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What we learned from pre-season testing in Sepang 2026

16:00, 05 Feb

byAndrew McLarney

The official pre-season tests have concluded at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia as all eyes turn to Thailand for round one of the 2026 MotoGP season.

Over the course of the week, all the MotoGP team fielded their new machines for the coming year ahead with many seeing improved lap times compared to last year.

The testing period wasn't without incident as several riders crashed out and a slew of technical issues and upgrades proliferated throughout the paddock behind the scenes.

With the majority of the grid coming to the end of their contracts in 2026, this could be a vital season when it comes to holding onto a seat for the future, so every rider will be looking to give their best this year and virtually no one is able to rest on the successes of past years.

Ducati are still the benchmark

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Ducati filled the top spots in the majority of the week's sessions, with Alex Marquez being the true standout on Day 3 as he topped both sessions by a significant margin.

Reigning champion Marc Marquez topped one session and showed good pace generally despite complaining that he is still not back to full fitness after last year's crash in Indonesia.

Pecco Bagnaia had a week of mixed results but ended on a positive note by staying closely in touch with his formidable teammate.

Elsewhere, the VR46 duo of Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Gianantonio had a solid week with consistent results in the top five throughout the week.

Yamaha face further technical difficulties

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It was a difficult week for Yamaha as the news leaked that their star rider and 2021 World Champion, Fabio Quartararo, could be set to depart the team at the end of the year for arch-rivals Honda in what would be one of the biggest transfer shocks of recent years.

While there was some positivity following good results at the early Sepang Shakedown tests, things quickly seemed to deteriorate this week as Quartararo crashed out on Day 2 and broke a finger which ruled him out of the remainder of testing.

Safety concerns surrounding their new V4 engine had caused the Japanese manufacturers to briefly withdraw from testing altogether, but a stopgap solution enabled them to continue on Day 3, albeit without the presence of Quartararo.

Honda could be the season's 'Dark Horse'

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Elsewhere at Honda, things are looking more positive than they have done for quite some time. Following on from a solid Shakedown test in which Aleix Espargaro described their new GP26 package as 'the best bike I have ridden in MotoGP', Joan Mir and Luca Marini managed to consistently rank in the top 6 throughout the week, with Marini taking second on the first session of Day 1 and Mir topping the timesheets on Day 2.

This represents a significant step forward from recent years which have seen Honda drop back to the tail-end of the grid, often scrapping for the lower points places rather than podiums or wins.

Mir showed the team's improvement and future potential with two podiums last season which appear to have galvanized the team in moving towards some better results this season.