Overview
- Doohan went off at Suzuka’s Degner sequence on each day of the three-day post-season test, with relatively low-speed impacts and no injury reported.
- Kondo Racing repaired the car after each incident and sent him back out, but the stoppages cut mileage and prevented meaningful long-run assessment.
- He ended the test 26th overall and ninth among 14 rookies on the final day, roughly eight tenths slower than teammate Luke Browning.
- Factory manager Nobuaki Adachi praised Doohan’s potential, pointed to difficult late-year conditions at Suzuka, and said the errors are correctable.
- The Australian, replaced by Franco Colapinto after six F1 races with Alpine in 2025, is testing in Japan as he pursues a switch to Super Formula that reports say is likely for 2026.