Marco Bezzecchi
Jack Miller claimed the fastest time on day two of MotoGP’s shakedown and wasn’t far off beating Francesco Bagnaia’s pole position benchmark from the 2025 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Several members of the MotoGP grid have congregated in Sepang for the inaugural shakedown of the 2026 premier class campaign.
While the majority of riders have opted to join the rest of the pack next week for the first official test of the season, Yamaha have appeared in full force, hoping to gain as much data as they can from their new V4-powered M1 prototype.
Toprak Razgatlioglu was the big talking point on day one of the shakedown. The Turkish rider was just a couple of tenths off Fabio Quartararo’s fastest race lap from last year’s Grand Prix, which is encouraging for the premier class’s latest high-profile rookie.
However, it was Razgatlioglu’s teammate, Jack Miller, who topped the timing sheets on day two, and the Australian wasn’t far off Francesco Bagnaia’s 2025 benchmark at all.
- READ MORE: Jack Miller outlines his plans to beat Fabio Quartararo at Yamaha in the 2026 MotoGP season
Three Yamaha bikes in the top five! 😳 Has your opinion on the V4-powered M1 changed after day two in Sepang?
Let us know in the comments below!
Jack Miller was just under one second off Francesco Bagnaia’s pole position time at 2025 Malaysian GP
Miller closed out the day with a time of 1:57.908, which definitely shows that Yamaha have made some advancements with the V4-powered M1 over the winter break.
The Pramac star was actually half a tenth quicker than his best qualifying lap last year, which was quick enough for 11th on the grid.
Miller’s benchmark today would have only bumped him up to 10th on the grid, but there is a lot to be excited about for Yamaha fans, regardless.
To put things into perspective, Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernandez entered the 2025 Malaysian GP during the V4-powered M1’s second appearance at a race weekend, and qualified at the back of the grid with a time of 1:59.382.
When comparing it to Bagnaia’s pole position time of 1:57.001, Miller’s 2026 lap was just under a second away, which is a very respectable effort, indeed.
Adding in factors such as there currently being less grip on the track surface in Sepang than there was once qualifying rolled around last year, it can be seen as a very encouraging sign of things to come from the Japanese constructor.
What is Fabio Quartararo’s body language telling us here?
Has Fabio Quartararo jumped the gun by departing Yamaha in favour of Honda for 2027?
Amid Yamaha’s busy testing schedule in Sepang, a bombshell was dropped on the Iwata-based constructor after it emerged that Quartararo was finalising a deal to become a Honda rider for the 2027 MotoGP season.
The news came as quite a shock, given the previous sentiment that the Frenchman was waiting to see what the performance of Yamaha’s new challenger was like before making a decision on his future.
Quartararo was a big advocate for Yamaha’s V4 project, and it was widely understood that pursuing the change in engine layout was taken in order to keep the 2021 world champion at the team for at least another 12 months.
However, Quartararo has seemingly made up his mind, and it remains to be seen whether his decision to jump ship was premature or not.
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