Two days and four sessions in Buriram, Thailand, have been the last moments to work calmly and without pressure on the 2026 season. From now on everything will be a continuous fight against the clock, and trying new solutions will be up to the test drivers. That’s why what’s really important about tests like this weekend’s is not so much the time as the conclusions and sensations.
But despite this reality, the times are the only reference to the speed we have, and those times tell us that Aprilia and Marco Bezzecchi are especially strong, very strong. That Ducati is also in good condition to fight, that KTM and Honda are a little step behind but not much, and that Yamaha is experiencing a demoralizing situation.
Starting with Bezzecchi and Aprilia, the confidence that Marco has in the RS-GP has been demonstrated again in Thailand, finishing the test with the best time of all, but always being among the best in all the sessions. Although the competitiveness of a motorcycle should never really be read in the hands of a single rider. That is why it is also important to see that Ai Ogura, on a track that he is very good at, has finished in second position. But Jorge Martín and Raúl Fernández finished eighth and eleventh, even though they had not improved their time in the afternoon. This makes it clear that Noale’s bike has as much potential as it showed at the end of 2025.
At Ducati the test was not as brilliant as the one in Malaysia, but even so all of Borgo Panigale’s bikes, except Michele Pirro’s, have finished in the top 10. Marc Márquez was the fastest of the Italian company in a complicated weekend, with physical problems and three falls. But more interesting about the performance of the GP26 is that Pecco Bagnaia practically traced Marc’s final test time, and Álex Márquez was less than a tenth behind both of them, which is undoubtedly a great sign. Furthermore, the little Márquez one led the first day of testing in Thailand. The two VR46 drivers had to settle for Morbidelli’s seventh position and Di Giannantonio’s ninth.
KTM and Honda have to make do with what is left over, at least in Thailand
The level of the two Italian brands leaves little breathing room for the rest. So much so that there are only two riders who have managed to finish in the top ten with other motorcycles. They are Pedro Acosta, really fast on one lap with the KTM who achieved sixth position and Joan Mir, who improved in the last session, to stop the clock 6 tenths off the best time.
If we look at KTM now, the truth is that the one-lap times have not been within what was expected because Binder, twelfth, was seven tenths behind, Viñales, fourteenth, was nine tenths behind and Bastianini, eighteenth, surpassed the second. The point is that these results have little to do with those of Malaysia, where they were stronger, so the question remains whether they will be able to go one step further from Friday.
The same thing happens with Honda and perhaps, as happens with the Austrians, Buriram is not the circuit that best adapts to its characteristics. Marini has maintained a certain consistency on both days that has left him in the middle of the table, thirteenth. Meanwhile, Zarco was at the top on the first day but finished fifteenth, which raises doubts. Moreira, for his part, continues his adaptation process and on tracks where the Honda does not perform so well, he will pay for his inexperience.
Yamaha does not raise its head…
Those who are paying for their inexperience, at least with the V4 engine, are the Yamaha riders. Not only is the new M1 not faster than its rivals, it seems that it doesn’t quite perform as well as the M1 inline four did. The desperation could be seen on Quartararo’s face, and also in decisions such as giving Rins’ second motorcycle to the Frenchman.
Developing a project like this when everyone has been doing it for decades is complex and that is clear when you see Miller, sixteenth, as the best Yamaha with Fabio just behind and Rins and Razgatlioglu twenty and twenty-first. If in the case of the rest of the brands there may be doubts about their potential, in the case of Yamaha it seems evident that they are still far away.
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