Raúl Fernández Leads First Day of MotoGP 2026

Rainfall from the previous day and the morning chill rendered the first three hours of practice for the 2026 MotoGP World Championship useless. Only a couple of brave riders, such as Jack Miller and Maverick Viñales, dared to hit the track, but neither completed a lap. In fact, much of the morning session was halted with a red flag as efforts were made to dry the wettest parts of the track.

The first novelty of the day came from the VR46 team. Initially, the Italian team had only one of its two riders in the box due to Franco Morbidelli's injury last Sunday in Valencia. However, they decided to give an opportunity to one of their Academy students, Celestino Vietti, a Moto2 rider, who completed 24 laps on the Ducati with no expectations other than to enjoy himself, as he will remain in the intermediate category in 2026. The Italian did not hesitate to describe the experience as "the best day of his life." "I enjoyed every corner of every lap, and it will be my motivation for next year," he said.

He won't be the only one to test a MotoGP bike, as the Pramac team will also give Spanish rider Izan Guevara the opportunity this Wednesday during a private test day where only the Yamahas will run. The Balearic rider, who competes in the Pramac Moto2 structure, earned this reward on the track, the result of a bet he won with his victory last Sunday.

The only rookies of 2026 will be two champions: Moto2 champion, Brazilian Diogo Moreira, who debuted with the satellite Honda of the LCR team, and Superbike champion, Turkish Toprak Razgatlioglu, who did the same with the Yamaha of Pramac. For Yamaha, it also marked the first day of a new era as their official riders finally debuted the V4 engine configuration (it was the only brand left with an inline-four engine), with which they will compete in 2026.

A couple of days ago, two Aprilia riders finished first and second in the last race of the year, with Bezzecchi and Raúl Fernández leading. The same protagonists topped the timesheets of the test, swapping the order from Sunday. The Spaniard was pleased with the result, but not so much with the lack of new developments in his box. "I'm happy because the feelings have been good, but a bit disappointed not to have anything to test," he said.

Aprilia had nothing to offer the satellite rider and focused all its efforts on its factory team, as Bezzecchi and Jorge Martín (16th) had many new parts. The Italian debuted a new zebra-type fairing, while the Spaniard rode with the new chassis that his teammate was already using at the end of the year. However, what stood out most for the Madrid native was being able to do this test. "Coming to Valencia was a big risk, but it was also the best thing for my career with Aprilia, to go into the winter with information. These two months will be very good, first to disconnect from the bikes and then to recover and return at 100%," commented the Madrid native, who returned to using his number '89', leaving behind the '1' that hadn't brought him much luck.

Following the Aprilias were the two Ducati bikes from the Gresini team, with Álex Márquez and Fermín Aldeguer. The MotoGP runner-up debuts a new status in the Italian factory, which he earned on the track. Although he will continue to wear the satellite team's sky-blue colors, he will have the same mechanics as the official riders. The rider from Cervera felt comfortable with the first prototype of the next season. "I lacked laps to check it out because they are very similar bikes," he explained.

His opinion contrasted with that of Pecco Bagnaia, tenth and the last Ducati in the standings, who, despite suffering the only crash of the day, was very satisfied with the new bike. "It was a very good day overall, the sensations were much better than in the last races. Since I started this morning, I was able to push hard. We only missed the 'time attack' to be in front, but with the race tire, I improved by six-tenths compared to the GP. It was what I needed to end the year, although it's too early to say I've regained confidence," he noted.

There were also aerodynamic updates for the KTMs, with Pedro Acosta and Maverick Viñales in fifth and sixth positions. The Murcian rider asked the Austrians for a more complete bike in all areas, "to be half a second faster," he joked. Meanwhile, the Catalan was able to test the new chassis that KTM put on track in the last grands prix of the year, which he hadn't been able to debut due to his injury. "I'm leaving with clear ideas about where to go and what package can work for us. The shoulder is still affected, so I'll try to gain strength and mobility so it's not a handicap in 2026," he assured.

The best Honda was Joan Mir's, in twelfth place, who rode with the first 2026 prototype that test rider Aleix Espargaró had already put on track during the GP weekend. The best Yamaha was Fabio Quartararo, 15th, who wasn't very convinced by the new V4 engine: "We lack a lot of power, and the bike still turns less than this year's. The important thing is to give a lot of information and then let the engineers work." Debutant Razgatlioglu surprised by finishing 18th, just seven-tenths behind Quartararo and 1.2 seconds behind Raúl Fernández, but ahead of the other two Yamahas of Álex Rins and Jack Miller. Meanwhile, Moreira finished 21st, 1.8 seconds off the best time of the day.