were starting to pay for their early pace.

“First of all, I’m super happy about the start,” Ogura said. “This time I did a good jump and even how I managed the first corners was really good. Also, after that, the pace was a lot faster than the riders around me, especially in the last part. The last lap move was just a try for third – of course, I did my best but I did not expect that I would finish on the podium – finishing this kind of race right behind Pecco would also not be really good, so I had to try and it didn’t work, but it was OK. The top three used their tyres to make a gap in the beginning and I didn’t do that, so I had something left at the end to catch up.”

Ogura heads Bastianini and Moreira through Mugello, the Trackhouse rider working forward from 13th on the grid while Bastianini’s promising pace again went unrewarded.

With four laps to go, Ogura attacked Acosta into Turn One. He ran a little wide, Acosta tried to come back underneath, and the pair made contact as Ogura returned to the racing line. Neither went down, but the moment cost Acosta momentum and helped Di Giannantonio move ahead of the KTM rider.

Ogura kept chasing. At the start of the final lap he was still 0.7s behind Bagnaia. By the time they reached the back of the circuit, the gap had all but disappeared. At Bucine, Ogura had his chance and went for it, but Bagnaia responded with a cutback and won the drag race to the line by 0.034s.

It was only Bagnaia’s second Grand Prix podium of the season, and one Ducati badly needed on home soil. It was also his 61st MotoGP podium, bringing him within one of Andrea Dovizioso’s tally.

Bezzecchi builds title lead, Aprilia builds the case

Bezzecchi’s victory was his 10th in MotoGP and his seventh with Aprilia. That alone underlines just how central he has become to the modern Aprilia story, with his personal Aprilia win tally now more than double the combined number of victories scored by Aleix Espargaro, Maverick Viñales, Raul Fernandez and Jorge Martin for the marque.

It was also Bezzecchi’s first MotoGP podium at Mugello, and made him the sixth Italian rider to win a premier-class race at the circuit in the MotoGP era, following Loris Capirossi, Valentino Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso, Danilo Petrucci and Francesco Bagnaia.

For Aprilia, the statistics were even more pointed. This was the brand’s 13th MotoGP victory, its fifth Grand Prix win of 2026, and already a new single-season record for the marque. The Bezzecchi-Martin one-two was Aprilia’s third one-two of the season, following Brazil and the United States, while France had produced an Aprilia one-two-three.

Aprilia celebrates a landmark home Grand Prix result at Mugello after Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin delivered a factory one-two for the Noale marque.

Massimo Rivola could hardly have asked for more from a home Grand Prix, particularly with Aprilia Racing debuting its partnership with Monster and setting records on the fastest track of the year. Bezzecchi and Martin both reached 368.6 km/h across the weekend, while Bezzecchi’s pole and Sunday win turned Mugello into a genuine Aprilia statement.

“This is a weekend that we’ll remember for a long time,” Rivola said. “In our first GP partnered with Monster, Aprilia practically broke every record possible, thanks to our extraordinary riders, thanks to an extremely talented satellite team, thanks to a one-of-a-kind factory, and to a group filled with Italian pride. Setting all the records on a track like Mugello has a unique flavour.”

The Aprilia Racing garage erupts after Bezzecchi and Martin turned Mugello into a Noale showcase, sealing another one-two in what is becoming a defining 2026 campaign.

Bezzecchi now leads the World Championship on 173 points, 17 clear of Martin, with Di Giannantonio third on 134. Aprilia Racing also leads the Teams’ standings on 329 points, while Aprilia heads the Constructors’ Championship on 218 points, 30 clear of Ducati.

Ogura and Fernandez underline Trackhouse threat

Ogura’s fourth place was one of the rides of the race. He started 13th, had the pace to run with the Ducati and KTM contenders, and came within a few metres of a second Sunday podium for the season. His fastest lap, a 1m46.021s, was the sixth best of the race and close enough to the established front-runners to reinforce the impression that his Trackhouse Aprilia was a serious weapon over the full distance.

Fernandez also salvaged a result after his first-corner mistake, climbing back through the field. He was eighth on the road, but a post-race penalty for causing contact dropped him behind Aldeguer in the revised classification. That still left four Aprilias inside the top nine, an outcome that says plenty about the depth of Aprilia’s current form.

Davide Brivio called it a good weekend in Gulf colours, even if the team had reason to wonder what might have been. Ogura missed the podium by a whisker, while Fernandez’s opening-lap error denied him the chance to convert his Sprint-winning pace into a Sunday podium challenge.

VR46 salvages, KTM fights, Gresini learns

Di Giannantonio completed the top five after a sluggish start left him boxed in. The Italian wanted more from his home Grand Prix, especially after his Sprint podium, but his second-half pace was again strong enough to confirm that the VR46 Ducati remains a podium threat when qualifying and the opening laps fall his way.

