Yamaha at full strength, eyes on Toprak: three days of MotoGP shakedown at Sepang

MotoGP fires up its engines again with the shakedown, which precedes the official tests in Sepang. But there’s no shortage of high-profile guests already...

The long winter break is coming to an end—or rather, for some MotoGP riders it’s already over. From January 29 to 31, the Sepang International Circuit will be quite busy: it’s time for the shakedown, a private test that will see the test riders from the various manufacturers (tasked with showcasing the fruit of the manufacturers’ winter work) in action alongside the rookies—two of this year’s most closely watched figures in the premier class—as well as the riders remaining in Group D of the concessions. Three intense days, from 10:00 to 18:00 local time, which translates to 3:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in Italy. Since it’s a private test, however, there will be no live coverage, and we’ll have to wait for official updates.

Yamaha is clearly the manufacturer with the most riders on track—in fact, all of them! It’s the only brand left in rank D, abandoned by Honda at the end of 2025. All eyes, of course, are on Toprak Razgatlioglu, the reigning Superbike champion taking on the challenge of a lifetime: stepping up to MotoGP with Pramac Yamaha colors. But that’s not all: with Fabio Quartararo, Alex Rins, and Jack Miller, plus test riders Andrea Dovizioso and Augusto Fernandez (from Thursday), everyone will be working on that brand-new project called the V4, in which Yamaha’s hopes are pinned. Then there’s Diogo Moreira, the reigning Moto2 world champion and the new signing at LCR Honda, the only factory rider of the Golden Wing allowed to ride because he’s a rookie in the premier class.

As mentioned, starting Thursday in Sepang all the test riders brought by the manufacturers will be on track to gather as much data as possible ahead of the official tests on February 3–5, again at the Malaysian circuit. Yamaha has two aces up its sleeve, and Honda won’t be far behind, with both Aleix Espargaro and Takaaki Nakagami. KTM also has a two-pronged test team, with Dani Pedrosa and Pol Espargaro both ready to go. Ducati will field one tester, Michele Pirro, as will Aprilia, which will deploy Lorenzo Savadori. The latter has a double duty, as he’ll also have to take part in the official tests in place of Jorge Martin, whose withdrawal was confirmed after his recent double surgery.