2026 Italian MotoGP News—Friday
Marquez is back
Marc Marquez made his comeback from the most recent corrective surgery on his right shoulder in Italy. And was pleased to note the issue with his radial nerve, which was impacted by two damaged screws, was mended.
“(I have no) Numbness in the hands, in the fingers in the elbows,” he said. “I’m super happy because it was the main target of the surgery. (But) now the nerves start to work in a normal way, we start to work with another muscles, the way to riding the bike. So I have other pains, I have another feeling on the bike, but step by step let’s see if we can improve.
And reigning champ hoped he would’ve felt stronger around Mugello. “Honestly speaking, I was thinking that I would feel better on the bike. But, still on the right corners, on the change direction, I’m losing a lot of time. It’s true that for one lap I can do it, but for the race distance, at the moment, I’m half second slower than the top riders.” Neil Morrison
Cal returns!
To the surprise of the MotoGP world, Cal Crutchlow made a shock return to replace the injured Johann Zarco in LCR Honda colours. The Brit, who won three races for Honda’s satellite team in 2016 and 2018, was asked to step in on the Monday before the race.
An interaction with wife Lucy led the Briton to accept the offer. “I had Lucio (Cecchinello – Team Owner) call. Finally, I spoke to Daco (Mamola -Team Coordinator) and he said, the team want you to come back and race. I went home and Lucy (Crutchlow – wife) said, ‘oh, did Daco call you?’ And I said, yeah, but I didn’t bring up the subject. And she said, because they called me first! To get the blessing!
“I said, I’m not interested. And she said, why not? She said, you’ve done it your whole life, so I don’t understand why you’re not doing it. I wouldn’t have done it for another team. I did come to a point where I thought, why not?” As he last competed in MotoGP in September, 2023, Crutchlow tested the RC213V at Misano on Wednesday to get up to speed. “I felt like I’ve been hit by a truck today,” he said the following day.
Tech3 to plump for Moto2 rookie?
Tech3 is open to pairing a rookie alongside a more experienced name in 2027 with Maverick Viñales confident of extending his stay with KTM.
Tech3 boss Guenther Steiner told assembled journalists, “I’m pretty open to taking a chance on a Moto2 rider. We know we’re not going to be able to sign Marc Marquez. This is an opportunity for us. You can mix experience with somebody who could be next star.”
Senna Agius has been linked with Tech3 and is fancied to step up to the premier class next year.
Friday MotoGP
Following a spell of wet weather in the morning, Friday afternoon Practice at Mugello got underway in dry conditions and fronting the timesheets in the early stages was three-time Italian GP winner Bagnaia, with Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) inside the top two early doors.
Having come through FP1 unscathed, Marc Marquez was declared fit to participate in the rest of the weekend, and halfway through the session, the reigning World Champion was 11th fastest, 0.566s away from his teammate’s time, before some quicker laps began to fly in.
The first was for Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team); the second was for title race leader Bezzecchi. A 1:45.024 was Bez’s table-topper with just over 30 minutes to go, on fresh soft Michelin rubber, before the red flags came out after Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) crashed coming out of Turn 4. The Frenchman and his Yamaha slid down the road into Turn 5, kicking plenty of stones into the circuit, and with the stricken YZR-M1 parked in the middle of the apex, the short stoppage to the session was called. More importantly, Quartararo was up on his feet and swiftly made his way back to the box.
Once Practice resumed, it wasn’t long before another Yamaha star was on the deck. This time it was Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) crashing at Turn 1, with the Australian – who was P19 at the time – all OK too.
Coming into the final 12 minutes, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) encountered tech problems when coming out of the pit lane, and due to where the RC16 was ditched by the South African, leaning against the wall towards the end of the 1.1km long straight, the red flags were waved again to allow the marshals to recover the KTM.
Then, we strapped in for 11 minutes and 45 seconds of time attack action on Friday. Marc Marquez and Acosta were lingering outside the top 10, as were the likes of World Champions Quartararo and Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol), as Miller rose to P3 with just under eight minutes remaining to shove Bastianini out of the top 10.
With just over five minutes left, a familiar name rose to P1. A certain #93. Marc Marquez’s 1:45.010 saw the current champ jump from P16 to the summit, but a flurry of fast laps landed to quickly shuffle the Spaniard down to P5. Di Giannantonio, Bagnaia, Morbidelli and Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) clocked faster times than the returning Marquez, as we then saw Martin lose a top 10 place with two minutes to go.
At the same time, Bezzecchi and Bastianini promoted themselves into the top five, as we locked eyes on Martin. P13, the title hunter was chasing a time. And he managed one, just, to go P8 at the chequered flag – but that’s all he needed. Fellow Aprilia rider Ogura was the one to lose out after Martin’s lung-busting late charge, the Japanese rider fell to P11, and another rider unable to get a Friday top 10 was Acosta. A mistake on his final lap meant the #37 finished P13 on Day 1, with Q1 awaiting the rider P4 in the World Championship.
No such worries for Di Giannantonio though. A double Friday P1 on home turf? Just what the doctor ordered. Literally. Bagnaia, Bastianini, and Morbidelli made it an Italian 1-2-3-4 at Mugello; the home faithful will be pleased with that, as Aldeguer closed out the top five.
Marc Marquez’s return was impressive; the champion sails into Q2 in P6, with Bezzecchi acting as the lead Aprilia in P7. Martin was P8, 0.3s off Diggia, as Rins held onto a top 10 in P9 to signal a job well done for the Yamaha rider on Friday. And speaking of top jobs, congratulations to rookie Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR), as the Brazilian earns his first automatic Q2 entry in P10.
