2026 MotoGP Team Launch Review

MotoGP is almost a go once again, and it’s the final year of the 300-horsepower 1000cc monsters. Here’s a look at the teams that have launched so far.

MotoGP’s preseason starts with the Shakedown Test January 29-31, followed by the Sepang Test February 3-5 in Malaysia, less than a week away, and hopes are universally high as launches not only revealed the 2026 colors for six different teams but also lifted a lid on ambitions for the 22-race season ahead, as well as offering updates on what could be the craziest of all silly seasons ahead of 2027.

Pramac Yamaha got the ball rolling with the first launch on January 12, with VR46 Ducati, and the factory Aprilia and Ducati teams quickly following suit. The Monster Energy Yamaha squad and Trackhouse Aprilia also lifted the covers off their challengers for the year ahead. Honda in both the factory team and LCR teams, and Gresini Ducati are yet to reveal their colors. This is what Cycle News learned from the three factories.

Ducati | 2026 MotoGP Team Launch Review

The glitziest of the fortnight’s launches came courtesy of last year’s triple champions. Ducati’s factory lineup of Marc Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia may have been unchanged, but that wasn’t to say there was little to discuss.

First, reigning champ Marquez provided an update on the injured shoulder that caused him to miss the final four rounds of 2025. “If you asked me two weeks ago, I would say so-so, but as with every rehabilitation, we have some ups and downs, and now I start to feel better,” Marquez said.

“One more year we did a long, tough winter about the mental side because a lot of physiotherapy sessions and a lot of gym sessions with low weights. But step by step now I’m feeling better, and I think, or I can say to you, that in Thailand I will be close to 100 percent.”

Second on the agenda was the theme of contracts for 2027 and beyond. There was a strong feeling Ducati is close to securing Marquez for another two years, with team manager Davide Tardozzi stating this was “the priority. First of all, we are looking to renew the World Champion,” said the Italian. Meanwhile, rumors linking Pedro Acosta to a sensational switch to the Bologna factory have persisted in recent weeks.

“Some riders will close [the deal] already before the first race,” said Marquez. “It’s true that I’m one of them; we are in conversations, but I need to analyze everything—what is the best for my professional and personal life.”

As he did for much of last year, Bagnaia took something of a backseat in the contract talk. “After my season from last year, I just want to be focused on riding,” he said. “And then what will happen will happen. But I just want to feel race by race, and then we will start speaking about it.”

Having disconnected completely from the sport after November’s finale outside Valencia, Bagnaia spent a chunk of the winter leaning on the experience of two confidants—Valentino Rossi and trainer Carlo Casabianca. Their advice helped overcome the crushing disappointment of finishing fifth overall in a truly dispiriting season, when he was genuinely concerned for his illustrious teammate at just one of the 22 rounds.

“You just have to be happy and enjoy the moments, because you never know,” Bagnaia said of what he took from those conversations with his mentor, Rossi. “I spent four seasons at the top, first and second in the championship, always achieving great results, and last year when I was struggling a bit and I didn’t achieve what I was aiming at, when I was finishing third or sometimes fourth, I was too critical with myself.

“Sometimes you just need to take the positive from the situation and just try to analyze things better. Even if I was struggling, I wanted to win, and if you are struggling, it’s difficult to win. So you just need to be more calm, work well, and try to perform in a better way.”

Ducati also revealed some interesting details regarding its 2026 challenger. Despite an engine freeze for all three European factories, engineers have been working further on the performance of its Desmosedici motor. The air intake, the lubricant oil it uses, and the new aerodynamic package, which will reduce drag, have all been addressed, according to Davide Barana, Ducati Corse’s technical director.

Plus, a new chassis will aim to reduce vibration brought about from Michelin’s rear tire that was first introduced in 2024, and a new, sophisticated ride height device will aim to further improve acceleration.

Aprilia | 2026 MotoGP Team Launch Review

Coming off its most successful MotoGP season to date, Aprilia boss Massimo Rivola and lead rider Marco Bezzecchi are aiming high—but stopped short of predicting a title challenge at the factory’s team presentation in Milan.

2025 brought unprecedented success: 19 podiums, four race wins (and three Sprints), plus an Aprilia rider in the top three in the championship for the first time. And Rivola insisted the aim is to kick on and achieve even greater success this time around.

“If we fight like lions at every race, then I will be happy with whatever the outcome will be,” he said. “Let’s see if the consequence of the fight will bring out something stronger at the end of the season. Doing better than last year is the target, but fighting every race is key.”

Rivola also mentioned tempering Bezzecchi’s expectations will be key to success in 2026. “Marco is putting a lot of expectation on himself, and we need to manage that.”

Yet the winner of three races last year was reluctant to admit the same when facing the media.

“The target for me is to try to start in a good way,” said Bezzecchi. “That is what we missed last year. Because the first part of the season, we’ve been struggling last year. So it could be fantastic to try to start [by] fighting for top fives, top threes.

“I don’t want to be in a rush. I want to just start from the Malaysia test with calm. Then after a couple of races, we can set a clear target.”