“Unfortunately, my race was hard right from the start,” Di Giannantonio said. “I was packed in the group and I had to close the gas. But we had to believe it, we had a strong pace, especially in the second half of the race. It’s always satisfying and fun to overtake many riders. Obviously, I wanted something more here at Mugello, it was my home race.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio leads Enea Bastianini during the Italian Grand Prix, the VR46 rider recovering to fifth while Bastianini’s difficult KTM weekend ended in another crash.

Team Manager Pablo Nieto put it more bluntly, noting that in modern MotoGP, starting position can decide much of the weekend. Di Giannantonio had the pace to fight for the podium, but having to recover from deeper in the pack turned that into fifth rather than silverware.

Acosta was sixth for KTM, and although Brad Binder was marooned in 11th, the factory squad had at least one rider in the thick of the front-half combat. Aki Ajo described Acosta’s race as one of the best of his MotoGP career, even if the overall KTM performance at Mugello was not what the team expected.

At Gresini, Aldeguer finished eighth after a positive but physically demanding race. The rookie had the speed to sit with Marquez and Acosta early, but front tyre management became the limiting factor.

“At the beginning of the race today, we were really fast and able to stay with Marc and Pedro’s group,” Aldeguer said. “From that battle onwards, I started having some issues with the front tyre. The bike became more difficult to turn, and I had to rely heavily on the rear tyre to make it corner, which caused us to struggle.”

Fermin Aldeguer leads Acosta in the early Mugello exchanges, the Gresini rookie showing strong pace before front tyre management became a limiting factor later in the race.

Japanese factories remain short of the European benchmark

The Japanese manufacturers again had a mixed and largely sobering Sunday. Diogo Moreira was the best Honda in tenth and showed useful pace in the pack, but he still finished more than 21 seconds from the win. Joan Mir and Luca Marini followed in 12th and 13th, while Cal Crutchlow retired after 10 laps.

Moreira took encouragement from another top-ten finish, saying he learned a lot by riding behind stronger rivals and battling them. Mir also found some positives after a tough weekend, keeping the bike upright and fighting into the group contesting the lower reaches of the top ten. Marini, meanwhile, felt his race had been compromised when Fernandez sent him into the gravel early, forcing him to recover twice before tyre wear halted his progress.

Mir, Diogo Moreira and Marini contest the Honda bragging rights at Mugello, with Moreira eventually emerging as the top Honda in tenth.

Yamaha had even less to celebrate. Jack Miller banked the final point in 15th for Prima Pramac Yamaha, helped by Toprak Razgatlioglu being dropped one place for exceeding track limits on the final lap. Fabio Quartararo was 18th and more than 34 seconds from Bezzecchi, while Alex Rins crashed out.

Quartararo said he could push in the opening laps but lost feeling as the race went on, eventually reducing the risk to avoid a crash. Monster Yamaha Team Director Massimo Meregalli called it a challenging Grand Prix, with Quartararo never fully comfortable and Rins’ race ending early at high-speed San Donato.

Miller was more upbeat from the Pramac side, describing the weekend as another step in understanding the Yamaha package, but the result still placed the leading Yamaha 32.289 seconds from victory.

“We were right there with the other Yamahas throughout the race,” Miller said. “The reality is that when you’re fighting in a group like that, even a couple of tenths can make a huge difference, especially here at Mugello. If you can’t close the gap before the final corner, the long straight makes it very difficult to defend or attack.”

Jack Miller battles Joan Mir during the Italian Grand Prix, with Miller eventually banking the final point for Yamaha while Mir led the factory Honda effort home.

Razgatlioglu also left with personal progress, despite losing the final point to Miller through a track-limits penalty. He felt the changes made on Sunday morning finally gave him more of the engine braking feel he had been missing, allowing him to ride more naturally and stay closer to the other Yamahas.

There are occasional flashes from Honda and Yamaha, but the broader picture remains difficult to soften. Aprilia and Ducati are setting the standard, KTM can still place Acosta in the fight when everything lines up, and the Japanese factories are still not on terms with the European juggernaut.

Flags and smoke fill the Mugello hillside as Bezzecchi’s number 72 is celebrated by the Italian crowd after Aprilia’s home one-two.

Hungary presents a new unknown

The calendar now moves quickly to Hungary, and Balaton Park brings a fresh layer of uncertainty. Mugello is a known quantity, a circuit where horsepower, braking stability and front-end confidence are tested in familiar ways. Hungary will be a different question entirely.

That may be good news for anyone chasing Aprilia, but it may also be another opportunity for the current Championship leaders to show that their advantage is not circuit-specific. Fernandez wants to get back to the level he showed before his first-corner mistake; KTM expects Balaton Park to suit its package better; Yamaha is looking for a reset; and the Japanese factories will hope a new venue compresses the gaps rather than exposes them again.

