The Mugello circuit is a longstanding fan and rider favourite track on the MotoGP calendar, with real challenging sequences of corners and punishing run off areas.

You need a bike that’s good at cornering for sure here, with loads of hairpins and chicane sections that need a well balanced bike on turn in. Thankfully, I’ve actually managed to find and tweak a few setups that felt great round this track. I’ll start with the one that delivered the best times for me at least.

Here is a bike setup for the MotoGP class for Mugello:

• Suspension (Front Fork):
  • • Front pre-load – 2
    • Oil Quantity – 4
    • Front Spring Hardness – 1
    • Front Swingarm compression – 4
    • Front Swingarm extension – 1
• Rear Single Shock Absorber:
  • • Rear Pre-load – 7
    • Swingarm connector – 4
    • Rear spring hardness – 4
    • Single shock absorber compression – 4
    • Single shock absorber extension – 7
• Vehicle Geometry:
  • • Steering head inclination – 2
    • Trail – 7
    • Steering plate position – 7
    • Rear swingarm length – 2
• Transmission:
  • • Gears (1-6) – 3-4-5-6-5-4
    • Final ratio – 5
    • Slipper clutch – 7
• Brakes:
  • • Front disc – 355 mm
    • Rear disc – 220 mm
• ECU
  • • Traction control – 2
    • Engine braking – 5
    • Anti-wheelie – 5
    • Power mapping – 2

Some of the ECU settings are a bit idiosyncratic and not what other players might use. I put the engine braking to 5 max as I wanted maximum stopping power round here, plus the Anti-wheelie to 5. Most players would likely use 3 or 4 for these values. Test it out and use what works for you.

This setting felt great round all the chicane and hairpin sections, with just the right amount of turn in, and was also stable under braking, which you’re doing a lot of round Mugello.

Alternate MotoGP Bike Setup For Mugello

I did also find and test another setup that for me at least was good, but not quite as good as the first setup above.

Here’s an alternate Mugello setup for MotoGP class bikes:

• Suspension (Front Fork):
  • • Front pre-load – 3
    • Oil Quantity – 5
    • Front Spring Hardness – 3
    • Front Swingarm compression – 5
    • Front Swingarm extension – 1
• Rear Single Shock Absorber:
  • • Rear Pre-load – 5
    • Swingarm connector – 3
    • Rear spring hardness – 6
    • Single shock absorber compression – 5
    • Single shock absorber extension – 1
• Vehicle Geometry:
  • • Steering head inclination – 2
    • Trail – 6
    • Steering plate position – 6
    • Rear swingarm length – 2
• Transmission:
  • • Gears (1-6) – 4-5-5-5-4-3
    • Final ratio – 4
    • Slipper clutch – 2
• Brakes:
  • • Front disc – 340 mm
    • Rear disc – 220 mm
• ECU
  • • Traction control – 2
    • Engine braking – 4
    • Anti-wheelie – 4
    • Power mapping – 2

This setup didn’t quite feel as good round the corners for me at least – the turn in wasn’t quite right. But setups and bike handling is subjective, so test it out versus the other setup and a default to see what you prefer.

Moto2 and Moto3 Bike Setups For Mugello

The less powerful Moto2 and Moto3 bikes are easier to handle round Mugello, with less insane acceleration and easier braking.

If you’re wanting a starter setup to try at Mugello on these bikes as well, check out our starter setups page for ’22, which has bespoke setups for Moto2 and Moto3 class bikes you can test against defaults to see if you can find more time or consistency.

Tips For Riding Around Mugello

I found Mugello a tricky circuit to learn and get used to, but great fun once I did. Here’s some extra tips for riding around this great track.

Accelerator – You’ve really only got the massive pit straight where you can fully unleash the accelerator round here. For the rest of the circuit, you have to be super reserved and cautious on the power on MotoGP bikes. It’s just short bursts and dabs on the power for the chicanes and hairpins, or you’ll over-shoot corners and end up in the sand and that’s your lap done. Try to get into a rhythm of short dabs on the accelerator and coasting up to braking/turn in points – push too hard and you’ll likely run off the narrow track.

Pit straight – The MotoGP bikes deliver a huge amount of power and acceleration to the point they seem to weave and be difficult to control on the pit straight here. The straight also kinks very slightly left just as you enter the braking zones, which makes it even trickier. I lift off the accelerator just as the track kinks left and coast into the braking zone before applying both the front and rear brakes to make sure I get stopped. It’s not the quickest way to do Turn 1, but it’s at least consistent and stops me over-running.

Anti-wheelie – The front end of the bike also wants to come up a lot out of certain corners here. Set a higher Anti-wheelie setting of 4 or 5 to counter this, and try to be cautious and progressive on the power out of corners.

Cornering technique – I really liked Mugello once I got used to it and think it’s a good track to learn proper braking/turning/cornering technique that you can carry onto other circuits. It’s a good way of ingraining how to get into the patience and rhythm needed to control the MotoGP bikes especially, where you’re dabbing and coasting round the twisty sections and being super careful on the power to avoid over-running corners. If you can lap consistently around Mugello, you should be able to on other tracks as well.