Francesco Bagnaia finished the final day of the 2026 Sepang test with the fifth-fastest lap time, but the Ducati star impressed amid Thursday’s sprint race simulations.
Teams turned their sights on testing their Sprint Race speed on the third and final day of testing at the Sepang International Circuit. Most drivers completed 10-lap races to mimic the conditions of a 20-lap sprint race. Bagnaya He won in 2025 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Bagnaia won the 2025 Sepang Sprint from pole position He was 2.259 seconds ahead of Gresin’s Alex Marquez. But it was the Gresini rider who set the best average sprint speed in Thursday’s test session, averaging a lap of 1:58.028 ahead of Bagnaia’s 1:58.166.
Marc Marquez has reached the shy stage of the factory Ducati Team-mate Bagnaya, third-best average Sprint Race speed on day three of the 2026 Septang Test with 1:58.289. Led by 29-year-old Alex Marquez, the 32-year-old was fourth overall on the day’s three timesheets.
Luigi Daleigna told Mauro Gracili that Ducati were ‘delighted’ with Francesco Bagnaia at the Sepang test.
In the year At the 2026 Sepang test, Bagnaya remains positive in his bid to move up from fifth place in the 2025 riders’ standings. The 29-year-old finished last year 257 points behind Marc Marquez, who missed the final four rounds with a collarbone injury.
Read more: Everything you need to know about Francesco Bagnaia from net worth to seed number
Ducati sporting director Mauro Grassi said the Italian factory was “delighted” with what they had seen so far from Bagnaia aboard the GP26 at Sepang. General manager Luigi Daligna He gave Gracielli positive verdicts on Bagnaia’s feelings on Ducati’s latest bike.
“Yes, I spoke to Gigi,” Gracili said Moto.it. “Peco was very happy with how the day went, he immediately felt comfortable with the new Desmosedici GP26. We are also happy with this attitude.
“It’s the first day, we still have several days. We have a friendly track race in Seppang, Malaysia. So, we have a lot of factors in our favor. Now, we’re looking forward to Thailand and the next races.”
Francesco Bagnaia inspires Ducati with consistent lap times during his Sepang Sprint SIM season.
Bagnaia believes it has “proven” the improved braking on the Ducati 2026 bike. During the Sepang test, after two positive days of racing in Malaysia. The two-time champion The 2025 struggled to extract performance from the GP25 after struggling in braking.
The 2026 Sepang test gave Ducati the opportunity to experiment with different front aero packages, developing a powerful upgrade to their concept this year. Bagnaia tried to use a new variant of the Ducati 2024 fairing on their 2026 bike.
Bagnaia’s consecutive lap times during this Thursday’s Sprint Race simulation will encourage himself and Ducati in particular. The Italian has recorded five consecutive laps between 1:57.7s and 1:57.9s, while Marc Marquez has only produced two laps in the 1:57s in Sprint SIM.
