Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP |News details:Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Start 2026 Season with Valencia Test

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Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins returned to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo today to kick off their 2026 testing programme. They took 15th and 19th place respectively in today's overall results.

Cheste (Spain), 18 November 2025

After a one-day break, the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team came back to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo to start the 2026 pre-season with today's one-day Valencia Test. It was a momentous day for Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins, who mainly worked on getting acquainted with the V4 engine. They concluded the day in 15th and 19th place respectively in the overall timesheets.

Overnight rain resulted in the morning session being cancelled due to track conditions. The afternoon session was rescheduled for 13:20-17:30 (GMT+1).

Once the action got underway, Quartararo used the available riding time to renew his acquaintance with the V4 engine, which he had last tried at the Misano Test. Although featuring at the top of the timesheets for a while at the start of the session, he mainly spent the afternoon working on the base set-up. He posted a best time of 1'29.927s on lap 36/46 that put him in 15th position, 0.554s from the top.

Rins was excited to try the V4 engine again today. The Spaniard used the available track time to get familiar and comfortable with the 2026 prototype bike. He opted to solely focus on race pace and collecting data. His best time, a 1'30.720s, set on lap 4/33, put him in 19th place, 1.347s from first.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP will return to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo tomorrow for a one-day private test. After that they will recharge their batteries during the winter break.

MotoGP will be back in action in the new year for the Sepang shakedown from 29-31 January, followed by the Sepang Test from 3-5 February and the Buriram Test on 21-22 February.

Massimo Meregalli

Team Director, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

"Today was the first day of 2026 winter testing. We were not so much looking at performance but rather focused on gathering as much data as possible. Unfortunately, the conditions of the track due to last night's heavy rain didn't help proceedings. But luckily, a few months ago we anticipated this, and we have a private test here booked for tomorrow. This extra day will most likely give us the time needed to evaluate the updated parts, such as a different chassis and a different aerodynamics package, and we can also work on set-ups."

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"Today was quite a short day. It was not already the goal to find something better than in Misano. We were mainly working to find a base set-up and find the feeling on the front. The riding style is completely different, but I like riding with the V4. It's still too early for a complete verdict. Luckily, tomorrow we have one more day of private testing – it will be an important day."

Álex Rins

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"The bike has slightly improved. They didn't change anything such as the gearbox or big items, but I felt better than in Misano. I didn't make many laps because of the track conditions, but the laps we did were proper laps in terms of feeling. We worked a lot on the settings, and I can say that having tomorrow as another test day, I focused more on race pace than putting a soft in for a time attack. Overall, I feel quite good, so we're at a good starting point for tomorrow."