Sepang Test 1

Day 1 of the official Sepang Test belonged to Marc Márquez, who silenced any doubts about his physical condition by topping the timesheets with a 1:57.018. In his first competitive outing on the GP26, the world champion displaced Fabio Di Giannantonio from the top spot in the final half-hour of running, leading a dominant Ducati 1-2. Maverick Viñales rounded out the top three, proving that his transition to the Red Bull KTM Tech3 machine is already bearing fruit with a late flyer that put him just 0.277 seconds off the lead. The day was marred by a significant setback for Yamaha. Fabio Quartararo suffered a high-speed crash at Turn 5 in the morning and, despite returning for a brief afternoon stint, was forced to withdraw from the remainder of the test after being diagnosed with a broken finger. This leaves the development of the new V4 largely in the hands of Alex Rins (16th) and the rookies. Honda continued their positive momentum from the Shakedown, with Luca Marini and Joan Mir finishing 6th and 7th respectively, both well within a second of the top time. Meanwhile, rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu had a challenging day on the Pramac Yamaha, finishing 21st overall after a late-session crash at Turn 5—the same spot that claimed Quartararo and fellow rookie Diogo Moreira (19th).