Ryota Ogiwara wins his first Rookies Cup Race in Mugello 2026
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Red Bull Rookies Cup

Ogiwara snatches Rookies Cup Race 1 at Mugello from Fernandez on the line

One second covered the top 12 at the flag
Written by Peter Clifford
3 min readPublished on
The lead group of at least 15 KTMs swapped places uncountable times over 13 laps of Mugello, but it was Ryota Ogiwara who flashed across the line first. He was chased by Beñat Fernandez, Fynn Kratochwil and Sullivan Mounsey for his first Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup victory.
Spanish 18-year-old Fernandez was always near the front and did much of the leading, but 17-year-old Japanese Ogiwara snatched the win out of the slipstream on the run to the line. In the closing stages, Fynn Kratochwil had forced his way to the front.
The 15-year-old German looked superb, then on the final lap, Sullivan Mounsey jumped ahead. The English 18-year-old defended the lead until the final corner, only to be relegated to 4th in the downhill left-hander.
One second covered the top 12 at the flag.

REPLAY - Red Bull Rookies Cup MUGELLO 2026 - Race 1

Red Bull MotoGP™ Rookies Cup Mugello: Race 5

Watch the rookies on their pursuit of glory in the Red Bull MotoGP™ Rookies Cup 2026 in Italy.

1st Ryota Ogiwara 🇯🇵

“I'm super happy about this win."
Quotation
I didn't think it was going to happen because it was a crazy race but in the last lap at the first corner, I passed a few riders.
Ryota Ogiwara
"I kept pushing and then at the last corner I passed the rider in second and just managed to win as we crossed the line.”
Ryota Ogiwara is the happy winner of Race 1 in Mugello 2026

Ryota Ogiwara is the happy winner of Race 1 in Mugello 2026

© Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool

2nd Beñat Fernandez 🇪🇸

“The goal was to do a podium, so I am OK with second. In the last turn I had contact with Ogiwara, I thought, OK, I will try to get a bit clear and hopefully have a gap, I opened the throttle quite strong but he had the slipstream and came past."
Quotation
I picked up his slipstream so I did not get passed by the others.
"It's a good result, I wouldn't change anything about my race.”
Beñat Fernandez takes 2nd place in Mugello 2026 - Race 1

Beñat Fernandez takes 2nd place in Mugello 2026 - Race 1

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3rd Fynn Kratochwil 🇩🇪

“My plan was to get to the front, and, yeah, lead some laps, or try to stay in the front, see what the other guys do, and this was what I did."
Fynn Kratochwil got 3rd in Mugello 2026 - Race 1

Fynn Kratochwil got 3rd in Mugello 2026 - Race 1

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"The first laps were quite hard, to be honest. I didn't feel things that well.”
Quotation
But then I managed to get a rhythm, and in the end, I positioned myself well and got the podium.

4th Sullivan Mounsey (England)

“It was a tough race coming from P18 on the grid. The bike didn’t want to go. I was in about last through Turn 1. On the last lap, I was at the right place, at the right time. From all the work in FP1 and 2, I knew the marks, I knew I had the pace to win. We were driving to the finish line, and I got picked, but that's just how it goes sometimes.”

5th Giulio Pugliese (Italy)

“It was a crazy race,” stated the 17-year-old Italian who came off the back of the grid after a penalty for slow riding in practice. “On the last lap, I was in a good position. But when Bujosa crashed, I lost the leaders a bit. I felt good on the bike though, and with no grid penalty tomorrow, it will be better.”

RESULTS Red Bull Rookies Cup 2026 - MUGELLO Race 1

POS

#

NAME

NAT

TIME

KM/H

GAP

🥇

97

Ryota OGIWARA

JPN

26'36.157

153.7

🥈

7

Beñat FERNANDEZ

SPA

26'36.231

153.7

0.074

🥉

20

Fynn KRATOCHWIL

GER

26'36.399

153.7

0.242

4

4

Sullivan MOUNSEY

GBR

26'36.415

153.7

0.258

5

31

Giulio PUGLIESE

ITA

26'36.852

153.7

0.695

6

72

David DA COSTA

FRA

26'36.857

153.7

0.700

7

17

Yaroslav KARPUSHIN

KGZ

26'36.806

153.7

0.649

8

23

Travis BORG

MLT

26'37.008

153.7

0.851

9

27

Mateo MARULANDA

COL

26'37.048

153.6

0.891

10

32

Kiandra RAMADHIPA

INA

26'37.081

153.6

0.924

11

62

Ethan SPARKS

GBR

26'37.083

153.6

0.926

12

70

Kristian DANIEL

USA

26'37.085

153.6

0.928

13

85

Kiattisak SINGHAPONG

THA

26'37.586

153.6

1.429

14

71

Carlos CANO

SPA

26'37.624

153.6

1.467

15

24

Guillem PLANQUES

FRA

26'37.784

153.6

1.627

16

51

Alfonsi DAQUIGAN

PHI

26'38.319

153.5

2.162

17

10

Afonso ALMEIDA

POR

26'38.346

153.5

2.189

18

36

Jurrien VAN CRUGTEN

NED

26'38.497

153.5

2.340

19

18

Archie SCHMIDT

AUS

26'38.511

153.5

2.354

20

22

Alejandra FERNANDEZ

SPA

26'47.620

152.6

11.463

21

77

Kerman TINEZ

VEN

27'08.845

150.6

32.688

22

11

David GONZALEZ

SPA

27'09.282

150.6

33.125

DNF

47

Tibor VARGA

HUN

24'33.882

153.7

1 lap

DNF

69

Fernando BUJOSA

SPA

24'33.948

153.7

1 lap

DNF

57

Cristian BORRELLI

ITA

18'27.393

153.4

4 laps

DNF

9

Luca AGOSTINELLI

VIE

8'14.340

152.7

9 laps

Complete Race 1 Data - CLICK HERE
Top 3 Race 1 - B. Fernandez | R. Ogiwara | F. Kratochwil - Mugello 2026

Top 3 Race 1 - B. Fernandez | R. Ogiwara | F. Kratochwil - Mugello 2026

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