LCR Honda became the first Honda-supported team to unveil its 2026 liveries as it builds momentum ahead of Sepang testing. Johann Zarco will retain a Castrol-themed design, red, white, and green with new black and blue accents, while Diogo Moreira’s fairing switches to Pro Honda, ending LCR’s long association with Idemitsu on that bike.

Zarco, 35, arrives at Sepang under a multi-year LCR deal that runs through 2027 and guarantees parity of technical spec and updates with the factory team. He will start his on-track program at the official Sepang test on February 3–5. Moreira, 21, the reigning Moto2 champion, signed a multi-year deal with HRC to race an RC213V in MotoGP and will carry Pro Honda as his title partner. Unlike predecessor Somkiat Chantra, Moreira will have access to factory-spec machinery, and LCR confirmed his full Pro Honda livery will appear on track at Sepang after an initial shakedown run in black.

At the Sepang shakedown, Moreira showed encouraging pace, improving through the session and posting a late best lap of 1:58.338. That time put him ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu, with KTM test rider Dani Pedrosa splitting them; one account placed Moreira sixth overall while another listed him eighth. Zarco’s new Castrol livery is also due to appear during the Sepang test. The preseason will finish with a final Buriram test on Feb 21–22, ahead of the Thai season opener on Feb 27–Mar 1. The combined sponsorship updates, visual rebrand, and early running data will help shape LCR Honda’s preparations as official testing gets underway.

Late January reporting prompted a late-season MotoGP rider reshuffle narrative after Motorsport.com reported that Fabio Quartararo had agreed a two-year move from Yamaha to Honda tied to upcoming 2027 regulations. His manager, Thomas Maubant, denied any signed agreement and said only discussions, including with Honda, were ongoing. Some outlets framed the item as confirmed, while others described it as speculative or media-amplified and timed alongside the opening tests.

Those reports sparked speculation about domino effects across factory seats. Media suggested a Quartararo-to-Honda switch could imperil Honda riders Joan Mir and Luca Marini, both contracted through 2026, for next season’s line-up and could free a Yamaha seat that some outlets linked to Jorge Martín, who has sought to leave Aprilia.

Separate reports from Diario AS and other outlets associate Pedro Acosta with Ducati alongside Marc Márquez, with Márquez reported to be close to a two-year extension. Coverage noted that such moves could threaten Francesco Bagnaia’s factory position and potentially open a path for Maverick Viñales into Acosta’s current KTM seat. These reports were presented as unconfirmed in many accounts.

The transfer talk ran alongside on-track developments at the Sepang shakedown, where Aleix Espargaró topped the times, underscoring that manufacturers continued work on machinery even as market stories circulated. Joan Mir, reflecting on Honda’s 2025 progress under technical director Romano Albesiano, said Honda now understands what it needs and hopes to be “fighting for something” in 2026. Mir and Marini have not yet signed for the planned switch to 850cc machinery.

Overall, coverage this week centered on unconfirmed transfer reports and potential domino effects across factory seats as teams positioned themselves ahead of 2027 regulations. However, several elements remain provisional and disputed by managers or treated as speculative by some outlets.

Gresini launched its 2026 campaign at a presentation in Kuala Lumpur held after the Sepang shakedown, confirming BK8 as title sponsor. Alex Márquez attended the event, but teammate Fermin Aldeguer missed it after breaking his left femur in Valencia in January. Both riders remain on Gresini’s roster for 2026 and are out of contract at the end of the year.

Márquez will ride a factory-spec Ducati GP26 in 2026, his first factory-spec machinery since 2020. The move reflects Ducati’s expansion of GP26 allocations to four bikes. Aldeguer is set to run the year-old 2025-spec GP25, confirming a two-tier setup within the team.

Márquez’s upgrade follows a strong 2025 in which he won at Jerez, Barcelona and Sepang and finished runner-up in the Championship. Aldeguer was Rookie of the Year after a win in Indonesia. Transfer-market chatter linking Márquez to KTM alongside Maverick Viñales was mentioned at the launch but remains speculative.

Gresini confirmed its immediate testing schedule around the official Sepang pre-season tests on February 3–5 and a second test on February 21–22, ahead of the season opener at Buriram on 1 March 2026. Márquez is scheduled to run the GP26 at the first Sepang test, while Aldeguer will miss that session as he continues rehabilitation. However, the latter is in contention for the February 21–22 test and the season opener.

The launch tied together sporting momentum, sponsorship continuity and near-term logistics as Gresini builds toward the opening rounds. With a string of wins since switching to Ducati in 2022 and a second-place finish in the 2025 teams’ standings, the outfit enters 2026 aiming to convert that form into another competitive campaign.

