Pecco Bagnaia says the early signs from Ducati’s GP26 are encouraging after the opening day of the Sepang MotoGP test, but the Italian has warned against reading too much into his pace at this stage.

The two-time MotoGP world champion endured a difficult 2025 season, managing just two victories and finishing fifth overall as he struggled to find consistent feeling with his Ducati. However, his first impressions of the 2026 prototype, which were already positive during initial running in Valencia last November, carried over into Tuesday’s Sepang test.

Bagnaia ended the day eighth fastest after a busy programme that included trying several new components, most notably a revised aerodynamic fairing.

He said it felt great to be back on a MotoGP bike, praising the speed and power of the machine. With enough track time to run both medium and soft tyres, Bagnaia focused first on rediscovering his feeling from last season before moving on to evaluating new parts.

Overall, he described the opening day as positive, adding that the general balance of the bike felt good.

One of Bagnaia’s main issues last year was a lack of confidence from the front end. He acknowledged there was an improvement in that area with the GP26, but stressed the need for patience, pointing out that he was also quick at Sepang last year.

For now, he said the priority is understanding the new components and then deciding whether any of them can offer a real advantage heading into the season opener in Thailand.

Regarding the new aerodynamic package, Bagnaia explained that its performance was very similar to the previous fairing. He recorded almost identical lap times with both versions and admitted that, if a race were held immediately, he would still be unsure which one to choose.

As a first test and first day on track, though, he felt the package showed promising competitiveness.