MotoGP Mugello Qualifying: Bezzecchi sensational, record-breaking pole! All-Aprilia front row

The World Championship leader ahead of everyone, Aprilia roars in Tuscany: Marquez the best of the Ducatis.

Marco Bezzecchi takes pole position at the 2026 MotoGP Italian Grand Prix and does so by also setting a new Mugello Circuit record: 1'43"921. Aprilia celebrates as well with Raul Fernandez and Jorge Martin, who place their RS-GP26s on the front row alongside the rider from Rimini. After Friday’s practice, it seemed that the Noale bikes were missing something in the time attack compared to the Ducatis, but something changed this morning.

In Q1 the usual battle to grab the two remaining spots for Q2. Raul Fernandez and Pedro Acosta took them. Ai Ogura was pipped, missing out by 87 thousandths.

No luck for the HRC Hondas of Joan Mir and Luca Marini (penalized three grid places for slowing Morbidelli in FP2), who didn’t have enough speed to fight for Q2 access. Fabio Quartararo didn’t have it either, arriving furious in the Yamaha box after FP2 and forced to ride an M1 that at Mugello is confirming significant limitations. Late in Q2 there was also a crash for Toprak Razgatlioglu at the final corner (Bucine), with the three-time World Superbike champion stunned by what happened. Fortunately, he suffered no physical consequences.

Bezzecchi was frighteningly fast especially in the third sector, which had seemed to be the strong point of Fabio Di Giannantonio, who came into MotoGP Qualifying at Mugello as the favorite after topping P1 in all previous sessions. The Pertamina VR46 rider will start only seventh, thus on the third row, alongside the excellent rookie Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) and teammate Franco Morbidelli.

The best Ducati rider was Marc Marquez, fourth and smart in exploiting Pedro Acosta’s slipstream during his time attack. Lining up beside him will be the Desmosedicis of Fermin Aldeguer and Pecco Bagnaia. The best KTM is Acosta’s, in tenth, while Enea Bastianini is eleventh. The fourth row will be completed by Alex Rins’s Yamaha, excellent in pre-qualifying to get into the top 10 and inevitably struggling today.

It’s also worth noting that this weekend at Mugello Bezzecchi is sporting a helmet that pays tribute to Alex Zanardi, a champion in sport and in life who recently passed away. It is a faithful replica of the one worn by Zanardi in 1996 when, at the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca, he made an overtake on Bryan Herta that then entered Motorsport history.