MOTOGP NEWS
Honda’s Joan Mir believes Ducati has given rivals a "reality check" in Sepang
Joan Mir and Luca Marini feel Honda has improved its MotoGP bike across the board over the winter, but they concede that the Japanese manufacturer still faces the same gap to Ducati as last year.Following a strong end to its 2025 campaign, Honda has managed to unlock more pace in the off-season, with Aleix Espargaro describing the current version of the RC213V as the best bike he has ever ...Keep…
How Ducati sent a warning to its MotoGP rivals at Sepang test
There were widespread smiles in most MotoGP garages when 2026 testing got under way – leaving Yamaha aside due to reliability issues with its new V4 engine – but this all changed on Thursday.Ducati got serious and left its rivals thinking more about 2027 than the upcoming season. And that was with reigning world champion Marc Marquez, the dominant force from 2025, running well below his ...Keep reading
Pedro Acosta rates Sepang MotoGP test “six out of 10” despite KTM gains
Pedro Acosta would rate his Sepang MotoGP test appearance a six out of 10, as he continues to evaluate where KTM stands in the competitive order ahead of the 2026 season.The Austrian manufacturer heads into the upcoming campaign on a much stronger footing than last year, buoyed by an intensive development push over the winter.Tech3 rider Maverick Vinales put KTM as high as third on the ...Keep reading
Francesco Bagnaia signals factory-team priority as MotoGP future questions linger
Francesco Bagnaia has strongly suggested that a satellite Ducati seat holds little appeal to him, as speculation continues over where he could head in MotoGP next year.Bagnaia’s contract with Ducati expires at the end of the current season, and it is widely believed that he may not be retained by the factory squad for MotoGP’s new rule cycle.However, the Italian remains the most ...Keep reading
"Angry" Toprak Razgatlioglu losing motivation after struggling in Sepang MotoGP test
Toprak Razgatlioglu admitted he is “angry” and losing motivation after struggling to get up to speed with his MotoGP bike in the Sepang test.Reigning World Superbike champion Razgatlioglu has been accumulating miles in official pre-season testing in Malaysia over the past two weeks, gathering vital information for his highly anticipated MotoGP debut with Pramac. Although a safety ...Keep reading
Alex Marquez edges Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez in Sepang race simulations
MotoGP riders used the closing day of the Sepang test in Malaysia to focus on race simulations, and among Ducati’s contingent it was Alex Marquez who posted the strongest sustained pace, ahead of both Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez. In terms of outright times, Ducati once again appeared strong, with four GP26 machines finishing inside the top five and Alex Marquez leading overall with a ...Keep reading
MotoGP Sepang test: Alex Marquez fastest on final day as Yamaha returns
Alex Marquez ended MotoGP’s Sepang pre-season test at the top on Thursday, as Yamaha returned to action after resolving its recent engine concerns.Gresini rider Marquez set a best time of 1m56.402s on his factory-spec Ducati GP26, comfortably eclipsing Joan Mir’s Wednesday benchmark of 1m56.874s.His effort was also just a fraction shy of the all-time Sepang record of 1m56.337s, set by ...Keep reading
Breakthrough or false dawn? Francesco Bagnaia finds early confidence on 2026 Ducati
Francesco Bagnaia is becoming increasingly comfortable on Ducati’s 2026 MotoGP bike following the second day of pre-season testing at Sepang.Having already been encouraged by an initial run on a prototype version of the GP26 in November, Bagnaia has largely been able to confirm those positive impressions in Malaysia this week.As soon as he jumped on the bike on Tuesday after the winter ...Keep reading
MotoGP Sepang test: Honda leads rain-hit Day 2 as engine issues sideline Yamaha
Joan Mir put Honda on top on the second day of MotoGP pre-season testing at Sepang, as Yamaha sat out the action to investigate an engine issue. While riders were keen to preserve their limited allocation of soft tyres for the final day of the test, it didn’t take long for lap times to tumble once the track opened at 9am.Less than an hour into the session, Mir beat Marc Marquez’s…
Yamaha halts Sepang MotoGP running while investigating M1 engine issue
Yamaha has decided to suspend all on-track activity during the second day of the Sepang MotoGP test while it works to determine the cause of the issue that forced Fabio Quartararo to stop on Tuesday.The Frenchman crashed at Turn 5 of the Malaysian circuit on the opening day of the official test and fractured the middle finger on his right hand. Despite the swelling and heavy bleeding, he ...Keep reading
Jorge Martin explains post-season surgeries: 'I couldn’t even lift a water bottle'
Aprilia MotoGP rider Jorge Martin has explained why he required further surgeries during the winter break, revealing he felt so weak that he couldn’t even lift a bottle of water.Martin had appeared to put his bruising 2025 campaign behind him when he returned to action at the season finale in Valencia last November. This gave him the opportunity to assess his condition during a full race ...Keep reading
Why KTM riders see encouraging signs after first day of Sepang test
The opening day of the Sepang MotoGP test offered KTM plenty of reasons for encouragement, even if it remains too early to draw firm conclusions about the true performance of the 2026 RC16.The Austrian manufacturer took an aggressive development approach over the winter, with greater stability at its Mattighofen headquarters allowing it to push ahead with updates that had previously been out ...Keep reading
Fabio Quartararo to return home after breaking finger in Sepang MotoGP test
Fabio Quartararo will sit out the remainder of MotoGP’s Sepang pre-season test after breaking a finger in a crash on Tuesday.Just an hour into the start of collective testing in Malaysia, Quartararo went down at Turn 5 on his V4-powered Yamaha M1 and had to be taken to the medical centre for checks.Although he was initially released with only arm soreness and even returned to the track ...Keep reading
MotoGP Sepang test: Marc Marquez tops Day 1 as Fabio Quartararo crashes
Ducati’s star rider Marc Marquez topped the opening day of MotoGP’s official pre-season test in Malaysia, while a crash sidelined Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo for much of the running.Riding a MotoGP bike for the first time since his incident with Marco Bezzecchi in Indonesia in October, Marquez leapt to the top spot on the leaderboard with just 20 minutes left to run, posting an impressive ...Keep reading
MotoGP Sepang test: Schedule, entry list and how to follow
After the Shakedown, which was reserved for test riders, rookies and Group D manufacturer Yamaha, the Sepang International Circuit will host the first collective winter test for the 2026 MotoGP grid this week.However, there will be two notable absences due to injury at the official Sepang test, which will take place from Tuesday 3 February to Thursday 5 February. Here’s a breakdown of the ...Keep reading
Fabio Quartararo responds to speculation about Honda MotoGP move
Fabio Quartararo admitted that Honda is one of the teams he is talking to about a 2027 MotoGP seat, but insists he is yet to sign a deal.MotoGP’s silly season went into overdrive last week when Motorsport.com reported that 2021 champion Quartararo has agreed terms to join Honda for the start of MotoGP’s 850cc engine era.Such a move, if finalised, would reshape the rider market, with ...Keep reading