Day 1 at the Sepang shakedown produced a busy opening to the 2026 MotoGP pre-season. Honda’s Aleix Espargaro topped the day with a provisional 1:58.091, roughly half a second clear of the field. Pramac Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu made a high‑profile MotoGP debut as the fastest rookie and fourth overall with 1:59.647. LCR rookie Diogo Moreira overcame an early mechanical issue to finish inside the top ten in 2:00.894 (some sources vary on his exact placing). Next, KTM’s Pol Espargaro and KTM test rider Dani Pedrosa ran prominently near the front. Yamaha test riders showed strong top speed, as Augusto Fernández recorded 327.3 km/h, while Ducati test rider Michele Pirro was the last into the 1:59s. Teams evaluated new aero and components in the pitlane; visual updates included Ducati’s new Lenovo livery and several Yamaha M1s fitted with rear aero.

On Day 2, the pace tightened. Aleix Espargaro improved in the morning running to a provisional 1:58.066 on the RC213V, about 0.512 seconds clear of Pol Espargaro. Toprak was third, 1.079 seconds off the morning benchmark and roughly half a second quicker than his Day‑1 time. Jack Miller completed his first laps of the year, while Moreira remained about 2.8 seconds adrift of the leader. Ducati and Aprilia continued to log laps through their test riders. Pirro was 4.934s off the leader, and Lorenzo Savadori 9.972s adrift, as the session, scheduled from 10 am to 6 pm, ran with limited live timing, so times remained provisional.

Across both days, the shakedown functioned more as a technical preview than a definitive performance order. Manufacturers tested aero variations, new engine hardware, and multiple chassis configurations; Yamaha’s V4 program and rear‑aero packages drew particular attention. Several teams ran expanded bike counts. The return of KTM test rider Mika Kallio and planned LCR livery unveilings added visual cues, as teams used long runs and component evaluations to prepare for the official early‑February Sepang test. The shakedown established early benchmarks and highlighted items to monitor as teams moved into the main preseason program.

Fabio Quartararo has signed a two-year contract with Honda that will begin under the new 850cc regulations in 2027. He will leave Yamaha at the end of the 2026 MotoGP season. The 26-year-old 2021 world champion made his MotoGP debut with Yamaha in 2019 and departs after recording 11 victories, 32 podiums, and 21 pole positions for the manufacturer. Despite a contract extension from Yamaha in April 2024 that met his financial demands, Quartararo has not won since the 2022 German Grand Prix and has managed only four podiums since 2023. He cited Yamaha’s lack of progress on its inline-four development as the decisive factor in his decision to move on and opted to leave before testing Yamaha’s new V4 for 2026.

Honda’s announcement locks in the factory team to field Quartararo under the incoming 2027 regulations, though the exact seat within Honda has not been confirmed. Joan Mir and Luca Marini were named in reports as possible vacancies because both are out of contract. The timing of the move was explicitly tied to the sport’s technical reset for 2027, making the regulatory change a major factor in the transfer. Motorsport reporting that preceded the announcement had framed a Quartararo-to-Honda switch as likely to reshape the rider market, with reporter Uri Puigdemont and others noting how an early high-profile move can accelerate negotiations across the paddock.

The deal makes the 2026 season a transitional or “shakedown” year for Quartararo and other riders as teams prepare for the new rules. However, it represents a significant personnel loss for Yamaha. Only a handful of riders, Toprak Razgatlioglu, Diogo Moreira, and Johann Zarco, have publicly confirmed contracts for 2027, underscoring how a confirmed signing of Quartararo could trigger downstream moves. Honda presented the contract as definitive for 2027–2028, framing the next chapters of the championship as a period of notable technical and market change across MotoGP.

MotoGP will stage a semi-official shakedown at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit from January 29–31. It is the first on-track running since the Valencia post-season test in 2025. The circuit will be open each day from 10:00 to 18:00 local time, giving participants up to eight hours daily to perform systems checks, evaluate updated bikes and collect early setup data ahead of the main collective test. Media access is tightly limited to the paddock and service road, and no live coverage is planned; motogp.com will publish daily round-ups instead.

The entry list is reduced after Honda moved from concession band D to C, a change that excludes Luca Marini and Joan Mir and leaves only a small group of full-season riders expected on track. The full-time riders most likely to attend include factory Yamahas Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins; Pramac riders Jack Miller and Toprak Razgatlioglu; and rookie Diogo Moreira, who is expected to run on the LCR Honda. Razgatlioglu is also classified as a rookie.

Yamaha, which holds Rank D concessions, will be a focal point. The factory is bringing a significant new V4 iteration with a redesigned frame and an aero package developed with feedback from its four affiliated riders. Toprak Razgatlioglu will also work on requested ergonomic changes.

Manufacturers are using Sepang for targeted program work rather than full-field testing. Honda will pursue development under Aleix Espargaro’s supervision while Taka Nakagami focuses on a separate 2027 850cc project. KTM plans a larger pre-season program led by Pol Espargaro with likely involvement from Dani Pedrosa. Ducati and Aprilia anticipate quieter shakedowns focused on their test riders, Michele Pirro and Lorenzo Savadori. Savadori is set to ride multiple Aprilias to cover for the injured Jorge Martin.

Overall, the shakedown is an initial, compact opportunity for teams to resolve technical issues and gain early technical impressions before the official collective test begins three days after the shakedown concludes.

