Marc Márquez crashed three times during the final pre‑season test at Buriram, visiting the medical center after each fall and failing to complete a race simulation. He said a stomach bug left him tired and briefly lacking concentration, and he acknowledged that a prior shoulder injury had not recovered as well as expected — some outlets describe that damage as a coracoid fracture with right‑shoulder ligament injury that required surgery and sidelined him for the final four rounds of 2025, while others refer to a broken collarbone.

Despite the setbacks, Márquez posted the third‑fastest time at Buriram overall; his Sepang outing before Buriram was described as broadly successful, but he was unable to reproduce a full race run in Thailand. Teammates Alex Márquez and Pecco Bagnaia completed stronger race‑simulation laps in testing; Bagnaia posted the fourth‑fastest time at Buriram and abandoned a final‑day simulation after a technical issue.

Reactions were mixed: Ducati team boss Davide Tardozzi said the crashes should not influence Márquez’s performance at the Thai GP and that Ducati expects him to be a championship contender from the first race. Stefan Bradl framed the incidents as part of Márquez’s process of relearning his limits and suggested the rider could be “very dangerous” once he rediscovers them. By contrast, Ducati adviser Peter Bom called the first crash “really, really silly,” said Márquez no longer bounces back as he used to and is more vulnerable with a shoulder that has not fully recovered, warning there is a serious chance he might not dominate or win the 2026 title despite remaining among the pre‑race favourites. The converging facts — three crashes with medical checks after each, illness and lingering injury concerns — leave uncertainty over how quickly Márquez can rebuild fitness and confidence ahead of the opening rounds.

Pedro Acosta left Buriram having narrowed a clear development gap but still chasing the outright pace of Aprilia and Ducati. The 2026 RC16 was “doing no strange things,” he said, feeling more natural with reduced vibration and improved front-end feel. Acosta completed trouble-free 24–25-lap race simulations showing strong tire preservation and finished the two-day test as the fastest KTM in sixth, roughly 0.3s off Marco Bezzecchi’s benchmark. KTM’s factory and Tech3 teams said they had finalized their 2026 package and felt prepared for the Thai season opener.

Aprilia and Ducati underlined their status as the yardsticks at Buriram. Bezzecchi topped the test with a record 1’28.668 lap and strong long-run form (a 20-lap average around 1’30.4). Four Aprilias featured high on the timesheets, and Trackhouse-backed Ai Ogura was second, just 0.097s adrift. Ducati also showed competitive pace, with Marc Márquez, Francesco Bagnaia, and Álex Márquez filling the next positions. The older Márquez brother continued to post leading Sunday qualifying-simulation times despite crashes and illness.

Acosta and KTM framed the progress as tangible but incomplete, and praised Aprilia and Ducati’s race simulations as “awesome.” They warned that rivals’ exceptional simulations make preparation and starting position decisive, and suggested KTM could realistically start the season as the third-best manufacturer. With pre-season testing wrapped at Buriram, teams now turn to the Thai GP next weekend, where the first pole, Tissot Sprint, and race win of the season will be decided.

Dorna Sports confirmed a revised MotoGP Race Direction leadership lineup for the 2026 season, appointing Graham Webber as MotoGP Race Director and naming Jack Gorst as deputy Race Director while long-time MotoGP Race Director Mike Webb moves into a newly created Race Direction Coordinator role. Webb will remain based on site at Grands Prix and in the control room, and will serve as IRTA representative and secretary. The three will jointly lead a centralized Race Direction team that will operate across the 22-round 2026 calendar.

The reshuffle preserves continuity while introducing new primary decision-makers: Webber, who had served as deputy race director and previously directed Moto2, Moto3 and MotoE race direction, will helm MotoGP race direction in 2026; Webb has led MotoGP race direction since 2012 and maintained the post through the FIM stewards restructuring after the 2015 Sepang fallout. Jack Gorst, who joins the Event Management Committee alongside Webber, will serve as deputy. The Race Direction remit covers all Grand Prix classes and other on-track competitions staged at MotoGP events, including the newly listed Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup.

Dorna and the FIM also confirmed the wider Race Direction and governance team: Bartolome Alfonso will continue as FIM representative and Safety Officer, Loris Capirossi as MotoGP SEG representative, and Danny Aldridge remains GP Technical Director. The FIM MotoGP stewards panel will be chaired by Simon Crafar, with Andrés Somolinos as FIM MotoGP Chief Steward and Tamara Matko serving as a steward. The FIM Appeals Panel is composed of Ralph Bohnhorst, Raffaele De Fabritiis, Stuart Higgs and Franco Uncini, with Paul Duparc and Paul King named as reserves. Event Management Committee members include Giancarlo di Filippo (FIM Medical Director) and Dominique Hebrard (FIM GP Technical Representative). The Grand Prix Commission is led by MotoGP SEG CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta and the FIM Permanent Bureau by FIM President Jorge Viegas. Dorna noted the 22-round calendar opens Feb. 27–Mar. 1 at Chang International Circuit in Buriram, with a final pre-season test the weekend before and round two scheduled Mar. 20–22 at the Goiânia International Racetrack Ayrton Senna following circuit upgrades.

