Thrilling action from first to last corner saw David González dominate the final race of the 2026 season. But fellow Spaniard Beñat Fernandez took the Cup by crossing the Spielberg finish line 5th ahead of nearest points rival Fernando Bujosa.
Fernandez had lead the Cup points table since winning the first race of the season in Jerez back in April, but the 18-year-old's advantage was never narrower than the 4 points he had over Saturday's Red Bull Ring Race 1 winner Bujosa, the 17-year-old Spaniard going into the final race today.
It was winner-take-all, and the only rider other than González and Bujosa who could win the Cup was Japanese 18-year-old Ryota Ogiwara, who was starting from the back of the grid as he had on Saturday. In Race 1 he charged through to 7th. Today he had to do even better and charge; he did. Unfortunately, he was too late on the brakes into the chicane on Lap 1, crashed and took down luckless Australian 17-year-old Archie Schmidt.Ogiwara remounted but was right at the back, and Schmidt was out, nursing an injured finger.
So the Cup would go to Fernandez or Bujosa, and both were in the lead battle. In the closing stages González opened up a significant advantage, and the 18-year-old never looked like being caught. In the last lap, Fernandez and Bujosa swapped places many times while German16-year-old Fynn Kratochwil had forced his way into 2nd place, and Kristian Daniel Jr., the 17-year-old American, took 3rd.
Into the final corner, the Cup was still undecided. Fernandez was aiming for 4th, but his KTM touched the green; to avoid a penalty, he gave the place to Ethan Sparks but crucially still crossed the line 5th, ahead of Bujosa in 6th. Fernandez won the 20th Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup by 5 points. He was born in 2007, the year that Johann Zarco won the first Cup.
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📺 REPLAY - Rookies Cup SPIELBERG 2026 - Race 2
Red Bull MotoGP™ Rookies Cup Spielberg: Race 14
Watch the rookies in their pursuit of glory at the Red Bull MotoGP™ Rookies Cup 2026 in Austria.
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1st - David Gonzalez 🇪🇸
“It's the best way to finish my time in the Rookies. The first half of the race was tough; everyone was fighting very hard and I was pushed towards the back of the group. I had to ride very hard to get to the front, but once I got clear I could run my own pace, and I got a very good rhythm."
It's been a great 2 seasons, and I wanted so much to win today.
“We changed the bike a little from yesterday, and it really helped. I felt very comfortable on it, but it was a tough race; the riders were all being aggressive to make the best of the last race of the year."
"I'm happy with my performance, but perhaps I needed to be a bit more aggressive in the middle part of the race, because I just kept dropping back, and I didn't think that David was gonna make such a big gap. We'll take all these learning experiences for the future, and I'm super happy that I can end my 3 years of Rookies Cup with another podium.”
Top 3 Red Bull Rookies Cup 2026 - F. Bujosa | B. Fernandez | R. Ogiwara
"I'm not saying, like, I'm the boss, like Marquez. Anything can happen, and I think that's the point: you need to adapt to each condition, each moment, each situation. Well, you saw what happened; it worked out OK in the end.
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Cup second - Fernando Bujosa 🇪🇸
“I took it to the boys in the front in the first laps, but I didn't have the best pace today. The bike today was different; in the fast corners, my front would start moving a lot, and I lost a lot on the exit of the corners."
Yesterday, I was super comfortable; this is racing.