Maverick Viñales announced at the KTM/Tech3 KTM 2026 launch that he has hired three-time champion Jorge Lorenzo as his performance coach. The formal partnership is formed to turn Viñales’s clear, raw pace into a sustained title challenge. Lorenzo’s remit covers technical areas such as throttle management, braking, race-specific preparation, and setting concrete, measurable goals; he is expected to join Viñales for testing and early races and has already been working closely with him since being brought in late in the previous season. Viñales said discussions about working together began after his double win at the 2024 Grand Prix of the Americas, though family timing delayed his ability to commit full-time. The hire represents a notable personnel change at Tech3 KTM and a pragmatic reconciliation between two former rivals who have moved from public barbs to a close, performance-focused working relationship.

Viñales also confirmed he has recovered from the Sachsenring shoulder injury that disrupted his 2025 campaign and missed the second half of that season. He reports he has regained weight, up 13 pounds from a previous benchmark of 134 pounds. In addition, the Red Bull Athlete Performance Center has confirmed his power has returned, and he expects to be fully fit for the upcoming Sepang test. Winter work has targeted specific weaknesses. Lorenzo has pushed wet sessions and 600cc training to improve sliding technique and rear-tire use, while Viñales and his engineers have focused on reducing rear shaking and improving cornering. After the first test, Viñales received positive feedback from Pedro Acosta and plans to use the pre-season tests to provide development input and validate measurable progress.

The partnership is presented as both an immediate performance aid and a potential stepping stone toward longer-term moves. Spanish outlet AS reported KTM is prioritizing Viñales as a possible factory signing for 2027 should Pedro Acosta leave. Viñales has emphasized that pure talent isn’t enough and that hard, structured work is required to become a reference point within KTM, with Lorenzo bringing a hands-on coaching approach to convert speed into race-winning consistency. All elements, including physical recovery, targeted technical work, hands-on coaching, and positive early test feedback, are being marshaled with the explicit aim of turning Viñales’s pace into sustained results for the 2026 season and beyond.

MotoGP confirmed its full 2026 testing program, outlining preseason activity, four in-season test days, and the framework for introducing Pirelli as the series’ tire supplier in 2027.

Preseason will begin with a Sepang shakedown (January 29–31), followed by the official Sepang test (February 3–5) and a Season Launch in Kuala Lumpur on February 7. Teams will then run a final two-day pre-race test at Buriram (February 21–22) before the opening round at the PT Grand Prix of Thailand (February 27–Mar 1).

The calendar includes four in-season test days: two official post-race tests using current-season Michelin tyres. The first is scheduled for April 27 at Jerez (after the Spanish GP) and then May 18 at Barcelona (after the Catalan GP), which will also serve as the final official tests for the 1,000cc bikes. Two non-official tests will see Pirelli-run evaluations of the 2027 tire package on the Mondays after the Czech and Austrian GPs, on June 22 and September 21, respectively. The Pirelli sessions are non-official (no live timing) and are intended solely to assess the incoming supplier’s tire package.

MotoGP noted Pirelli first ran MotoGP machinery in a private Misano test in 2025 and highlighted Pirelli’s wider motorsport role as a current F1 supplier and the sole WorldSBK supplier since 2004. The series also confirmed the 2027 preseason will begin on Tuesday after the Valencia GP (November 24), tying next year’s start directly to the 2026 finale.

KTM has unveiled its 2026 MotoGP liveries and confirmed Red Bull title backing for both its factory team and Tech3 satellite outfit, while keeping the factory pairing of Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder and retaining Maverick Viñales and Enea Bastianini at Tech3.

Tech3 is under new ownership led by Guenther Steiner, with Richard Coleman appointed team boss. KTM also detailed key crew moves for 2026. Enea Bastianini will work with Andrés Madrid, Phil Marron will move into Brad Binder’s garage, and former Bastianini crew chief Alberto Giribuola has switched to Pramac.

The announcement followed a financially destabilising winter for KTM’s 2025 programme, which influenced personnel decisions and the early confirmations of lineups.

Looking back at 2025, KTM finished third in the Constructors’ standings and its factory entry was fourth in the Teams’ standings, becoming the highest-ranked non‑Ducati-powered team after overtaking Aprilia. Pedro Acosta emerged as the squad’s on-track leader, adopted setup elements from Maverick Viñales, took KTM’s first official podium of the year at Brno, and closed the year fourth in the world championship. He described the season as “a wasted year” despite personal progress. Brad Binder finished 11th overall without a podium. Tech3 endured a turbulent season. Viñales had a strong result in Qatar, chalked off for a tyre-pressure infringement, and was sidelined time with a serious shoulder injury at Sachsenring. Enea Bastianini scored a Grand Prix and Sprint podium midseason but faded after losing Giribuola, and substitute Pol Espargaró provided stability with four top-10s in five starts.

Contract positions and longer-term planning remain unresolved. Media reports say all four riders are out of contract at the end of the season, and Acosta has been linked with a potential move to a Ducati-run team. Coverage described KTM as weighing roster choices while preparing for the 2027 regulations and surveying the wider MotoGP market for options rather than relying on an obvious in-house successor. Some outlets named long-shot possibilities such as Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo, but presented those as unlikely.