Enea Bastianini put Tech3 KTM at the top of Saturday’s final practice for the 2026 Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang, edging Alex Marquez in a session where late qualifying simulations shaped the order. Both riders set their best times on new soft tyres during the closing stages, while Marco Bezzecchi and Ai Ogura placed third and fourth as the fastest riders using used tyres. That gave Aprilia a stronger indication of its race pace than the outright classification alone suggests.

Friday’s pacesetter, Marc Marquez, ended the session 13th. He nevertheless began Saturday with a ten-point advantage over Jorge Martin in the world championship. Martin lost the lead and fractured his wrist in a crash while battling Marquez for victory at Phillip Island last Saturday. The injury ruled him out of Sunday’s Grand Prix, but the cancellation of that race spared him a further points loss.

Martin’s comeback remains limited

After sitting out most of Friday afternoon practice to rest his wrist, Martin returned for FP2 and had already been cleared to race at Sepang after testing the injury in FP1. The Aprilia rider then left the team’s pits after only a few laps, choosing to rest the wrist ahead of Saturday’s qualifying programme. His participation in Qualifying 1 remained uncertain. Team-mate Bezzecchi entered the Sprint 50 points behind the championship leader and represented Aprilia’s strongest immediate challenge to Ducati.

The Sepang records add useful context to the Ducati threat. Francesco Bagnaia holds the circuit’s official best lap with a 1m 56.337s recorded in 2024, while Alex Marquez owns the fastest race lap, a 1m 58.873s set in 2025. Bagnaia won last year’s Sprint and Alex Marquez won the Grand Prix; Ai Ogura was the leading Aprilia rider in that race, finishing tenth. At this year’s pre-season test, Alex Marquez was again fastest, with Marc Marquez fourth behind Fabio Di Giannantonio, while Bezzecchi was the only Aprilia rider in the all-Ducati top six.

Further rider changes

Raul Fernandez withdrew from the Malaysian Grand Prix because of his recent finger fracture. HRC brought Luca Marini and Joan Mir back into action: Marini had missed Phillip Island with a virus, while Mir had been receiving treatment for fatigue issues since Misano. Toprak Razgatlioglu remains out for the rest of the season after shoulder surgery, with Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernandez replacing him at Pramac.