Pecco Bagnaia issues pace warning after “positive” Sepang MotoGP test day
Pecco Bagnaia was happy but cautious about his first day at the Sepang MotoGP test
Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia says “the balance is positive” on the GP26 following the first day of the Sepang MotoGP test, but urged caution about his form right now.
The double MotoGP world champion endured a torrid 2025 campaign, winning just twice as he slumped to fifth in the standings on a Ducati package he struggled to find consistency on.
Initial testing of the 2026 prototype last November in Valencia yielded positive feelings for Pecco Bagnaia, which continued into the opening day of the Sepang pre-season test on Tuesday.
Bagnaia was eighth overall at the end of Tuesday’s running, having tried numerous new parts - most notably, a radical aerodynamic fairing.
“First of all, it’s always fantastic being back on a MotoGP bike,” he told the official MotoGP website after the session.
“The speed and the power the bike gives you is something incredible.
“So, I really enjoyed it from lap one. We had time enough to make a lot of laps using both tyres, medium and soft.
“In the morning, we were focused on finding my feelings, that was important from last year.
“And then we were focused on testing new things, new parts, new fairing. I’m happy, positive first day. Right now, the balance is positive.”
A key issue for Bagnaia last year was a lack of front-end confidence on the Ducati.
He felt there was an improvement on the GP26 in this area, but was wary of getting ahead of himself having also been strong at Sepang last year at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
“Luckily, yes, but last year here I was fast and competitive,” he added.
“So, right now we just need to focus more on understanding new things. And then see if for Thailand we can take something as an advantage to start the season.”
On the new aero, Bagnaia says it felt similar to the older package and would have “some doubts” about which one to race if the grand prix was tomorrow.
“It’s like always: some areas better, some areas worse,” he explained.
“Honestly, I did the same lap time with both fairings. So, it’s more or less similar.
“If the race was tomorrow, I could be with some doubts about the front fairing.
“But as a first test, as the first laps we did, it was competitive.”
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