The third and final day of the 2026 MotoGP pre-season test in Sepang was a high-intensity affair, after the second day was largely interrupted by rain. As usual, most of the riders left satisfied with the work they had done.

Yamaha returned to the track after engineers in Italy and Japan identified an engine problem that forced them to stop for safety reasons on Wednesday. The riders were asked to take their time and do a few laps, without a test run, while doubts about the new “V4” engine remain. In the early hours, with lower temperatures, the riders sought fast laps on soft tires. Marc Marquez had a slight crash at Turn 1, the first after shoulder surgery, but he quickly recovered.

Morbidelli also crashed out. Alex Marquez was the star of the morning, clocking a time of 1:56.402, just one tenth off the absolute track record held by Peko Banjaja (1:56.337). Ducati dominated the standings, with four bikes in the top five, while Marc Marquez moved up to third place with the highest track temperature. Aprilia's Bexeki was the only one to intervene between the Ducati bikes. Meanwhile, Honda failed to keep up, while Luca Marini's bike suffered technical problems.

In the afternoon, the Sprint race simulations took place, where Marc Marquez started strongly, but his pace was slightly lower than that of Banjaja. Then, Alex Marquez passed both of them, being the fastest in both the best lap and in endurance, a very strong signal for the rivals. After him, Akosta, Bexeki and Mir were ranked. A light rain at the end did not stop the work. Some pilots used new tires to improve the times, while Alex Marquez, Marc Marquez and Banjaja did not do so. Thus, the signal of the first tests shows that Ducati continues to seem a step ahead of the competition.