After watching Marc Marquez and the rest of the field put the new GP26 through its paces at Sepang, Jorge Lorenzo has no doubt that Ducati's 2026 bike is an improvement.
The Bologna-based manufacturer set an early tone for the upcoming season during testing in Malaysia, as they chase a seventh straight constructors' crown. Ducati bikes have powered every riders' champion since 2022, including Marquez's dominant run last year.
Marquez wrapped up the title with five races still to go and claimed victory in 11 of the first 17 rounds. Even after suffering a shoulder injury in Indonesia, he left Japan with a massive lead over the rest of the field.
Alex Marquez set a blistering pace during testing in Malaysia, clocking a best time of one minute, fifty-six point four zero two seconds on day three. He also led Sprint Race simulations with a strong average over ten laps.
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The 2026 Sepang test was Marc Marquez's first time back on Ducati's MotoGP bike since he needed surgery on his shoulder last October. And it appears that Ducati's work during the winter has paid off, as Marquez thinks Ducati's 2026 bike "feels better" than the GP25 he used in 2025.
Three-time MotoGP champion Lorenzo also thinks Ducati have made progress after seeing what the Marquez brothers, works ace Francesco Bagnaia and VR46's Fabio Di Giannantonio produced in Sepang. In particular, how stable the Ducati GP26 was in the corners stood out.
"Ducati have definitely taken a step forward," he said, via SPEEDWEEK. "The bike handles extremely smoothly in the corners. The Ducati feels very well-controlled, even when exiting corners. Everything is extremely smooth, both at the apex and when the bike straightens up.
"Other bikes feel significantly more nervous in those situations. The ride height device at the rear for the start has also been modified. The winglets will soon be as large as those used in Formula 1. This also ensures that the front of the bike is very stable, and wheelies are rare."
The speed shown by Alex Marquez, Bagnaia and Marc Marquez on Ducati's 2026 machine turned heads in the paddock. KTM rider Pedro Acosta described their pace as "scary", while Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola even joked that his team could "go home" after seeing Bagnaia's speed.
Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi did manage to break up Ducati's hold on the timesheets, setting the second-fastest lap with a time of 1:56.526. Honda's Joan Mir was fifth overall, but five Ducati riders still finished inside the top seven.
Franco Morbidelli, riding for VR46, was seventh fastest on his GP25, making him the slowest of the Ducati group. Gresini's Fermin Aldeguer missed the test due to injury, and no substitute was named. He is also expected to miss the start of the 2026 season.
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