Victoria’s Allan Labor Government formally rejected a request from MotoGP Sports Entertainment (formerly Dorna Sports, also referred to as MotoGP Sports Entertainment SL) to move the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix from Phillip Island to Melbourne’s Albert Park, and tied extra state funding to keeping the race at Phillip Island beyond 2026. The government said the event was “synonymous with Phillip Island,” and framed the Grand Prix as vital for tourism, local businesses and jobs. It conditioned any additional cash to upgrade facilities on MotoGP committing to keep the event at Phillip Island, a move that has effectively closed off an immediate relocation to Albert Park.

The decision came as the existing contract between Dorna and the state is due to expire at the end of 2026. Dorna had argued Phillip Island did not meet current World Championship infrastructure standards, and reports in late 2025 showed the promoter was keen to relocate. Attendance weakened in 2025, with the Australian round among five grands prix that had weekend crowds under 100,000, and supporters launched a petition in late 2025 to keep the race at Phillip Island. The government’s backing included references to a proposed cash injection — the pledged amount and whether it was accepted were not confirmed in reports — and Phillip Island has hosted the Australian MotoGP 29 times.

Local politicians and officials welcomed the decision. Tourism, Sport and Major Events Minister Steve Dimopoulos called Phillip Island the “home of the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix,” Bass Coast Mayor Rochelle Halstead said she hoped any investment would be directed toward facility upgrades to meet standards, and Bass MP Jordan Crugnale said Labor would defend the Bass Coast’s interests. The announcement kept the current contract timeline intact while signaling Victoria’s willingness to upgrade and financially back the race so long as it remains at Phillip Island, even as other jurisdictions such as South Australia and the Bend motorsport complex have been reported as interested in hosting the event in the future.

At the Ride 6 presentation and in an exclusive Crash.net interview, Casey Stoner said Marc Márquez’s recent dominance stems from superior tire management, racecraft and a “total symbiosis” with his Ducati Desmosedici. He praised Márquez’s patience and intelligence, saying he conserves tires early in races to exploit greater grip and late-race pace. Stoner highlighted Márquez’s ability to limit electronic intervention and balance traction control with tire preservation, saying “nobody seems to grasp how Márquez balances traction control with preserving Michelin tires,” and compared that approach to F1 drivers such as Max Verstappen, arguing both can wait several laps to regain pace and “effectively extend competitive life by ‘an extra ten or fifteen laps’.” Stoner said Márquez was the favorite to start the 2026 season.

Reports framed Márquez’s 2025 campaign as dominant, noting 25 race wins and 14 of 18 Sprint victories, with the title clinched in Japan. Some outlets described the 2025 crown as his ninth world title, equaling Valentino Rossi, while others characterized it as his seventh MotoGP world championship. He suffered a right-shoulder fracture in Indonesia that forced him to miss the final four rounds, then recovered ahead of his title defense. Stoner pointed to races such as Thailand—where Márquez briefly yielded the lead over a tire-pressure issue before reclaiming it and winning—as examples of his racecraft.

Stoner, who retired in 2012 and never raced Márquez, said the six-year gap between titles (2019–25) and Márquez’s moves from Honda to Gresini and then to the factory Ducati sharpened his ability to build races tactically. He suggested many rivals had treated Márquez as an unbeatable “final boss” and tried to match raw speed rather than learn to out-race him; he added he was surprised no rival had publicly exploited a weakness Márquez once had, but declined to identify it. Stoner concluded competitors face a technical challenge: to close the performance gap they must match Márquez’s feel for the bike and his tire-management strategy.

Dorna Sports announced it has renamed itself MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group (MotoGP SEG), repositioning MotoGP as an entertainment-first global platform built on what the company calls “world innovation.” Chief Executive Carmelo Ezpeleta described the change as “a statement of intent” and “more than a simple rebrand,” framing it as a future-facing effort to expand MotoGP’s global reach and market standing in sports entertainment.

The new identity formalizes Dorna’s evolution since it became the exclusive commercial and broadcast rights holder for MotoGP in 1992 and consolidates management of several series under a single entertainment-focused group. MotoGP SEG will continue to manage MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3 and the Road to MotoGP development pathway, and will also oversee the World Superbike Championship (WorldSBK) and the newly created Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup; the Harley-Davidson relationship was cited as part of event expansion. Leadership says the repositioning aims to accelerate digital innovation, immersive fan engagement and global storytelling to broaden reach and attract younger, more diverse audiences while preserving the core racing spectacle.

The announcement emphasized brand and platform ambitions rather than operational details, personnel changes or specific commercial deals. Liberty Media completed a €4.2 billion acquisition of Dorna in 2024 and has largely left management in place, though Chief Commercial Officer Dan Rossomondo departed in late 2025. Some stakeholders have raised concerns that consolidating motorcycle racing properties under MotoGP SEG could dilute WorldSBK’s distinct identity.

