5 things we learned from the 2026 Sepang MotoGP test

Pre-season testing forward of the beginning of the 2026 season has been formally confirmed, with Alex Marquez main Ducati at Sepang.

Within the remaining 12 months of the 1000cc laws, the aggressive order is anticipated to change into even harder, particularly since engine improvement apart from Yamaha, the one rank D concession model, can be frozen in 2026.

After Aprilia appeared to have gained the higher hand over Ducati in the direction of the tip of 2025, the important thing query within the first check revolved round whether or not the latter may make important strides to re-establish the benefit.

After three days of working, Ducati appeared to proceed to be a step forward at Sepang on Thursday, combining good lap tempo with encouraging dash simulation.

Nonetheless, Aprilia’s tempo was tough to learn in comparison with the working plan, and the work was principally modest. That mentioned, the Noale model leaves the Sepang paddock with smiles everywhere in the storage.

Elsewhere, KTM’s promise of a extra aggressive improvement coverage for the 2026 bike has confirmed true, whereas Honda continues to make regular progress with its RC213V persevering with to obtain reward.

Yamaha’s new V4 period has been a catastrophe thus far, with engine issues forcing the cancellation of the second day of testing and threatening to cancel the race altogether if a repair is ​​not discovered. I managed to get via on the ultimate day, but it surely seems like Yamaha is so much additional away than anticipated.

Listed here are 5 key takeaways from the 2026 Sepang MotoGP check:

1 Gigi Dall’Igna’s toy field has worrying penalties for Ducati’s rivals

Ducati dominated the 2025 season, successful 17 of the 22 Grands Prix and will have clinched the world title with Marc Marquez. Even when the 32-year-old had been absent, Alex Marquez’s type on a 2024 bike would have ensured the championship.

However there have been tangible advantages for rivals, particularly Aprilia, with Ducati feeling the complete influence of MotoGP’s concession restrictions imposed in 2024 for the primary time.

Nonetheless, by forcing Gigi Dall’Igna right into a nook, he appears to have deepened his problem for GP26. Whereas not radically totally different from final 12 months’s bike, the GP26’s largest enchancment appears to come back courtesy of a brand new journey peak adjuster. Ducati additionally appears to have made the bike extra rider-friendly.

“Within the corners you’ll be able to see that the Ducati could be very clean, very electrical. Particularly on the exit of the nook, with most (lean) angle at 20% throttle, it is rather clean,” Jorge Lorenzo mentioned when requested for his impressions from trackside at Sepang on Thursday. “However whenever you decide it up, it additionally maintains this smoothness for a really very long time. Different bikes look very tense.”

In GP26, Alex Marquez took the general lead with a time of 1 minute 56.402 seconds, which was barely slower than the earlier lap document, with Fabio Di Giannantonio third and Marc Marquez fourth.

Each Bagnaia and Di Giannantonio, who complained most concerning the inconsistency of Ducati’s entrance finish in 2025, notably praised the steps made on the GP26.

Sepang at all times masks your true priorities, particularly after three days of working. And Bagnaia is cautious of getting forward of himself. However he did not look as pleased or relaxed this week as he did at any level final 12 months when he took pole place and sprinted to victory on the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Ducati’s long term tempo was notably spectacular. Alex Marquez was quickest, with a median tempo of 1:58.028, whereas Bagnaia’s common tempo was 1:58.166, making Bagnaia barely quicker than Marc Marquez.

Alex Marquez has at all times been robust at Sepang and Ducati can be inspired by this, particularly given the hole in tempo to the remainder of the sphere.

Ducati faces a headache forward of the subsequent check. A lot of the week at Sepang was centered on aerodynamic testing, with new entrance fairings and totally different aspect configurations tried out for 2024, 2025 and 2026.

As of the ultimate day, two paths had been determined upon. Alex Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia seem to assist the 2024 aero fairing, however Marc Marquez appears extra assured within the 2025 package deal.

2 Marc Márquez might not have reached full health, however his primary strengths stay

Tuesday’s Sepang check noticed Marc Marquez journey a MotoGP bike for the primary time in 121 days. Marquez has been out of motion since October final 12 months when he suffered complicated shoulder accidents in a collision with Marco Bezzecchi on the Indonesian Grand Prix.

Subsequently, he was not at 100% health when he arrived on the Sepang circuit on Tuesday. Nonetheless, the quickest document on the primary day didn’t cease. His situation worsened because the checks progressed, however that was to be anticipated.

This explains his lack of tempo in comparison with Alex Marquez and Bagnaia. However he additionally felt he wanted to take a step ahead to come back to phrases. A lot of the Ducati package deal is full at this stage and testing in Thailand ought to permit us to additional work on the set-up.

Though he was somewhat slower than his Ducati team-mate within the dash simulation on Thursday, he nonetheless felt like he had good tempo within the remaining phases of the race.

“Immediately we did a dash simulation. We received a very good rhythm to verify the whole lot. It was the way in which it completed that I favored. I felt comfy on the final lap, and that was a very powerful factor.”

