Race 2, Spielberg: Kratochwil back on top, Benat Fernandez overall winner

Whilst Red Bull Factory Racing was celebrating former rookie Pedro Acosta’s first MotoGP victory, the 2026 Cup cohort were preparing for the final round. After Race 1 – in which Kristian Daniel had won ahead of Fernando Bujosa and Fynn Kratochwil – a thrilling title decider lay in store.

Three riders were still in contention for the overall victory: Benat Fernandez (164 points), Bujosa (160) and the Japanese rider Ryota Ogiwara (159 points), who had fought his way up from last place to fourth on Saturday.

Fernando Bujosa had the best starting position on the grid, having qualified fifth in row two. Benat Fernandez lined up in 12th place for the 16-lap final race, whilst Ogiwara had to start from the back again. Fynn Kratochwil, who had finished in the top three for the fifth time already in his first season on Saturday, was in 13th place behind Fernandez.

In excellent conditions, the decisive race got underway at 3.30 pm.

By the very first chicane, the title race had been whittled down to two youngsters. Ogiwara had over-braked and taken both Archie Schmidt and himself out of the race. Ogiwara was left trailing the field, well behind. At the front, American Daniel held his ground with Bujosa in his wake.

In third place was Guillem Planques, who had suffered a heavy crash on Saturday. Fynn Kratochwil was immediately able to make up a lot of ground. By lap 3, the German was already up to seventh place, less than a second behind the leader.

At the same time, Bujosa had snatched first place, whilst Daniel had dropped back to fourth, just ahead of Bujosa’s title rival Benat Fernandez. One lap later, Fernandez, wearing number 7, was in fourth place, only to move up to P3 with the fastest lap of the race (1:45.223 mins). Kratochwil was still listed in seventh place.

David da Costa underlined the competitiveness of the series: shortly afterwards, the Frenchman set the next fastest race lap whilst in twelfth position. At the front, meanwhile, Kristian Daniel had once again worked his way right to the front, though the lead changed hands several times per lap as the race reached the halfway point. It was now David Gonzalez – who had sat out the last two races to compete in Moto3 for Intact GP – who led the field of 23 remaining rookies. Exciting stuff: Fynn Kratochwil had worked his way up to 4th place, whilst Bujosa had dropped back to 7th. With Fernandez in 3rd place, Fernandez was the champion at that point.

As the race entered its final stages, Kratochwil from Thuringia moved up to P3 – whilst David Gonzalez had built up a lead of seven tenths at the front. By lap 12, the lead had grown to 1.3 seconds, with Kratochwil as the closest pursuer. On the same lap, Da Costa crashed at Turn 5.

David Gonzalez managed to pull away in the final. The Spaniard rode perfectly and crossed the line as the winner with a 1.8-second lead. Fynn Kratochwil was no less delighted, having defended second place ahead of Daniel, Sparks and Fernandez.

The final lap proved incredibly tense once again – as Fernando Bujosa was now right on Fernandez’s tail again. If he managed to put two positions between himself and Fernandez, the title would have gone to number 69 and Bujosa. Bujosa launched a direct attack on Fernandez; the riders made contact as Fernandez counter-attacked – but Fernandez held on to fifth place ahead of Bujosa. As a result, the 2026 title went to Benat Fernandez by a six-point margin; he has already signed with MTA for the 2027 Moto3 World Championship. Behind Bujosa, the Japanese rider Ogiwara secured third place.

Fynn Kratochwil moved up to fourth in the standings – the German was thus also the best newcomer in the top-class MotoGP junior series.