PRESEASON TEST / FEBRUARY 3-5, 2026
SEPANG INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT / SEPANG, SELANGOR, MALAYSIA
ROAD RACE I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PRESEASON TEST
P96
when it was mired in insolvency
proceedings and its MotoGP proj-
ect was on the rocks. The waters
appear more settled now.
Acosta was quite happy with
his new RC16 on Monday. "I was
surprised by how much they were
able to develop," he said. "I think
they made a really big step."
That translated to the track ac-
tion. While Acosta was a regular
crasher here last year, with his
test punctuated by mechanical
issues, he was pleased to find
this year's RC16 to be less critical
on the front end.
"Generally, this KTM feels
more natural," he said. "You don't
have to push to your 100 percent
to find a correct lap time. Ev-
erything is coming more easily.
surgery on his right wrist and
shoulder. The ex-champ was in
Malaysia watching on from the
sidelines. "[It seems] we're pick-
ing the thing up from where we
left it [at the end of '25]. I feel the
bike is working really good," he
said.
Mildly concerning were the
struggles of both Trackhouse
riders. Raul Fernandez (10th) and
Ai Ogura (12th) felt the changes
didn't suit their riding styles.
KTM
By recent standards, Sepang was
a standout success for KTM.
Bosses from the Austrian factory
couldn't help but compare its
current situation to a year ago,
Even if his Sprint simulation
was, on average, nine-tenths
of a second slower than Alex
Marquez per lap, there was some
sandbagging going on. Last
year's triple winner had started
on extremely used rubber.
Behind the scenes, manage-
ment was satisfied. "I'm happy
about the fact that the '26 [bike]
is better than the '25," said Aprilia
Racing CEO Massimo Rivola.
"Again, it shows that Noale is
quite a good company, able to
improve the performance every
year. Again, someone [else] is
leading. But we'll stay in the
slipstream."
Again, the factory was not
impacted by Jorge Martin's
absence as he recovers from
Ai Ogura (pictured)
and teammate Raul
Fernandez were
worried the changes
wrought on the
RS-GP were not
going to suit their
riding styles.
