MOTO GP

Bezzecchi hits the target in Mugello, confirming Aprilia's strength

Marco Bezzecchi was the big winner of the Italian GP, ​​held this Sunday (31). The Italian rider won the stage in Mugello for the first time, achieving the feat in a race marked by competitiveness. Jorge Martín and Pecco Bagnaia complete the podium.

The Italian started from pole position, in a front row full of Aprilia bikes. Raúl Fernández, winner of the Sprint, started second, with Martín in third. Brazilian Diogo Moreira started the race in 8th position after having achieved, for the first time this season, a direct qualification from Q2.

Marco Bezzecchi confirmed Aprilia's strength and won the MotoGP Italian GP this Sunday (31). In front of more than 88,000 fans in Mugello, the Italian rider overcame Francesco Bagnaia in a home duel and achieved another victory in the 2026 season and his first at the Italian circuit.

Marco Bezzecchi delighted the Italian fans this Sunday by winning the MotoGP Italian Grand Prix at Mugello. Besides securing another important victory this season, the Aprilia rider extended his lead in the championship by leading a one-two finish for the Noale manufacturer.

Jorge Martin completed Aprilia's excellent performance by crossing the finish line in second place. Meanwhile, Francesco Bagnaia secured the last place on the podium in front of the Ducati fans, although he had to withstand strong pressure in the final laps.

The race started very differently from the Sprint. After facing difficulties on Saturday and finishing only in seventh place, Bagnaia reacted in the main race and took the lead on the second of the 23 laps.

Before that, the Italian overtook Bezzecchi and began to control the pace of the race. For much of the first half of the race, the two opened up a gap over Martin, who followed the pair closely behind.

However, the scenario began to change as tire wear began to influence the riders' performance. From the halfway point of the race, the Aprilia bikes gained competitiveness and began to reduce the gap to the leader.

As a result, Bezzecchi regained first position with ten laps to go. Shortly after, Martin repeated the same overtaking maneuver on Bagnaia at turn 1 and took second place.

In this way, Aprilia consolidated a one-two finish that proved impossible to challenge until the checkered flag.

Marquez loses positions at the end and Fernandez reacts...Further back, Marc Marquez delivered a very combative race in his return to GPs. For much of the race, the Spaniard withstood the pressure exerted by Pedro Acosta and Fermin Aldeguer.

Later, Ai Ogura and Fabio Di Giannantonio also joined the chasing group. Despite still dealing with physical limitations after shoulder surgery, Marquez managed to defend for several laps.

However, the physical exhaustion and the intensity of the race took their toll in the final stretch. As a result, the Spaniard ended up losing positions and finished only in seventh place.

On the other hand, Raul Fernandez had an impressive recovery. The Sprint winner went off at turn 1 right at the start of the race and plummeted to 17th place.

Even so, the Trackhouse rider showed a very strong pace throughout the race. Lap after lap, he recovered ground until securing eighth position at the checkered flag.

Jorge Martín was the only one able to keep up with the Italians, leaving Bagnaia behind and securing second place in the race with ease, completing the Noale one-two finish. Bagnaia, Ai Ogura, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Pedro Acosta, Marc Márquez, Raúl Fernández, Fermín Aldeguer and Diogo Moreira completed the top 10.

Crutchlow returns and retires in Mugello...Another highlight of the weekend was the return of Cal Crutchlow. The Briton competed in his first GP since 2023, replacing LCR Honda.

However, his participation ended earlier than expected. Halfway through the scheduled 23 laps, Crutchlow brought his bike back to the pits and abandoned the race.

In addition to him, Enea Bastianini and Alex Rins also did not finish the race in Mugello.

The Brazilian had another consistent weekend in MotoGP. Starting for the first time among the top ten on the grid, he started from eighth position and overtook Joan Mir and Brad Binder in the final laps to finish in 10th place and score valuable points for the remainder of the World Championship.

MotoGP returns to action between June 5th and 7th, at Balaton Park, for the Hungarian GP, ​​the eighth round of the 2026 season.

The weather cooperated for Sunday's MotoGP race at Mugello. Under clear skies all day, the main race was held with an ambient temperature of 28°C and asphalt at 48°C. Winds were blowing at 8 km/h, while the relative humidity hovered around 47%.

The grid had two important absences. Álex Márquez and Johann Zarco were out of the Italian GP after the heavy accidents they suffered in Catalonia. Their replacements were Michele Pirro and Cal Crutchlow, respectively.

On the other hand, Marc Márquez returned to the grid after recovering from the accident he suffered in Le Mans. For the 23 laps of the race in Mugello, the 22 drivers in the premier class opted for medium tires on both the front and rear.

Pole-sitter Bezzecchi had a good start, but was overtaken by Martín under braking at turn 1. The Italian, however, retaliated on the first lap to regain the lead. Bagnaia was in third place, followed by Marc Márquez and Aldeguer, completing the top five in the initial laps.

On the second lap, Martín made a mistake under braking at San Donato and lost second position to Bagnaia. The two-time world champion then began to pressure Bezzecchi in the fight for the lead and managed to take first place at the beginning of the third lap at Mugello.

Further back, Marc Márquez was pressured by Acosta in the fight for fourth place. Moreira, meanwhile, entered into a duel with Bastianini, lost eighth place and dropped to ninth, but maintained a competitive pace to remain within the provisional top 10.

Bagnaia held the lead for the first ten laps, but began to face increasing pressure from Bezzecchi. The Aprilia rider seemed to be managing his equipment, waiting for the ideal moment to attack #63 in the final stretch of the race. Behind them, Martín, Marc Márquez and Acosta completed the top five.

Moreira also began to lose pace with the LCR RC213V and dropped from ninth to 12th place, losing positions to Brad Binder, Bastianini and Di Giannantonio. Shortly after, the Brazilian moved up to 11th after Bastianini lost control of the RC16 and ended up in the gravel at turn 10.

Bezzecchi's attack came on lap 14. With a clearly superior pace, the Aprilia rider went inside at San Donato and overtook Bagnaia without much difficulty, taking the lead of the race. From there, #72 opened up a lead at the front and secured another victory in MotoGP 2026.

In the final stretch of the race, Martín still used the power of the RS-GP to catch Bagnaia, leave the Ducati rider behind and complete the Aprilia one-two in another race of the 2026 MotoGP season.

Marc Márquez and Acosta engaged in an intense duel for fourth place for much of the race, but the KTM rider ultimately prevailed. Still recovering physically from his accident at Le Mans, #93 lost pace in the final laps and was eventually overtaken by Ogura and Di Giannantonio, finishing the race in seventh place.

However, in the final stretch, Ogura and Di Giannantonio found the pace to leave Acosta behind. The Japanese rider crossed the finish line in fourth, while the Italian from VR46 completed the top five in front of his home crowd.

by Autonews