MotoGP Thai Test Analysis
The final MotoGP pre-season test is in the books, and the story at Buriram is simple: Aprilia arrive at the season opener with outright speed, credible long-run pace and is ready to take the fight to Ducati.
Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) lit the fuse with a late 1:28.668 on Sunday, the quickest lap recorded at Chang International Circuit in MotoGP machinery, to end the two-day test P1 overall and his long run form was also benchmark.
Rookie Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) then underlined the RS-GP’s form with a last-half-hour time attack to go P2, just a tenth behind.
Behind the Aprilia 1-2, Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) still leaves Thailand as one of the key benchmarks despite three tumbles over the two days, largely stemming from lapses in concentration due to a stomach bug lowering his constitution.
Marquez ended the test third overall (1:28.836) despite illness, narrowly ahead of teammate Francesco Bagnaia (1:28.883) in fourth, with Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Ducati) fifth (1:28.961) after topping Day 1.
It looks as though Marc Marquez is still clearly concerned about how his shoulder will stand up to the rigours of race distances. On the other side of the garage, Pecco Bagnaia looks way more comfortable on corner entry than he did in 2025, but the litmus test will come on Sunday.
KTM’s headline was Pedro Acosta in sixth and within three-tenths of Bezzecchi on Day 2, while Vinales looked to be struggling much more here and a lot more downbeat than he had been in Sepang.
Honda’s Joan Mir put the RC213V into the top ten again, while Yamaha’s V4-era project continues to look like a longer game despite Jack Miller producing the brand’s best one-lap hit of the test. There were a few toys thrown out of the cot in the Yamaha garages over the weekend, with Fabio Quartararo particularly stroppy at times, and his team-mate Alex Rins uncharacteristically also downbeat.
Jack Miller seems to be the one trying to bring calm to the project, keeping his head down and working through the development stages, executing his job description as he was signed on to do.
With the opening round at the same venue this coming weekend (February 27 to March 1), the paddock now flips from experimentation to execution.
Aprilia: time attack and long-run substance
Bezzecchi’s Sunday was a classic modern-test blueprint: long run first, headline lap last. He spent much of the afternoon on a sustained stint before unloading the 1:28.668 in the final 15 minutes. The long-run number that will matter inside rival garages was his reported 20-lap average of 1:30.454 – a strong marker in Buriram heat.
Aprilia also used the test to evaluate rear-aero variations across both factory bikes, with Jorge Martin continuing his return “in earnest” and leaving Thailand physically and mentally upbeat. Martin’s outright position (P8) keeps him within the front group heading into race week.
Trackhouse’s side of the Aprilia story is just as significant. Ogura’s P2 didn’t come from a single opportunistic lap early; it arrived when the track had already been rubbered in and the “end-of-test” time attacks were flying. Raul Fernandez was 11th overall after also working through aero comparisons and longer-run work.
Takeaway: the RS-GP looks competitive across four riders and across more than just a qualifying lap.
Ducati: the aero debate settles, speed remains, Marquez unsettled
Ducati’s off-season talking point has been the split between 2024 and 2025 aero directions. Buriram was framed as the decision test and the outcome is clear from the releases: the Ducati riders converged on the same technical package direction, and both factory riders left satisfied with the base for Round 1.
Bagnaia quietly did what Bagnaia tends to do in tests: improved significantly from Day 1 to Day 2, ran his program, and ended close to the top (P4, 1:28.883), including a race simulation despite a small issue.
Marc Marquez was quick from the start of Sunday, but his final day included a Turn 3 crash during a long run and he ended early. Add the stomach illness reported on Saturday and three crashes across the two days, and the headline becomes messy – yet the result (P3, 1:28.836) and the repeated references to solid race pace still keep him firmly on the shortlist for the Thai GP.
Alex Marquez remained the most consistently eye-catching Ducati across pre-season: fastest in Malaysia, P1 on Day 1 in Thailand, and P5 overall here despite a Turn 9 fall during a race simulation.
Pertamina Enduro VR46’s Buriram wrap is unambiguously positive: Morbidelli seventh overall (1:29.071) and Di Giannantonio ninth (1:29.173), with both riders improving from Day 1 to Day 2.
Morbidelli’s notes point to a “smoother” and “quicker” bike that’s also stronger on the straight, and he highlighted being four tenths quicker than last year at this circuit. Di Giannantonio completed a race simulation and also showed he could spike performance during time-attack runs despite earlier technical issues.
KTM: Acosta leads, Binder finds a lever late, Tech3 bank mileage
KTM’s Buriram messaging is consistent: heavy work on aero, chassis and tyre-management solutions in extreme heat, with an eye on the homologation cut-off and on getting a coherent race-weekend set-up.
Pedro Acosta was the headline with P6 overall and a Day 2 time within 0.3s of Bezzecchi. He also got a GP simulation done, which is valuable at a circuit that punished tyre life in 2025.
Brad Binder’s weekend looked more uneven on the timesheets, but he reported a meaningful late-session step after a “major switch” that let him go about a second quicker than earlier in the day, finishing 12th.
On the Tech3 side, the data haul was substantial: 248 combined laps across the two days. Viñales finished 15th overall and spoke to consistency in sprint-distance racing; Bastianini finished 18th and noted a new chassis late in the test as a better solution for him.
