{"id":450188,"date":"2026-01-31T20:08:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T20:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/450188\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T20:08:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T20:08:18","slug":"pictures-sepang-motogp-shakedown-ends-with-honda-on-top","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/450188\/","title":{"rendered":"PICTURES: Sepang MotoGP Shakedown ends with Honda on top"},"content":{"rendered":"

1st: The three-day Sepang MotoGP Shakedown test concluded with Honda test rider Aleix Espargaro<\/a> returning to the top of the timesheets, where he had been on day one.<\/p>\n

Although Honda is joining the European factories in the engine development freeze, after moving from D to C in the concessions rank, they can modify the RC213V’s engine up until the Thai season opener.<\/p>\n

That means, like Yamaha, there are no technical restrictions on the areas that Honda can improve ahead of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

\"Aleix <\/p>\n

Aleix Espargaro, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown Test.<\/p>\n

2nd: Aleix spent much of the three days tussling for supremacy with younger brother Pol Espargaro<\/a>, who finished the Shakedown just 0.126s behind on the latest KTM.<\/p>\n

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\"Pol <\/p>\n

Pol Espargaro in action on day three of the 2026 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown Test.<\/p>\n

3rd: Jack Miller may have grabbed the headlines by leading day two on thenew V4, but Fabio Quartararo <\/a>returned to his usual status as top Yamaha on day three.<\/p>\n

Quartararo, like most of his team-mates, also tried the latest Yamaha aero.<\/p>\n

\"Fabio <\/p>\n

Fabio Quartararo tries the latest Yamaha aero on the final day of the Sepang MotoGP Shakedown\u2026<\/p>\n

4th: Monster Yamaha team-mate Alex Rins<\/a>, a V4 race winner with Honda, was only 0.2s slower than Quartararo on day three.<\/p>\n

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\"Alex <\/p>\n

Alex Rins during day three at the Sepang MotoGP Shakedown Test.<\/p>\n

5th: Day two leader Jack Miller<\/a> went slightly slower on the final day for fifth on the timesheets and was the final rider within one-second of Aleix Espargaro.<\/p>\n

\"Jack <\/p>\n

Jack Miller tries the new Yamaha aero, Sepang MotoGP Shakedown Test day three.<\/p>\n

6th: LCR Honda’s Diogo Moreira<\/a> made a big step on the final day of the Shakedown, slashing 1.6s from his previous best lap time to be the top rookie (+1.165s)<\/p>\n

\"Diogo <\/p>\n

Diogo Moreira got the better of Toprak Razgatlioglu on the final day of the Sepang MotoGP\u2026<\/p>\n

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7th: Splitting the two rookies, each a reigning world champion, on the final day was KTM test rider Dani Pedrosa, in seventh (+1.291s).<\/p>\n

\"Dani <\/p>\n

Dani Pedrosa, who turned 40 last September, tests the latest RC16 at the Sepang MotoGP\u2026<\/p>\n

8th: Reigning WorldSBK champion Toprak Razgatlioglu<\/a> improved across all three days, from a 1m 59’6, to a ‘58.8 and finally a ‘58.5, putting the Pramac Yamaha rider eighth and +1.292s.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Razgatlioglu appeared to ride without any rear aero for the entire test, while the other M1s ran rear wings. He also stuck with the older aero package.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Toprak <\/p>\n

Toprak Razgatlioglu, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown Test.<\/p>\n

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\"Toprak <\/p>\n

Toprak Razgatlioglu, Sepang MotoGP Shakedown Test.<\/p>\n

9th: Michele Pirro <\/a>was Ducati’s lone rider at the Shakedown, preparing all of the Desmosedicis as well as trying the latest factory aero package on his way to ninth (+1.726s).<\/p>\n

\"Michele <\/p>\n

Michele Pirro with the latest Ducati aero, 2026 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown Test.<\/p>\n

10th: Like Pirro, Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori <\/a>had a lot of work on his shoulders, preparing all the RS-GPs for the factory team and Trackhouse. He’ll also stand in for the injured Jorge Martin during next week’s Official test. Savadori’s best time put him tenth on day 3 (+1.775s).<\/p>\n

\"Lorenzo <\/p>\n

Lorenzo Savadori on the 2026 RS-GP at the Sepang MotoGP Shakedown Test.<\/p>\n

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11th: Yamaha test riders Augusto Fernandez<\/a> and Andrea Dovizioso<\/a> were both on duty at the Shakedown.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The timing screens didn’t specify who set which lap time, but Fernandez was seen in action at the start of the Shakedown before handing over to Dovizioso.<\/p>\n

The best time for the shared ‘Yamaha Test Riders’ bikes was a 1m 59.351s on day two.<\/p>\n

\"Augusto <\/p>\n

Augusto Fernandez, Sepang MotoGP Shakedown Test.<\/p>\n

\"Andrea <\/p>\n

Andrea Dovizioso, new front wing, Sepang MotoGP Shakedown Test (pic Gold&Goose)<\/p>\n

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Subscribe to our MotoGP Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1st: The three-day Sepang MotoGP Shakedown test concluded with Honda test rider Aleix Espargaro returning to the top…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[163184,40457,22414,64,39401,63,26426,3554,16230,3555,139585,62679,806,805,803,804,6398,85],"class_list":["post-450188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-aleix-espargaro","tag-alex-rins","tag-andrea-dovizioso","tag-au","tag-augusto-fernandez","tag-australia","tag-dani-pedrosa","tag-diogo-moreira","tag-fabio-quartararo","tag-jack-miller","tag-lorenzo-savadori","tag-michele-pirro","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-pol-espargaro","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}