Ducati had not lost a single race at Mugello in their home Grand Prix for five years. By fate, the remarkable defeat, though not surprising, came this Saturday during the centenary celebrations of the Borgo Panigale factory and, to top it off, at the hands of their neighbor from Noale. Aprilia once again demonstrated that it remains the bike to beat in this early stage of the 2026 MotoGP World Championship: first with the poleman and championship leader Marco Bezzecchi in qualifying and, above all, with a powerful performance by the Madrid-born Raúl Fernández in the sprint.
The Spanish rider from the Trackhouse team, an American client of the Italian squad, flew from second on the grid and led the short race from the third corner to the finish line, keeping at bay his brand teammate Jorge Martín and Fabio Di Giannantonio, who was responsible for saving the ducatisti honor on the podium. The MotoGP race will be at 14:00 this Sunday (DAZN).
Aprilias’s powerful Saturday, which for the first time in history placed three bikes on the front row and took its first pole at the circuit since 1999, did not hide the umpteenth feat of Marc Márquez, who was able to finish fifth on his return to competition just 20 days after his ninth operation on his right arm. The defending champion and Ducati’s mainstay secured fourth on the grid and even took the lead at the braking of turn one, losing momentum as the laps went by, as logic dictated. “I started with energy, but then I looked for a comfortable pace to finish without exaggerating or falling. If I get heated, I have more to lose. The goal is to have a decent race and finish it,” he said, physically satisfied.
🥇 @25RaulFernandez TAKES HIS FIRST #TissotSprint WIN! #ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/MhhrORESst
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 30, 2026
After the surprise from number 93 at the start and Bezzecchi’s slip, who ended fourth after crashing hard off the line, Fernández took the lead immediately and managed to distance himself by more than a second from Martín, with whom he had a tough battle at the last GP in Catalunya (both ended up on the ground after a collision). The Madrid duo kept a safe distance this time and the race had no further drama. In the early laps, rookie Brazilian Diogo Moreira even rode firmly in third, far ahead of his Honda teammates, but as the laps went by and tire wear set in, logic prevailed.
Fernández’s victory, at 25 years old, comes at a crucial moment in his career. While most of the grid is decided for the revolutionary 2027, he is still pending to sign his next contract. The Montmeló clash did not help in this regard, but the best result of his life at Mugello, where he had only previously stood on the podium in Moto2, put him back on the right track. The American team is happy with his performance and attitude overall, but his passport does not help when there is a clear overpopulation of Spaniards in the MotoGP paddock, something that the new owners of the circus, the multinational Liberty Media, do not like at all.
“This is one of the most difficult moments of my sporting career, and I don’t know if I would be here today without my family,” said the day’s winner, visibly emotional and very grateful to his brother Adrián, a Moto3 rider and his pillar inside and outside the garage. “We are going to enjoy whatever comes, the Sunday race, because these weeks have been tough, we are not in an easy situation, and it’s hard for me to think beyond that,” he added. Until now, he had never finished better than seventh at the circuit in his five seasons in the premier class, and his result this Saturday is another sign confirming the form he found at the end of last season, when he won his first Grand Prix in Australia and then repeated podiums in Valencia and Thailand, the last and first races of 2025 and 2026 respectively. His victory also highlights the strengths of the RS-GP, perhaps the most balanced and adaptable bike in the entire championship at this stage of the story.
Read more From the ‘Operation Kitchen’ to Leire Díez: the sewers feed back into themselves
