Red-hot Buriram: Marquez and Bagnaia on top, record just a breath away, and decisive technical homologations

The morning session of the second and final day of testing at Buriram is complete—here’s how it went.

Marc Marquez on top, then Bagnaia, Bezzecchi, Alex Marquez: that’s the order at the end of today’s first session at Buriram, with the outright lap record now within reach (Bagnaia’s 1:28.700). A morning of time attacks, with air temperature currently 34°C rising to 51°C on the asphalt and 43% humidity, before the long-run race simulations scheduled for the afternoon. This second and final day of testing needs to bring confirmations, especially on the technical front, to homologate the aerodynamics above all, as well as dial things in for the opening race and the 2026 MotoGP season in general. Noted as well were some technical issues in the first 45 minutes for Di Giannantonio and Razgatlioglu, who then got going again. Action resumes at 7:25 Italian time with the checkered flag at 11:30 (13:25–17:30 in Thailand).

Little to add about this morning, other than it truly being a “trial by fire,” the last test day leading into the season opener. It’s time to definitively confirm what was already tested and approved at Sepang. As mentioned, the focus is mainly on aerodynamics, but also chassis, engines, swingarms… In short, the whole package: next week is the inaugural GP of the 2026 season, and teams must be sure they’ve got a solid base at least for this round. Judging by the already very close lap times, it’s clear the season opener will be a real battle… Particularly among the Ducatis of the Marquez brothers and Bagnaia, along with Marco Bezzecchi in the mix; surprises are expected after these test days. The Yamahas, meanwhile, remain well behind, clearly struggling with a still very immature V4 that needs more development time—time that, alas, isn’t there… The frustration isn’t only felt by Fabio Quartararo, but by all the riders, including rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu, who is finding it hard to adapt to the M1 and, more generally, to a MotoGP bike. We’ll see what happens with the afternoon race-pace runs.