Italian International MX: Gajser unstoppable on Yamaha, Italian podium for Forato and Guadagnini

A great debut with Yamaha! Tim Gajser reigns at the 2026 Internazionali d’Italia, with the tricolor duo Alberto Forato and Fantic shining.

There were already signs last Sunday that the partnership was off to a strong start, with Tim Gajser and Yamaha already on the podium. This weekend brought the climax with victory in Mantova, as the Slovenian clinched the Internazionali d’Italia title for the third year in a row. Also one to frame is the overall second place for Alberto Forato and Fantic, an all-Italian pairing that clearly got off on the right foot. The overall podium was completed by another home favorite, Mattia Guadagnini on KTM, while Jeffrey Herlings, making his debut with Honda HRC, finished 6th. The top Italian in MX2 was Ferruccio Zanchi on Ducati with 4th overall, as the win went to a rampant Simon Laengenfelder, the reigning world champion. Here’s how it unfolded.

Pole position with a new lap record—an opening statement that says a lot. But for Tim Gajser, that was just the start: Race 1 began with a holeshot and a great launch, then a comfortable win over Tom Vialle (Honda) and Mattia Guadagnini (KTM). Worth noting the misfortune of Andrea Adamo, out with an engine failure, and things didn’t go any better for Andrea Bonacorsi’s Ducati, which retired early, while Alberto Forato opened with 5th in the moto. In Race 2, Estonian Talviku surprised everyone off the line, leading for a couple of laps until an unleashed Gajser arrived, seized control, and flew away: total triumph! The moto podium was completed by the Hondas of Ruben Fernandez and Jeffrey Herlings—here is the championship standings.

The reigning world champion made things clear right away. Off to a blistering start and untouchable for his rivals, Simon Laengenfelder (Red Bull KTM) is the undisputed king of the 2026 Internazionali d’Italia. The Race 1 podium was completed by Scott Smulders (Husqvarna) and Jekabs Kubulins (Yamaha); in Race 2 there was a fine second place for Valerio Lata (Honda HRC), with third going to Cas Valk on the Pesaro-based TM Moto. Here’s the final classification: the best Ducati rider was Ferruccio Zanchi, just off the overall podium with 9th in Race 1 and P4 in Race 2.

A taste of what awaits us this year in the World Championship? We’ll have to wait another month to find out: see you in Bariloche (Argentina) on the weekend of March 8 for the first round of the world series.