Bezzecchi leaves Italy with momentum, Martin leaves with another podium, Ogura leaves with another warning shot, and the rest of the MotoGP field heads to Hungary knowing that the Aprilia threat is no longer a storyline. Aprilia is the benchmark.

Mugello MotoGP Race Results

Pos

Rider

Bike

Time/Gap

1	M. Bezzecchi	Apr	40m57.347
2	J. Martin	Apr	+3.559
3	F. Bagnaia	Duc	+5.098
4	A. Ogura	Apr	+5.132
5	F. Di Giannantonio	Duc	+5.453
6	P. Acosta	Ktm	+7.467
7	M. Marquez	Duc	+10.762
8	R. Fernandez	Apr	+13.380
9	F. Aldeguer	Duc	+14.644
10	D. Moreira	Hon	+21.366
11	B. Binder	Ktm	+21.479
12	J. Mir	Hon	+21.795
13	L. Marini	Hon	+22.059
14	F. Morbidelli	Duc	+29.789
15	J. Miller	Yam	+32.289
16	T. Razgatlioglu	Yam	+31.920
17	M. Viñales	Ktm	+32.717
18	F. Quartararo	Yam	+34.335
19	M. Pirro	Duc	+40.553
Not Classified
NC	E. Bastianini	Ktm	12 laps
NC	A. Rins	Yam	13 laps
NC	C. Crutchlow	Hon	13 laps

Mugello MotoGP Event Top Speeds

Pos

Rider

Bike

Speed

Session

1	J. Martin	Apr	368.6	FP2
2	M. Bezzecchi	Apr	368.6	Sprint
3	D. Moreira	Hon	367.3	GP
4	E. Bastianini	Ktm	367.3	Sprint
5	A. Ogura	Apr	366.1	Sprint
6	M. Marquez	Duc	366.1	GP
7	P. Acosta	Ktm	364.8	GP
8	F. Bagnaia	Duc	364.8	Sprint
9	L. Marini	Hon	364.8	Sprint
10	B. Binder	Ktm	363.6	Sprint
11	J. Mir	Hon	362.4	Sprint
12	J. Miller	Yam	362.4	Sprint
13	F. Di Giannantonio	Duc	361.2	GP
14	C. Crutchlow	Hon	360.0	GP
15	R. Fernandez	Apr	360.0	GP
16	F. Aldeguer	Duc	360.0	GP
17	F. Morbidelli	Duc	360.0	GP
18	F. Quartararo	Yam	360.0	Sprint
19	M. Viñales	Ktm	360.0	GP
20	A. Rins	Yam	360.0	Sprint
21	T. Razgatlioglu	Yam	358.8	Sprint
22	M. Pirro	Duc	357.6	GP

2026 MotoGP Championship Standings

Pos

Rider

Points

1	M. Bezzecchi	173
2	J. Martin	156
3	F. Di Giannantonio	134
4	P. Acosta	103
5	A. Ogura	92
6	R. Fernandez	88
7	F. Bagnaia	82
8	M. Marquez	71
9	A. Marquez	67
10	F. Aldeguer	58
11	L. Marini	46
12	B. Binder	42
13	E. Bastianini	39
14	F. Morbidelli	38
15	F. Quartararo	37
16	J. Zarco	34
17	D. Moreira	23
18	J. Mir	15
19	A. Rins	9
20	M. Viñales	5
21	A. Fernandez	4
22	T. Razgatlioglu	4
23	J. Miller	3
24	J. Folger
25	M. Pirro
26	C. Crutchlow

2026 MotoGP Calendar

Rnd	Date	Event	Circuit
1	01 Mar	Thai	Chang International Circuit
2	22 Mar	Brazil*	Autodromo Internacional Ayrton Senna
3	29 Mar	US	Circuit of the Americas
4	26 Apr	Spain**	Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto
5	10 May	France	Le Mans
6	17 May	Catalonia	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
7	31 May	Italy	Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello
8	07 Jun	Hungary	Balaton Park Circuit
9	21 Jun	Czech	Automotodrom Brno
10	28 Jun	Netherlands	TT Circuit Assen
11	12 Jul	Germany	Sachsenring
12	09 Aug	GB	Silverstone Circuit
13	30 Aug	Aragon	MotorLand Aragon
14	13 Sep	San Marino	Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
15	20 Sep	Austria	Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
16	04 Oct	Japan	Mobility Resort Motegi
17	11 Oct	Indonesia	Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit
18	25 Oct	Australia	Phillip Island
19	01 Nov	Malaysia	Petronas Sepang International Circuit
20	08 Nov	Qatar	Lusail International Circuit
21	22 Nov	Portugal	Autodromo Internacional do Algarve
22	29 Nov	Valencia	Circuit Ricardo Tormo