We are heading into No Man’s Land when it comes to testing, as the factories start to tail off their 1000cc projects for 2026 and ramp up their efforts on the 850cc machines for 2027. The 850s are all being tested behind closed doors at the moment, in part because factories want to develop in private, but also because of the difficulties MotoGP faces where it has a contract with Michelin as official tire supplier for the current year, while next year’s bikes are being developed on Pirellis ahead of the Italian tire maker’s arrival in 2027. It is a complicated commercial and contractual conundrum, which is solved by keeping prying eyes away until after Valencia.
But that doesn’t meant that work has stopped on the current generation of bikes. Far from it. We saw plenty of new parts at the Jerez test, as well as work on the factories’ existing packages. With testing severely limited – this year, just two days of official testing on the 1000s and two days on the 850s before Valencia – it was a chance to take a step back and calmly work through a program.
