The Top Stories from MotoGP's Sepang Test
10 February 2026MotoGP’s three day test at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit left us with plenty to talk about, as riders got back out on track, setting impressive times and fuelling speculation for the season ahead.
While two of MotoGP’s full-time riders were absent from the testing timesheets, with Fermin Aldeguer missing the test to continue recovering from a fractured left femur, and revision surgeries seeing Jorge Martin also sitting out to focus on recovery, Marc Marquez was back on a MotoGP bike for the first time since his crash in Indonesia last October.
So, as riders and teams made progress with their 2026 setups, here are the top stories from MotoGP’s 2026 Sepang Test.
Three manufacturers represented in the top 5 overall times
While Ducati topped the overall timesheets, with Alex Marquez setting a lap time of 1:56.402, the Sepang test saw positive steps for several manufacturers, with three different manufacturers present in the top 5 overall times.
With a time of 1:56.526, Aprilia Racing’s Marco Bezzecchi was 2nd overall, supporting the expectations held by many that he will be one of the riders to challenge the Ducatis for the title in 2026. Bezzecchi arrived at last week’s test as the latest rider to have his 2027 seat confirmed, with his contract extension being announced the previous day.
Fabio Di Giannantonio was the third fastest overall, with a best lap of 1:56.785, followed closely behind by the 1:56.789 lap time set by Marc Marquez, both riding the GP26 machine.
Joan Mir rounded out the overall top 5, after topping the timings of day 2 of the test with a time of 1:56.874, marking Honda’s first P1 in testing for 1452 days. Mir’s results in particular confirm the progress made by Honda that we saw towards the end of the 2025 season, and present a positive start to 2026 for the manufacturer.
SEE ALSO: MOTOGP PRE-SEASON TESTING RESULTS
Fabio Quartararo ruled out of days 2 and 3 of test with a fractured finger
A crash on day one of the test saw Fabio Quartararo withdraw from days two and three in Sepang, leaving Yamaha one rider down as they continued to test their new V4-powered M1.
The high-speed crash at turn 5 saw Quartararo tumbling through the gravel, and straight to the medical centre. Though he was initially cleared, and was back on track again in the afternoon, it was later revealed that Quartararo had sustained a fractured finger during the crash, and would be sitting out of the following two days of the Sepang test, to hopefully be recovered in time for the Buriram test later in the month.
Quartararo was absent from Saturday’s 2026 MotoGP Season Launch event in Kuala Lumpur as a result, with Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernandez making an appearance alongside Quartararo’s teammate, Alex Rins.
Technical issue sees Yamaha miss day 2 of test
Yamaha left the Sepang test as the only manufacturer to not feature in the overall top 10, their top rider being Alex Rins, whose best lap across the three days placed him 14th overall. The manufacturer’s efforts were impacted though by missing day two of the test, due to concerns with their new V4 engine.
When Fabio Quartararo went back out in the afternoon of the first day, his bike stopped, leading Yamaha’s team at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit to identify a technical issue that saw testing put on hold for the manufacturer, whilst the issue was addressed. They were able to resume testing on the third and final day, following further investigations, albeit with restrictions in place.
Making the switch to the V4 engine for the 2026 MotoGP season marks a massive shift for Yamaha, and as with any new machinery, issues are to be expected during the development and testing stages, making those on-track hours even more vital. Yamaha’s concession ranking (D) means that their full rider lineup was able to participate in the Shakedown test at the end of January, making missing one day of the Sepang test slightly less significant. Regardless, missing any time during their testing schedule won’t have been what Yamaha was hoping for.
Sprint simulations show Ducati still the ones to beat
Whilst variations in fuel levels and tyre wear make comparing performances in testing tricky, Thursday’s Sprint simulation made one thing clear - Ducati remain a commanding force.
Alex Marquez, now running the factory-spec Ducati, was the fastest rider of those to complete the Sprint simulation, ahead of the Ducati Lenovo Team duo of Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez.
Although KTM (Pedro Acosta), Aprilia (Marco Bezzecchi), and Honda (Joan Mir) had the fourth, fifth, and sixth fastest average lap times of the simulation respectively, the numbers made it clear that the Ducati riders had the pace that other manufacturers just couldn’t measure up to, with Acosta’s average lap coming in 0.648s slower than that of Alex Marquez.
The riders now head to Buriram for the final test on 21 and 22 February, before the opening Grand Prix of the season the following weekend. With Jorge Martin cleared to travel to Buriram, and hopefully able to participate in testing, it will be interesting to see how his times compare to teammate Bezzecchi’s, and whether anybody can take the top spot away from Alex Marquez.