The truth is, taking a look at Thursday’s dash sim laps, Pecco Bagnaia’s earlier two excursions had been 1:58.769 and 1:58.929, whereas Alex Marquez’s instances had been 1:58.530 and 1:58.859. Marc Marquez recorded a time of 1:58.630 and 1:58.824. His race administration abilities received so many races final 12 months.

3 Aprilia hasn’t overhauled Ducati but, but it surely’s nonetheless shut

Aprilia’s watchword for bike improvement this winter appears to be evolution moderately than revolution. There was some new aero, particularly on the rear of the RS-GP, however the general package deal appeared prefer it was selecting up the place it left off in 2025.

Marco Bezzecchi as soon as once more spearheaded the testing effort alongside Jorge Martin, who’s recovering from current surgical procedure, and waited till the ultimate day to set an impressive lap time. On the finish of Thursday’s run, Ducati took the lead within the standings with a time of 1 minute 56.526 seconds.

That is encouraging contemplating how a lot Aprilia struggled on the Malaysian Grand Prix. This was acknowledged by Bezzecchi earlier within the check, however he warned Aprilia to not be fooled by the shape given the quantity of rubber on the monitor.

His dash simulations had been inevitably eye-catching. By way of common tempo, he was fifth with a time of 1:58.937, in comparison with Alex Marquez’s 1:58.028. Nonetheless, Bezzecchi seems to have used a worn-out rear tire for that run. In distinction, Ducati used contemporary rubber.

It’s believed that Bezzecchi misplaced about 0.5 seconds to this tire selection. Assuming that is true, he can be forward of KTM’s Pedro Acosta, who set a tempo of 1:58.676, reestablishing his place within the pecking order from late final season.

Nonetheless, Aprilia remains to be a couple of tenths of a second in need of the aim it must legitimately problem Ducati for race wins. Nonetheless, there’s so much to be pleased about for Aprilia.

4 Yamaha’s V4 period will get off to a nightmare begin

Each preseason, there may be at all times a giant story that overshadows the opening check. Final 12 months was attributable to an damage to Jorge Martin. This 12 months it was Yamaha’s technical drama.

Engaged on the V4 mission, Yamaha was nicely conscious that it was not seeking to be too far forward of the sphere within the first half of 2026. However it does not precisely present that the bike has come a good distance because it final hit the monitor in November.

Yamaha was nonetheless on the backside of the velocity lure on the finish of the primary day, whereas Fabio Quartararo (who broke a finger in a crash and was pressured to take a seat out the ultimate day) and Toprak Razgatlioglu suffered mysterious technical issues.

These issues turned out to be extra critical than initially thought, and Yamaha withdrew the rider on the second day citing security causes. Yamaha has not disclosed what the precise drawback was. Though this was an engine difficulty, it didn’t have an effect on Quartararo’s crash.

Yamaha crew principal Massimo Meregalli mentioned on Thursday that this was an “sudden” drawback he had by no means encountered earlier than with a V4 engine.

Throughout final 12 months’s wild card look and testing, Yamaha by no means used the V4 at full energy. It’s unclear whether or not this was the try in Sepang and is what brought about these issues. On the ultimate day, Yamaha lowered the engine revs and instructed the riders to be extra light.

Alex Rins was the model’s prime rider in 14th place on the finish of the check. He managed a dash simulation on the finish of Thursday’s run. In the meantime, Yamaha administration was calm concerning the misplaced day.

However little has been performed to persuade Quartararo to decide to Yamaha past this 12 months, whereas considerations are being raised about what lies in retailer for the model within the coming weeks till the beginning of the season.

5 Toprak Razgatlioglu faces the problem of adapting to MotoGP

Toprak Razgatlioglu’s MotoGP debut has been extremely anticipated, with many anticipating him to be aggressive by the tip of the 12 months. The three-time World Superbike Champion has at all times downplayed this. In spite of everything, this can be a studying 12 months for him as he adapts from a Superbike to a MotoGP machine whereas growing his 2027 bike utilizing the extra acquainted Pirelli tires.

So far as Yamaha is anxious, nothing is anticipated of Razgatlioglu.

Nonetheless, the Turkish megastar appears to have skilled the tough actuality in entrance of him for the primary time. At this stage, adapting his driving model is proving tough. He may see how others journey smoother on their MotoGP bikes, however that is not one thing he can do but.

Braking efficiency has improved, however he needed to battle to modify the seat unit. That is as a result of the decrease model he is used to cannot legally activate the rear wing.

On the finish of the check, he was nineteenth with a time of 1 minute 58.326 seconds, forward of Honda’s Diogo Moreira, who was simply over 10 seconds behind in twentieth place and have become the highest rookie. Nonetheless, after finishing his remaining day of working, he appeared depressed.

“It is not simple to see your self so low within the rankings, particularly after competing in Superbike. I adopted Alex Marquez this morning and noticed him driving very easily, however I am unable to try this.” He’ll in all probability battle for the primary 5 races. ”