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Yamaha Halts Sepang Test Over V4 Issue as Marquez Leads Early Pace

A safety check on the new engine and Fabio Quartararo’s finger injury are compressing teams’ plans to validate major updates before the next pre‑season runs.

Overview

  • Yamaha suspended all on‑track running on Day 2 while engineers investigate a technical problem on the new V4 package, with team boss Massimo Meregalli calling it a safety matter and saying it was not linked to Quartararo’s crash.
  • Fabio Quartararo suffered a broken finger in Tuesday’s falls and left for medical checks in Barcelona, targeting a return for the Buriram test later this month.
  • Reigning champion Marc Márquez topped Day 1 at 1:57.018 on the GP26 and said his recovering shoulder “is working in a good way,” though he needs laps to build consistency.
  • Early Day 2 times were led by Honda’s Joan Mir in 1:56.874 as all Yamahas stayed in the garage pending checks, with KTM riders and Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia continuing aero and chassis evaluations.
  • KTM reported encouraging gains from its updated RC16, and Bagnaia described Ducati’s first day as positive but cautioned against reading too much into single‑day times without long runs.