After the Spanish GP, MotoGP resumed on Monday, July 26, with a one-day test at Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto. Ducati was eager to improve their position against Aprilia, showcasing several updates, but the day also revealed various developments across the pit lane. Still, Aprilia dominated with a 1-2-3 finish at the top.
By the end of the action, Ai Ogura was fastest with a 1:35.944, leading a Trackhouse MotoGP Team 1-2 after deposing teammate Raul Fernandez by just five-thousandths of a second. World Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) was third, ahead of Marc Marquez, who was back on track with the Ducati Lenovo Team after his Sunday crash. The reigning World Champion was shuffled back courtesy of Ogura’s late lap.
Marquez said he was working on the chassis, making some modifications and “interesting things.” His main focus was on restoring the front feeling, which has been a key challenge for 2026. He also noted that the aero was beneficial in “some areas.”
Honda had a quiet day on the timesheets, concentrating on other areas and their current setup. The best Honda was veteran Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR), who finished P9 after a solid weekend, while rookie teammate Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) was in P13, a positive sign after a challenging weekend. Moreira was the first rider to fall during the morning test, but he was unharmed.
Yamaha continued to develop the V4-powered package and made other small updates. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) immediately went faster than his morning fastest lap and then knocked three-tenths off his weekend’s best in the afternoon. Top Yamaha and in P7, Quartararo leaves Jerez on a positive note ahead of his home Grand Prix at Le Mans in two weeks’ time. On the other side of the box, Alex Rins was a second off his teammate’s time and took P22.
There was plenty of work going on in the Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP outfit too, with Jack Miller leaving Jerez with the upper hand in that camp. He worked on trying to improve the front feel of his machine. Teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu had a crash at turn three in the morning but was otherwise okay as he continued to try and adapt his riding style. Electronic work to improve engine braking was on his agenda, while both bikes were spotted with the rear-side aero used by their Monster Energy counterparts over the weekend: 17th for Miller, 21st for Razgatlioglu. Despite being on the initial entry list, test rider Augusto Fernandez didn’t head out.
“We tested many, many things today: chassis, swingarm, electronics, aero,” Quatararo said. “We already tried the chassis during the race weekend, but I tested a lot of aeros today, and I think the last one that I used was the most positive. For some things, we still need to figure out how to further improve them, but it looks like we did find a bit of front feeling today with the setup and the aero. This is helpful to me, so I can assess where the limit is. Let’s see what the team will bring for Le Mans.”
There was plenty of working going on in the Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP outfit too, with Jack Miller leaving Jerez with the upper hand in that camp. He worked on improving the front feel of his machine. Teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu had a crash at Turn 3 in the morning but was otherwise okay as he continued to try and adapt his riding style. Electronic work to improve engine braking was on his agenda, while both bikes were spotted with the rear-side aero used by their Monster Energy counterparts over the weekend: 17th for Miller, 21st for Razgatlioglu. Despite being on the initial entry list, test rider Augusto Fernandez didn’t head out.
“We had a lot of items to test today, and it’s a shame about the small crash because it cost us around an hour of track time,” Razgatlioglu said. “It wasn’t anything serious, just a mistake, but at this stage, every lap is important.
“We worked through several things, especially on the electronics, which is an area where I still need to improve my understanding and where we also need to make progress with the bike. I focused a lot on that today to give as much feedback as possible to the engineers.”
Pedro Acosta led Red Bull KTM Factory Racing in P5, experimenting with some aero adjustments. Throughout a busy day, MotoGP Hall of Famer and test rider Dani Pedrosa also logged laps to try new setups. At Red Bull KTM Tech3, Enea Bastianini tested new parts for the Austrian team while riding solo for the French team, finishing the day in P12. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) ended in P16. CN
