Joan Mir placed Honda atop the timesheets on Sepang MotoGP test Day 2 with the fastest lap of the pre-season so far, as Alex Marquez rebounded from a crash to dominate rain-hit afternoon session.
The session unfolded under partly cloudy skies at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, where teams continued their crucial preparations for the upcoming season, focusing on setup optimizations ahead of the final test at Buriram and the Thai Grand Prix opener.
With the track opening at 10:00 AM local time for the first session running until 13:00, followed by practice starts and a second session from 13:20 to 18:00, riders made the most of the dry morning hours before rain disrupted proceedings in the afternoon.
Joan Mir immediately asserted Honda RC213V’s dominance by clocking a blistering 1:56.874 lap just within the opening hour of Session 1 after 11 laps, surpassing the Day 1 benchmark set by Ducati’s Marc Marquez.
This mark not only represented a significant improvement for Honda, their first test day top spot since 2022, but also highlighted Mir’s confidence in the updated RC213V prototype which features refined aerodynamics, engine mapping, and chassis tweaks.
Mir completed 34 laps in total, balancing time attacks with race simulations, and his effort stood unchallenged as the benchmark through the rain-shortened day, demonstrating Honda’s progress in straight-line speed.
Trailing Mir by just 0.109s was VR46 Ducati’s Franco Morbidelli aboard the GP25, the only other rider to dip into the 1:56s after 41 laps, while teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio slotted into third, just 0.175s off the benchmark after 38 laps.
KTM’s Pedro Acosta claimed the fourth fastest lap, 0.242s adrift, on the new RC16 featuring updated swingarm geometry and aero packages that have improved rear traction out of slow corners.
Right behind him in fifth was teammate Maverick Viñales who delivered an impressive 50 laps on the KTM Tech3 machine—the highest of the day—as the Spaniard prioritized reliability testing and wet tire runs late in the session, hitting 336.4 km/h max speed.
Combined 2026 Sepang MotoGP Test Day 2 Results
Combined 2026 Sepang MotoGP Test Day 1 Results
Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi rounded out the top six on the RS-GP after completing 39 laps, reflecting the team’s aggressive development push with new V4 engine revisions and carbon fiber chassis elements for better weight distribution.
Trackhouse Aprilia’s Raul Fernandez followed in seventh, 0.400s off the pace, with his morning efforts revealing gains in cornering, though he noted minor chatter issues under heavy braking that the team addressed via setup changes.
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia took eighth after opting for a conservative approach without a full time attack, instead accumulating data on fuel mapping and tire wear during medium-length runs.
Ai Ogura slotted the sister Trackhouse Aprilia in ninth, while Tech3’s Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini’s Honda RC213V followed closely in tenth and 11th.
Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez endured a high-speed crash at Turn 5 in the morning but bounced back to lead the rain-affected Session 2 with 1:58.094 after limited laps, concluding his day in 12th.
KTM’s Brad Binder and Honda LCR’s Johann Zarco placed 13th and 14th, while Day 1 leader Marc Marquez settled for 15th after sitting out the morning session.
Yamaha’s complete absence was the day’s biggest storyline, with all machines—from factory riders Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins to Pramac’s Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jack Miller—sidelined to probe a technical glitch on the new V4 engine, unrelated to Quartararo’s Day 1 crash that ruled him out of the test.
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V4-powered Yamaha M1 sidelined from Sepang MotoGP test due to safety concerns
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