Ducati
Not content with winning 17 of
2025's 22 races (and 19 Sprints),
Ducati Corse General Manager
Gigi Dall'Igna was keen to re-
establish the domination it lost
in Marc Marquez's absence last
fall. "Probably next year is time to
risk again," he said in November.
That much was clear here.
Ducati engineers had worked on
a new ride-height-device system,
now much bigger positioned at
the front of the bike than last
year. There were minor updates
to the engine, chassis and
swingarm. Even if most work
centered around assessing dif-
ferent aerodynamics options,
including massive front winglets,
it appeared the factory men were
favoring last year's aero by the
close of the three days.
The reason for Italian opti-
mism didn't end there; Thursday
saw the first batch of Sprint race
simulations of the official test
in Malaysia, with Ducati's front-
runners enjoying the upper hand.
Alex Marquez was the fastest
of the lot, his average time over
10 laps coming in at 1:58.027
(Bagnaia's was 1:58.166, Marc
Marquez's a 1:58.289). Pedro
Acosta—the first non-Ducati—
was more than six-tenths of a
second slower per lap.
One glaring omission from the
general optimism was Yamaha.
The Iwata factory had a night-
mare week in which its star rider,
Fabio Di Giannantonio
was happy with the work
done, saying he and
the VR46 team got 90
percent of the testing
they needed completed
before race one.
Fabio Quartararo, withdrew from
the test after breaking the middle
finger of his right hand on a fast,
day-one fall.
It then forbade all of its riders
from competing on day two due
to serious concerns over the reli-
ability of its engines. And while
its three remaining riders re-
turned on the final day, the times
did little to inspire confidence.
Jack Miller was being gener-
ous when describing the week's
events as a "hiccup."
PRESEASON TEST / FEBRUARY 3-5, 2026
SEPANG INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT / SEPANG, SELANGOR, MALAYSIA
ROAD RACE I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PRESEASON TEST
P94