Takeaway: KTM may not arrive as favourites, but there’s enough evidence of progress (and enough rider-to-rider variance) to make them a genuine “watch this weekend” manufacturer.
Honda: Mir and Marini keep the upward trend alive, Zarco and Moreira tick key boxes
Honda’s pre-season reads more positively than it has in a while. Joan Mir finished the test as top Honda again, 10th on Day 2 and a little over half a second from the front. The messaging suggests Buriram grip limitations forced geometry work rather than a simple bolt-on parts test, but Mir still comes away confident there are further steps to be found in the days before FP1.
Luca Marini was close behind in 13th and continues to sound convinced the RC213V has improved in engine, aero and braking performance – and that the remaining deficit is now in “small but crucial” areas.
At LCR, Johann Zarco (14th, 1:29.467) completed a race simulation and leaves with what he describes as a clearer working direction after 157 laps across the test. Rookie Diogo Moreira (19th, 1:29.920) also logged a race simulation and 148 laps, and his comments suggest he’s already building comfort and communication with the crew.
Takeaway: Honda isn’t suddenly “back”, but they look closer to being able to start 2026 in the fight for top-ten and perhaps regular top-five at times.
Yamaha: Few positives
The Yamaha story is still framed as “project mode”, and Buriram was the first time the factory squad described a shift from component evaluation to meaningful set-up work. Quartararo (17th, 1:29.701) dipped into the 1:29s late, while Rins (20th, 1:30.234) continued to focus on feedback and base direction.
The best Yamaha one-lap number came from Jack Miller (16th, 1:29.672). Pramac’s day was heavy on long runs and understanding behaviour over distance, and Miller’s comments suggest the bike is becoming more predictable step-by-step, even if the outright gap remains.
Toprak Razgatlioglu’s Buriram test reads like what it is: a high-profile rookie transition into MotoGP tyres, aero and braking demands. His focus was on learning via race simulation work, running behind Miller, and building confidence to trust the front tyre load.
Overall, at this stage of the game, it seems Yamaha has neither one-lap nor long-run pace and is still suffering from a clear speed deficit.
Next stop: same circuit, but with points, pressure, parc fermé and the full Sprint/GP weekend challenge beginning Friday, February 27.
Thai MotoGP Test Combined Times
 |
|||
|
Pos |
Rider |
Bike |
Time/Gap |
|
1 |
M. Bezzecchi |
Apr |
1m28.668 |
|
2 |
A. Ogura |
Apr |
+0.097 |
|
3 |
M. Marquez |
Duc |
+0.168 |
|
4 |
F. Bagnaia |
Duc |
+0.215 |
|
5 |
A. Marquez |
Duc |
+0.293 |
|
6 |
P. Acosta |
KTM |
+0.353 |
|
7 |
F. Morbidelli |
Duc |
+0.403 |
|
8 |
J. Martin |
Apr |
+0.499 |
|
9 |
F. Di Giannantonio |
Duc |
+0.505 |
|
10 |
J. Mir |
Hon |
+0.628 |
|
11 |
R. Fernandez |
Apr |
+0.634 |
|
12 |
B. Binder |
KTM |
+0.724 |
|
13 |
L. Marini |
Hon |
+0.783 |
|
14 |
M. Viñales |
KTM |
+0.901 |
|
15 |
J. Zarco |
Hon |
+0.940 |
|
16 |
J. Miller |
Yam |
+1.004 |
|
17 |
F. Quartararo |
Yam |
+1.033 |
|
18 |
E. Bastianini |
KTM |
+1.060 |
|
19 |
D. Moreira |
Hon |
+1.252 |
|
20 |
A. Rins |
Yam |
+1.454 |
|
21 |
T. Razgatlioglu |
Yam |
+2.104 |
|
22 |
M. Pirro |
Duc |
+3.109 |
Thailand MotoGP Test Top Speeds (Weekend)
|
|
|||
|
Pos |
Rider | Bike | Speed |
|
1 |
F. Bagnaia |
Duc |
342.8 |
|
2 |
M. Bezzecchi |
Apr |
341.7 |
|
3 |
J. Mir |
Hon |
340.6 |
|
4 |
M. Marquez |
Duc |
339.6 |
|
5 |
F. Di Giannantonio |
Duc |
339.6 |
|
6 |
A. Ogura |
Apr |
339.6 |
|
7 |
E. Bastianini |
KTM |
339.6 |
|
8 |
J. Martin |
Apr |
338.5 |
|
9 |
A. Marquez |
Duc |
338.5 |
|
10 |
F. Morbidelli |
Duc |
338.5 |
|
11 |
L. Marini |
Hon |
337.5 |
|
12 |
P. Acosta |
KTM |
337.5 |
|
13 |
J. Zarco |
Hon |
337.5 |
|
14 |
F. Quartararo |
Yam |
336.4 |
|
15 |
D. Moreira |
Hon |
336.4 |
|
16 |
A. Rins |
Yam |
336.4 |
|
17 |
B. Binder |
KTM |
335.4 |
|
18 |
M. Viñales |
KTM |
335.4 |
|
19 |
R. Fernandez |
Apr |
334.3 |
|
20 |
J. Miller |
Yam |
332.3 |
|
21 |
M. Pirro |
Duc |
332.3 |
|
22 |
T. Razgatlioglu |
Yam |
333.3 |