Jorge Lorenzo has signed on as Maverick Vinales’ performance coach in a full-time return to the MotoGP paddock for the 2026 season, a role the three-time world champion called the “perfect job.” Lorenzo said working seven to nine hours a day with Vinales was “not heavy, it’s a pleasure,” and that the position lets him apply roughly 30 years of motorcycle experience without the on-track risk. Since retiring at the end of 2019, he has hosted a MotoGP podcast, raced in the Porsche Supercup, and worked as a DAZN pundit, and he will accompany Vinales to pre-season tests and through the opening rounds of 2026.

Lorenzo has overseen an intensive winter program designed to rebuild Vinales’ form, beginning at the Sepang test and overhauling the rider’s preparation to push him beyond previous limits. The regimen included road-bike testing at Jerez, figure-of-eight drills and dirt riding in Valencia, deliberate work in wet and slippery conditions, and technical refinements such as throttle control and braking technique. Lorenzo shifted Vinales’ routine away from a fitness-only focus toward tougher practice scenarios and more focused technical work to restore race-to-race consistency.

The intervention responds to a difficult 2025 for Vinales, who rehabbed a shoulder injury sustained at the German Grand Prix, struggled for consistency, and finished 18th in the championship despite having 10 Grand Prix wins and 35 career podiums. Lorenzo said he aims to help Vinales regain the “killer” mentality he remembered from the rider’s youth, arguing that Vinales needs greater mental strength but that physical preparation and mindset improvements could turn him into a genuine contender. Lorenzo has publicly bet with Albert Valera, manager of Pedro Acosta, that Vinales will outscore Acosta across 2026. Acosta finished fourth overall with 12 podiums in 2025. Vinales is out of contract at the end of 2026, and Lorenzo warned the next two to three years could be a final window for a championship push as his renewed form will be watched closely amid rumours of KTM factory-seat reshuffles involving Acosta and Alex Marquez.

Francesco Bagnaia has signaled he may leave Ducati at the end of his contract, saying he has “great opportunities” and that he “will decide very soon.” He said he has been presented with several potential paths, including Yamaha, Aprilia, and Honda, and stressed he is not inclined to accept a satellite Ducati seat, such as with VR46. He wants to remain a factory frontrunner. One outlet reported he has resigned himself to leaving Ducati for 2027, while the Italian team has not publicly confirmed his status.

A decline in results has sharpened the speculation. Bagnaia finished fifth in the 2025 riders’ standings, his worst ranking since 2020, while teammate Marc Márquez produced a dominant season, winning 11 of 18 races and securing the title despite missing the final rounds. Ducati is widely reported to be prioritizing Márquez’s contract renewal, and several outlets say the factory is actively considering KTM’s Pedro Acosta as a potential partner for Márquez in 2027. Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali acknowledged Acosta is among the riders under review and said final line‑up decisions will follow internal deliberations and Márquez’s contract talks. Some reports suggest that Ducati is not offering Bagnaia a works extension.

The wider market and pre‑season testing have added momentum to transfer talk. Aprilia re‑signed Marco Bezzecchi but left its second 2027 factory seat open. CEO Massimo Rivola said the team is checking the market, but praised Bagnaia’s speed at the Sepang test, where the Italian posted strong sprint‑simulation times and said he felt more comfortable and consistent in testing. With teams preparing for an expected move to 850cc machinery in 2027 and a broader grid reshuffle, those performances, plus reports Ducati could still find Bagnaia a place elsewhere on the grid, have intensified speculation.

Yamaha’s new V4 engine suffered unexpected failures at the Sepang pre-season test, forcing a safety-first shutdown of factory running and disrupting the team’s program. An unforeseen fault first appeared on one of Fabio Quartararo’s bikes after his opening-day crash and was followed by a separate engine breakage on Toprak Razgatlioglu’s machine. Yamaha described the problem as something “we never had,” halting Wednesday’s running while engineers investigated, and kept garage doors closed as a precaution.

Engineers initially could not find the cause, but later identified the issue and allowed limited on-track activity, running the V4s with reduced power and rev limits to protect riders and equipment. The team removed long 60-70 lap runs and focused on ergonomics and sprint work. Yamaha intends to bring replacement engines ahead of the next two-day pre-season test at Buriram on February 21-22 to verify fixes and assess whether the imposed limits can be lifted, and warned that ambient temperatures above 30°C may exacerbate the faults.

The engine problems, combined with Quartararo’s crash, intensified scrutiny around the test. Spanish reports that Quartararo has decided not to renew with Yamaha, and instead reached an agreement with Honda, remain unconfirmed. The French rider has publicly denied signing for Honda while acknowledging he is in discussions. Team director Massimo Meregalli said the Sepang interruption was an unexpected delay that pushed some evaluations and contract talks toward the next test rather than changing decisions about Quartararo’s future. Alex Rins, the only factory Yamaha rider present, said the issue appeared under control and still managed his quickest laps of the test.