Aleix Espargaró spellbound by the 2026 Honda: "The best MotoGP bike I've ridden." Quartararo also approves

Espargaro thrilled with the work Honda has done on the new RC213V: his post-shakedown comments were appreciated by Quartararo as well.

The MotoGP shakedown in Sepang is in the books, and topping the final timesheets is Aleix Espargaro. The Honda test rider finished with the best time of 1:57.173, faster than the lap (1:57.440) that put Joan Mir seventh on the grid at last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix. A promising performance ahead of the first official pre-season test scheduled for February 3-4-5 at the Sepang International Circuit.

Espargaro has set aside his ambition to pursue professional cycling to focus more deeply on his role as a MotoGP test rider. His experience and technical feedback are extremely important, and HRC wants to avoid injuries that could hinder his valuable work. Already in 2025 he was hurt in a cycling fall and decided to take a step back.

He’s still a fast rider, and there was great satisfaction in the Honda garage at Sepang for the work carried out over the three shakedown days. In a post published on Instagram, Aleix showed clear excitement about the latest version of the RC213V: "Last test completed! I’m very proud of the entire test team and the work we’ve done. The improvement over the last 12 months is obvious and I can say that the 2026 RC213V is the best MotoGP bike I have ever ridden. Congratulations to all the engineers and everyone in Japan. It’s only the beginning of the season, so let’s keep calm, but I’m sure the Honda riders are going to have a blast!".

The Catalan rider went out on a limb by stating that the new Japanese prototype is the best he has ridden in his career. In any case, Honda riders will be pleased with his words. Among those who appreciated the post is Fabio Quartararo, who gave it a “like.” As is well known, the current Yamaha rider has been tipped as an HRC signing for 2027. Even though he commented that it’s just “chatter”, his move cannot be ruled out.