The bikes that Bezzecchi and Martin revealed in the Sky Sports Italia studios featured heavily revised aerodynamics, including a seat unit that debuted at November’s Valencia test. That was one of two areas of focus of development, along with electronics, over the off-season, according to technical director Fabiano Sterlacchini.

“[Last] season we focused [on] the comments of the rider to have an easy bike. I always say that you can have whatever level of performance, but if the bike isn’t difficult to be pushed to the limit, the rider will keep some margin.”

“In the electronics we work for sure in the area of traction control, especially, for the exit on the corner and also in the entry. Because whenever you can exploit the benefit of the rear tire to stop the bike, later you can brake. And then you can be more effective during the overtake, but also a better lap time.”

It’s been a busy winter for all MotoGP factories as they prepare for the 2027 rule changes. Sterlacchini also revealed its new 850cc is up and running and will make its track debut soon.  “It’s really challenging, but we’re super prepared,” he said. “The engine is running on the test bench in testing mode to confirm reliability. We’re thinking the first prototype will be on track at the beginning of spring. It’s already done, but it’s in the test phase indoors.”

After going to hell and back in 2025, Jorge Martin has said he’s “still full of hope” that he can make a success of his Aprilia move and even indicated he’d favor staying with the Italian factory beyond this season. Yet it emerged after the team presentation that he is unlikely to be riding at the Sepang test, as he recovers further from the wrist and collarbone injuries he sustained last year.

The former Moto3 and MotoGP World Champion rated his current level of fitness at “75 percent” at the team launch. But he’s confident that won’t hold him back come the start of the season. “I’m sure I’ll be 100 percent.”

It has since emerged in the Spanish publication El Confidencial that Martin underwent surgery twice in December to address persistent issues he had had with the left wrist he broke last February and the displaced collarbone fracture he sustained in September’s Japanese Grand Prix.

While Martin could still be present at Sepang, to measure the factory’s off-season progress with his own eyes, a source close to the team feels his participation will be unlikely.

“Mentally, it’s tough,” Martin said with reference to his recent injury comeback. “Anytime that you have bad moments in life, you just doubt everything. [But] as soon as [I’m ready], I feel nobody can stop me.”

There was the occasional bright spark during last year’s troubled season—a fourth place in Hungary, for example. Yet even then, Martin “didn’t have that feeling, and I still don’t have the control of what I have under my legs. I feel as soon as I have this feeling together with the bike, I will be fighting for victories.”

And he’s confident Aprilia has brought three minor updates that will aid his adaptation to the RS-GP. “Already in Valencia, we tried something that I was asking for. It will work really well.”

As well as the optimism for the season ahead, the launches revealed an issue currently in MotoGP—the lack of major backing in some quarters. Aprilia has no title sponsor to speak of on the side of its factory machines, while Trackhouse will run a classic Gulf livery at just five events.

This is one thing Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola hopes MotoGP’s new owner, Liberty Media, will be able to rectify in the coming years. “We need to raise the level of the business in MotoGP,” he said. “[When] the top sponsors join MotoGP, then we will get the benefit too.”

Yamaha | 2026 MotoGP Team Launch Review

The factory with the most to clear in its in-tray this preseason is Yamaha. The Japanese factory is desperately attempting to speed up development of its new V4 YZR-M1 after shelving its inline-four engine at the close of last year.

“When you have to catch up, you need to be brave and bold,” reasoned Paolo Pavesio. “This is why the decision to shift to V4 configuration in ‘26 was taken. This bike has more potential than the one we raced in 2025.”

A largely unchanged Monster Energy-themed livery was one takeaway from its launch in Jakarta. Another was Fabio Quartararo’s reserved optimism with a five-day outing at Sepang on the horizon.

“Since day one [on the V4] in Barcelona, I’ve adapted quite quick to the [different] torque delivery,” said the Frenchman. “That’s the biggest difference. I don’t think I have to learn [to ride differently]. We have to find our base and exactly where we can find the limit. And from there, we can really focus on the performance.”

That mild optimism was shared by Takahiro Sumi, Yamaha’s General Manager of Motorsports Development. “One of the targets is to get a wider range of performance window. Even in the early stages, we found encouraging progress in some key elements, like better stability under braking and acceleration, and consistent feeling over a long run. There, it wasn’t far off the inline-four.”

Team manager Massimo Meregalli is viewing the year ahead in two parts. “We are starting from zero almost,” he said. “In the first one we’ll try to get used to the new bike in a kind of learning process. Then in the second, for sure we expect Alex [Rins] and Fabio to gradually improve their results.”

The previous week, reigning World Superbike Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jack Miller lifted the covers to reveal Pramac Yamaha’s largely unchanged livery.

“Maybe I need to change some riding style because a MotoGP bike is completely different than a Superbike,” Razgatlioglu said. “With a Superbike, I’m doing more stop-and-go. But in MotoGP, the corner speeds are faster. But I’m ready for this.”CN

2026 FIM MotoGP Calendar

 

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