Red Bull Rookies Cup
Heroes to live up to in Mugello as the Red Bull Rookies Cup shines in Italy
Fractional wins are the norm, but it is possible to win convincingly in Mugello
The slipstreaming battles that build into a final dash for the finish line have everyone transfixed.
The Mugello train of 2023
© Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool
After two free weekends, the Rookies Cup arrives in Italy for Races 5 and 6 of the 14 in 2026. The opening 4 have demonstrated the usual unpredictability, with 3 of the top 6 in the points table being first-year Rookies.
Heading the points and in his second Cup season, Beñat Fernandez has already won 2 races this year, as well as one in 2025. The 18-year-old Spaniard finished 3rd in Mugello Race 2 last year, so is well capable of advancing his cause this coming weekend.
Beñat Fernandez in the pit lane of Le Mans 2026
© Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool
Also very much on form is Le Mans Race 2 winner and fellow 18-year-old Spaniard David González. He was 2nd in Race 1 at Mugello last year and is certainly fast enough to be challenging for this year's Cup, but has already fallen and failed to score in 2 races.
David González in the pit lane of Le Mans 2026
© Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool
More consistent is Fernando Bujosa, and the first-year Rookie stands 2nd in the points chase, just 10 off the lead. 16 years old and from Spain, he has never raced at Mugello before, but that didn't slow him down in France, as he quickly got to grips with Le Mans.
Fernando Bujosa in the pit lane of Jerez 2026
© Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool
Far from home
From the other side of the globe, Kiandra Ramadhipa and Ryota Ogiwara stand 3rd and 4th in the title chase. Ramadhipa's brilliant Race 2 win in Jerez was a stunner; if he can nudge his other race results upwards, the 16-year-old Indonesian will become a strong Cup threat.
Kiandra Ramadhipa is the happy winner of Race 2 in Jerez 2026
© Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool
He is in his second Cup season and 7 points ahead of Japanese 17-year-old Ogiwara, who is new to the Cup but showed that he had fully adapted to the Rookies KTM during his second competition weekend, scoring a fine 2nd in Race 1 at Le Mans.
Right at home
The wonderfully nationalistic fans will, of course, be looking for an Italian to podium at least, and 17-year-old Giulio Pugliese is certainly capable of that. He comes from Canegrate, north-west of Milan, 300km from the circuit. He is in his 3rd Cup season and was on the podium twice last year, including Race 1 at Mugello.
Giulio Pugliese Rider Portrait 2026
© Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool
Things have not gone his way so far this year; he has raced near the front but not finished there. His confidence got a tremendous boost last weekend when he won Race 2 of the Junior World Championship round in Barcelona after finishing 2nd in Race 1.
Italian 16-year-old Cristian Borrelli is in his first Cup year and has yet to make his mark in the series; being at home should help. He also lives near Milan in Monte Cremasco, but on the track side of the city.
Cristian Borrelli - Rider Portrait in Jerez 2026
© Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool
Following the example of Martín and Quiles
Fractional wins are the norm, but it is possible to win convincingly in Mugello, as Jorge Martín demonstrated in 2014 when he dominated on his way to winning the Cup. He has, of course, since won the Moto3 and MotoGP World Championships.
Maximo Quiles won by over 10 seconds in his first Cup season, 2022. He also won by just 0.004 seconds in 2024 when half a second covered the first 7.
Maximo Quiles ahead of Leonardo Zanni - QP Mugello 2024
© Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool
A year later, Quiles won his first Grand Prix in Mugello by +0.006 seconds over fellow ex Rookie Alvaro Carpe. He has now won 7 GPs, including the last 3 in a row, to lead the Moto3 World Championship by a handsome margin. Ex-Rookies made a clean sweep of wins in all 3 classes at the last two Grand Prix.
More from Mugello 2026
More Stories
Partners
