2026 Sepang MotoGP test: Joan Mir leads rain-hit day two amid Yamaha drama
Honda’s Joan Mir set the best pace on Wednesday at the 2026 Sepang MotoGP test
Honda MotoGP rider Joan Mir led Wednesday’s rain-affected running at the 2026 MotoGP Sepang test, as Yamaha encountered major technical drama.
Yamaha’s new V4 engine concept will be raced this season, but the Japanese marque is already majorly on the back foot after sitting out all of Wednesday due to technical issues.
The problem emerged on Tuesday afternoon, when Fabio Quartararo stopped due to a problem. Yamaha says it hasn’t been able to find a fix, leading it to bench its riders for the day.
At the moment, there is a real possibility Yamaha will leave Sepang having completed just one day of the official test.
These problems also follow the unrelated crash for Quartararo on Tuesday, which left him sidelined with a broken finger.
There were no such troubles for its Japanese counterpart Honda, who led the way on Wednesday with Joan Mir.
The 2020 world champion managed a 1m56.874s, which he set in the opening hour, and would not be bested after the final part of the day was lost to rain. It marks the first time Honda has topped a test day since 2022.
He led the VR46 Ducati pair of Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio, while Pedro Acosta was fourth on the factory team KTM.
KTM continued with its chassis and aero testing on Wednesday. Tech3’s Maverick Vinales completed the top five.
Marco Bezzecchi was sixth overall on the factory Aprilia, as the Italian brand debuted a radical new rear wing concept on the RS-GP.
He headed Trackhouse Aprilia counterpart Raul Fernandez, while Pecco Bagnaia was eighth on the leading factory team Ducati.
Ai Ogura was ninth on the sister Trackhouse Aprilia, with Enea Bastianini 10th on the second of the Tech3 KTMs.
Gresini’s Alex Marquez suffered a crash on Wednesday, but walked away unscathed. He ended the day down in 12th.
Tuesday pacesetter Marc Marquez had a more low-key second day on the GP26, as Ducati once again conducted more aero testing with its new fairing.
The reigning world champion was 15th overall, with LCR Honda rookie Diogo Moreira 17th.
With no Yamahas completing any running on Wednesday, only 17 riders were classified on the timesheets.
At around 4pm local time, rain began to fall on the Sepang circuit, forcing everyone back into pitlane.
Only a handful of riders sampled the damp conditions across the final hours of the session.
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