After a four-month recovery, reigning world champion Marc Marquez makes his return to MotoGP action as official 2026 testing gets underway at Sepang in Malaysia.
Marc Marquez suffered shoulder injuries when he was taken down by contact from Marco Bezzecchi at Mandalika, just a week after securing his ninth world title at Motegi.
The factory Ducati star not only missed the remaining four rounds, but Valencia post-race test.
But while Marquez makes his return, 2024 champion Jorge Martin will be watching from the sidelines as he continues to recover from follow-up surgery for last year’s wrist and collarbone injuries.
Also out of action is 2025 rookie race winner Fermin Aldeguer, who fractured his femur in a training accident last month.
But the rest of the 2026 grid, including star rookies Toprak Razgatlioglu and Diogo Moreira, are on track for three days of crucial testing with their 2026 machinery.
Last week’s Shakedown test - featuring the rookies, factory test riders and Yamaha race riders - saw Honda’s Aleix Espargaro on top with a 1m 57.173s, after Jack Miller turned heads by putting Yamaha’s new V4 on top the previous day.
Testing takes place from Tuesday to Thursday, between 10am and 6pm, plus practice start periods at lunchtime and the end of each day…
Bezzecchi improves again to set a 1m 57.524s on his 8th lap of the afternoon, putting him into P1 by 0.196s over Bagnaia.
Alex Marquez's 1m 57.487s Session 1 time remains the best of the day, but only just.
Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi, who featured on top of the Session 1 timesheets on his way to 3rd, splits the Lenovo Ducatis at the head of the Session 2 times with a lap 0.315s from Francesco Bagnaia.
Meanwhile, Marc Marquez has not been back out since his technical issue.
Marco Bezzecchi, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Test (Gold&Goose).
Maverick Vinales is up to third place, as the top KTM. The Tech3 rider is 0.6s under his best lap time in Session 1 (16th) and only a fraction slower than Pedro Acosta's morning best.
Team-mate Enea Bastianini is up to 5th in Session 2.
Maverick Vinales 2026 Sepang MotoGP Test (Gold&Goose).
Like team-mate Francesco Bagnaia, Marc Marquez delivers his best lap of the day so far at the start of his opening run in Session 2.
The reigning world champion moves into second place, 0.515s behind Bagnaia, but then has a technical issue at Turn 2 and is forced to park his GP26.
Marc Marquez, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Test (Gold&Goose).
The track's getting busier once again, Ai Ogura is now into second on the Session 2 timesheets, ahead of Fabio di Giannantonio, with Joan Mir pushed to 4th.
Marc Marquez is on his first run of the afternoon session.
Just 8 riders have so far set a lap time in Session 2, which runs until 6pm:
Francesco Bagnaia 1m 57.720, Joan Mir +1.128s, Johann Zarco +1.869s, Franco Morbidelli +2.994s, Fabio di Giannantonio +4.391s, Brad Binder +5.116s, Ai Ogura +5.430s and Andrea Dovizioso +8.133s.
Joan Mir slots into second for Honda with a 1m 58.848s, but that's half-a-second slower than his Session 1 best (7th).
Team-mate Luca Marini led the RC213V challenge this morning with a 1m 57.845s for second place.
Joan Mir, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Test (Gold&Goose).
Bagnaia and Binder pit while Joan Mir, Fabio di Giannantonio and Ai Ogura head out on track.
Bagnaia sets red sectors throughout his third lap of the afternoon, breaking the timing beam in a 1m 57.720s.
That's the second fastest combined lap of the day, only Alex Marquez has been faster with a 1m 57.487s to top Session 1.
Bagnaia backs off. He won't be breaking Alex Marquez best on this run.
Francesco Bagnaia, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Test (Gold&Goose).
Bagnaia's next lap is a 1m 57.940s, that would have put him 4th this morning. He's continuing and setting more red sectors.
Francesco Bagnaia makes an instant impact with a 1m 58.785s on his first timed lap, that well under his 1m 59.244s in Session 1. Perhaps he's on new tyres and/or switched to the softs (also the preferred race choice last season).
Brad Binder is next out.
With 2 hrs and 30 mins of day one testing to go, Francesco Bagnaia leaves the pits. The Italian was 17th in Session 1.
Pedro Acosta and his RC16 compress on corner exit. The Red Bull KTM rider began the year fifth fastest in Session 1.
Pedro Acosta, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Test (Gold&Goose).
3pm and there's still no track action in Session 2, barring a few early laps by Johann Zarco and Andrea Dovizioso.
GPone.com reports that Fabio Quartararo intends to ride again this afternoon. The Monster Yamaha star crashed after just 8 laps this morning.
Fabio Quartararo's crashed Yamaha V4 is returned to the pits, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Test (Gold&Goose).
World champion Marc Marquez, returning to MotoGP action for the first time since shoulder injuries when he was taken down at Mandalika on October 5th, finished Session 1 in 11th place.
Marc was +1.287s from brother Alex Marquez after completing 29 laps, but many riders are saving the favoured soft tyres...
Marc Marquez, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Test (Gold&Goose).
MotoGP rookie Diogo Moreira walled away from this fall on his way to ninth on the timesheets in Session 1. 'Rider OK', bike not so much...
Diogo Moreira, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Test (Gold&Goose).
Here are the official top speeds from Session 1. The V4 Yamahas are still playing catch-up...
During the lunch break, Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori told David Emmett of Motomatters.com that some riders are saving their allocation of the preferred soft tyres for when track conditions improve on days 2 and 3.
Still silent on track, which also suggests teams are confident there will be no rain later, and they can test right up until 6pm.
Triple MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo puts on a different sort of helmet in his new role as coach for Maverick Vinales. Vinales was 16th in Session 1.
Jorge Lorenzo, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Test (Gold&Goose).
Francesco Bagnaia began a crucial year with 17th in Session 1, but how did he feel on the revised GP26 at a track where he won the Sprint last season? We'll find out at the end of the day...
Francesco Bagnaia, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Test (Gold&Goose).
Johann Zarco with the latest Honda aero. The LCR rider was eighth in Session 1.
Johann Zarco, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Test (Gold&Goose).
And back to the present: Here's one reigning world champion being followed by another...
Toprak Razgatlioglu, Marc Marquez, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Test (Gold&Goose).