2026 Italian MotoGP Results—Friday MotoGP
| 1 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | ITA | Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP26) | 1:44.808s |
| 2 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP26) | +0.091s |
| 3 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16) | +0.103s |
| 4 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP25) | +0.151s |
| 5 | Fermin Aldeguer | SPA | BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP25) | +0.196s |
| 6 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Ducati Lenovo (GP26) | +0.202s |
| 7 | Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP26) | +0.216s |
| 8 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP26) | +0.324s |
| 9 | Alex Rins | SPA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +0.341s |
| 10 | Diogo Moreira | BRA | Pro Honda LCR (RC213V) | +0.354s |
Friday Moto2
Setting his fastest lap time on the 14th of his 16 laps, Vietti was once again mighty on Friday, whilst it was a Boscoscuro 1-2 with Izan Guevara (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) showing strength behind his fellow Catalan GP podium finisher, just 0.011s adrift. Championship leader and Catalan GP winner Manuel Gonzalez (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) was strong in third place as just 0.110s covered the top three.
Putting in a late lap towards the end of Practice, Filip Salač (OnlyFans American Racing Team) was a solid fourth place, whilst Alonso Lopez (ITALJET Gresini Moto2) continued his strong form of late to complete the Friday top five. In another stellar performance, Alex Escrig (KLINT Racing Team) was sixth.
Big names to miss the automatic Q2 cut included Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team), who, despite his best efforts, only managed 15th. ELF Marc VDS Racing Team duo Deniz Öncü and Aron Canet were only 16th and 18th respectively, whilst Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing) was only 19th.
2026 Italian MotoGP Results—Friday Moto2
| 1 | Celestino Vietti | ITA | MB Conveyors SpeedRS Team (Boscoscuro) | 1:49.420s |
| 2 | Izan Guevara | SPA | BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2 (Boscoscuro) | +0.011s |
| 3 | Manuel Gonzalez | SPA | LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP (Kalex) | +0.110s |
| 4 | Filip Salac | CZE | OnlyFans American Racing Team (Kalex) | +0.164s |
| 5 | Alonso Lopez | SPA | ITALJET Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) | +0.338s |
| 6 | Alex Escrig | SPA | KLINT Racing Team (Forward) | +0.587s |
| 7 | Ayumu Sasaki | JPN | Momoven Idrofoglia RW Racing Team (Kalex) | +0.632s |
| 8 | David Alonso | COL | CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team (Kalex) | +0.634s |
| 9 | Ivan Ortola | SPA | QJMOTOR – Green Power – MSI (Kalex) | +0.722s |
| 10 | Senna Agius | AUS | LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP (Kalex) | +0.742s |
Friday Moto3
It was a fine Friday at the Mugello office for Scott Ogden (CIP GreenPower) who left it late to blast himself up the order and bag top spot on the opening day of action at the Italian GP. With the chequered flag already out, the #19 put himself in the driving seat to lead the Moto3 charge into the rest of the weekend.
Ogden’s 1’55.812 was just enough to see him fend of Marco Morelli (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) for P1 honors, with the Argentinean in good form too. Yet to finish outside the top three so far this weekend after topping the opening session of the day, Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) was third and had good pace across the course of the session, vital for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Behind the top three, David Muñoz (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) was able to secure P4 whilst teammate David Almansa was sixth, the pair split by Valentin Perrone (Red Bull KTM Tech3). The #73 left it very late to elevate himself up the order, placing fifth having been down in 23rd. Further down the field, Championship leader Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) scraped through to Q2 in 14th place but was disgruntled as he arrived to the box at the end of the session.
Headlining names in Q1 include Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo), who was on the front row last time out in Barcelona and missed out on an automatic Q2 spot by just 0.072s. For a fourth successive round, home-hero Guido Pini (Leopard Racing) find himself in Q1 after he took 17th whilst fellow countryman Matteo Bertelle (LEVELUP-MTA) will also face the Q1 music having managed only 20th. Hakim Danish (AEON-Credit – MT Helmets – MSI) suffered a big fall at Turn 14 but went back out but finds himself in Q1 after P21 on Friday.
2026 Italian MotoGP Results—Friday Moto3
| 1 | Scott Ogden | GBR | CIP Green Power (KTM) | 1:55.812s |
| 2 | Marco Morelli | ARG | CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team (KTM) | +0.036s |
| 3 | Adrian Fernandez | SPA | Leopard Racing (Honda) | +0.151s |
| 4 | David Munoz | SPA | Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM) | +0.244s |
| 5 | Valentin Perrone | ARG | Red Bull KTM Tech3 (KTM) | +0.343s |
| 6 | David Almansa | SPA | Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM) | +0.383s |
| 7 | Joel Esteban | SPA | LEVEL UP – MTA (KTM) | +0.420s |
| 8 | Ryusei Yamanaka | JPN | AEON Credit- MT Helmets – MSI (KTM) | +0.471s |
| 9 | Veda Pratama | INA | Honda Team Asia (Honda) | +0.493s |
| 10 | Jesus Rios | SPA | Rivacold Snipers Team (Honda) | +0.529s |
Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup
Eric Granado secured pole position during Friday afternoon’s FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup qualifying session at Italy’s Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello. Riding the Joe Rascal Racing Harley-Davidson on Dunlop control tires, the Brazilian lapped the 3.26-mile (5.25 km) circuit in 1:56.704 to lead the 10-rider field.
Teammate Archie Mcdonald was second quickest with a best lap of 1:57.027.
Andrea Iannonce completed the front row after posting a 1:57.251 aboard his Niti Racing Harley-Davidson.
For Saddlemen Racing Harley-Davidson, American riders Jake Lewis (2:00.249), Travis Wyman (2:01.169), and Cory West (2:01.415) finished seventh, ninth, and 10th, respectively.
Cody Wyman claimed eighth place with a 2:00.733 on his Joe Rascal Racing Harley-Davidson.
