2026 Sepang MotoGP test: Marc Marquez tops day one on injury return
Marc Marquez topped day one of the Sepang MotoGP test 121 days on from injury
Reigning MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez topped the opening day of the 2026 Sepang test, 121 days on from suffering a serious shoulder injury last October.
The 32-year-old sustained a complex shoulder injury during a collision with Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi on the opening lap of the Indonesian Grand Prix.
Surgery a week on from this ruled Marc Marquez out for the remainder of the 2025 campaign, as well as the crucial post-season test in Valencia.
He returned to circuit riding in January and is carrying out an amended testing programme at Sepang while he still rides below 100% physical fitness.
That didn’t stop him stamping his authority over the grid on the first official day of the 2026 season, however, as he led the way on the factory Ducati with a 1m57.018s.
He led VR46 Ducati’s Fabio Di Giannantonio by 0.256s, with Maverick Vinales completing the top three on the factory-spec Gresini Ducati.
Alex Marquez led the opening session of the day at Sepang, with his 1m57.487s benchmark standing tall for much of the second session at the Malaysian Grand Prix venue.
It was finally bested by Di Giannantonio, who edged ahead with a 1m57.274s inside the final 25 minutes of the day.
But it wouldn’t be enough to keep him top, as Marc Marquez improved to a 1m57.018s to see out the day fastest of all.
Alex Marquez was fourth as he puts more miles on the factory GP26, while Aprilia’s Bezzecchi was fifth.
Luca Marini led Honda team-mate Joan Mir, with HRC entering its first pre-season in several years where it hasn’t had extra testing time due to its concession ranking.
Pecco Bagnaia put Ducati’s radical new aero through its paces on Tuesday and was eighth, while Fabio Quartararo improved to ninth on the factory Yamaha V4 despite a huge crash during the morning at Turn 5.
Quartararo went to the medical centre for checks, but serious injuries were detected.
Franco Morbidelli completed the top 10 on the VR46-run GP25.
There were crashes on Tuesday for LCR rookie Diogo Moreira and Pramac Yamaha’s Jack Miller.
Miller’s new team-mate Toprak Razgatlioglu was 20th.
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