MotoGP: Day 1 is in the books with a familiar #93 on top, but there’s drama elsewhere as Quartararo crashes and withdraws to recover.
One day into 2026 and there’s already plenty to talk about. One is the return of Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) as the #93 takes back to the top, first day out for the season. The other is a crash at Turn 5 for Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), after which he’s heading home. Initial checks saw him given the all-clear for any fractures and head back out, but after continued pain in his arm and hand, he reports a broken finger and has decided to focus on recovery and sit it out.
Meanwhile, second overall went to Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), with Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) completing the top three.
DUCATI LENOVO TEAM, PERTAMINA ENDURO VR46 RACING TEAM & BK8 GRESINI RACING MOTOGP
Any concerns about his injury at the end of 2025 were very quickly banished as Marc Marquez hit the ground running. Steady progress throughout the day culminated in a late burst into P1 with a 1’57.018 – not bad considering the reigning World Champion hadn’t visited the track since the same test last season. On the other side of the box and with Davide Tardozzi declaring during the Midday Live that it’s a “new Pecco”, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) finished in P8 and was 0.702s off his teammate. The double MotoGP World Champion was positive at the end of the day and targets a race simulation on day two.
There was plenty for the Italian marque to be celebrating elsewhere. In stark contrast to 12 months ago when he crashed pulling a wheelie on a slow-down lap and missed the remainder of testing, Di Giannantonio was P2 on his first day of 2026. Making it a Ducati 1-2, the #49’s late flurry of laps briefly saw him in P1 but finished 0.256s away from top slot. Teammate Franco Morbidelli rounded out the top ten, taking eight tenths off his morning time in the second session.
Rounding out Ducatis running was the sole Gresini machine of Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), who topped the opening session but was the only rider in the top 13 who didn’t improve in the afternoon. He is the most recent Grand Prix winner in Malaysia, however.
RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING & RED BULL KTM TECH3
Viñales put Red Bull KTM Tech3 in third overall after a late push, in somewhat classic #12 style. He was also glowing about the team and factory’s work in his debrief, saying it’s the first time in a long time there are really key changes on the table to try. The Austrian factory have a new chassis, new swingarm and aero to try, with Viñales saying he’s trying the former on Wednesday.
Enea Bastianini was P12 on the sister Red Bull KTM Tech3, not putting a push in at the end, with Brad Binder just behind him with the #33 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine. Pedro Acosta rounded out the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing line-up in P15 as they focused on testing and not pushing for the top.
HONDA HRC CASTROL & HONDA LCR
One of the revelations of day one was the factory Honda outfit of Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) and teammate Joan Mir. Both were building on the work done by the test team in the Shakedown Test to put themselves in the top seven, with Marini just pipping the 2020 World Champion. More than half a second quicker in comparison to last year’s corresponding test, Honda’s progress is clear for all to see.
Elsewhere for the Japanese giants, it was Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) who just missed out on a top ten spot by 0.072s to finish in P11. It wasn’t the smoothest of days on the other side of the box; Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) fell at Turn 5 in the morning session and with just one bike at his disposal, spent longer than normal in the garage as it was repaired. He did return to the track but didn’t improve his time and will hope that day two brings a good bunch of laps to add to his 26 done today.
APRILIA RACING & TRACKHOUSE MOTOGP TEAM
Bezzecchi ended the day at the top Aprilia rider in P5, just over half a second away from Marc Marquez’s table-topping time. Overall, the Italian enjoyed a positive day back in the saddle, with Aprilia running several new components, including a new tail unit and larger seat wings, and a new swingarm. With Jorge Martin sidelined, test Rider Lorenzo Savadori picked up the baton to continue his work on several new items, including ergonomic set-ups and general set-up with electronics.
In the Trackhouse MotoGP ranks, 2025 Australian GP winner Raul Fernandez was very upbeat after finishing the opening day of the test without any crashes or injuries – something he’s not been able to do in the last two Sepang Test outings. Fernandez said that he confirmed the feelings he had at the end of last year on the 2025 package, before switching to the 2026 RS-GP, and that also birthed plenty of positives on the opening day.
On the other side of the garage, Ai Ogura explained that Tuesday was all about him feeling good on the bike again and getting back up to speed, before the Japanese star gets properly stuck into the nitty gritty of 2026 RS-GP testing on Day 2 in Malaysia.
MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA MOTOGP & PRIMA PRAMAC YAMAHA MOTOGP TEAM
2026 is off to a tougher start. Working overtime to get the V4 as competitive as possible for the season, they’ll now be without a key part of the project, Quartararo, after the 2021 World Champion fell at Turn 5 and was taken to the medical centre. Despite ‘El Diablo’ returning to the track to go P9, he’s decided to withdraw from the rest of the test with pain to a finger and scrapes to his arm. It’ll be on teammate Alex Rins to shoulder the rest of the test; he was 16th on day one, 1.2s from P1.
In P14, Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) was the second-busiest Yamaha rider on track – only new teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu set more for the Iwata manufacturer. With his previous V4 experience, the Australian, along with Rins, will now be expected to drive the rest of the test forward.
Razgatlioglu, meanwhile, was joined by the rest of the world’s best on-track. Saving his fresh rubber for the rest of the test, the #07 continued to adapt to MotoGP and the life aboard a V4 and Michelins. He experimented with different seats and found a breakthrough in braking late on with rear aero. He also got the chance to follow Marc Marquez out on track, something he said he learnt a lot from and that he aims to repeat on day two – so watch this space.
More on Wednesday as action continues at Sepang!
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