BARCELONA, 10 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Autódromo Internacional del Algarve in Portimao (Portugal) hosts two key days for the future of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship, with the last official pre-season tests that must put each factory, team and rider in their place before the launch of a new campaign full of unknowns.
After the post-season tests at the end of 2022, the ‘shakedown’ for testers and rookies and the last pre-season tests in Sepang, these two days of testing — Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Spain — in Portimao should serve to shed some more light for the first date, which will be on the same Portuguese circuit at the end of the month.
Sepang’s training sessions made one thing clear; Ducati sends with permission from Aprilia. In the ‘Top 9’ for best times after the three days of testing there were only Ducati riders, up to seven and led by Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), and two Aprilias, the official Maverick Viñales, third, and Aleix Espargaró , sixth.
In tenth position, a Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team) who was the third of the ‘rest’ if Aprilia is included in that group, or the best if Aprilia is given the opportunity to fight the Ducati. It is true that Portimao is a different track to Sepang, but the two Italian factories sent a serious message to the rest in Malaysia.
Honda, KTM (with GasGas included) and Yamaha must get their act together and they must do so, without wasting time, in these two days. The arrangements that have been made in just a month will be put on the track to see if they bring improvements in the pace per lap or in the performance and handling of the bikes.
One last bullet, now yes, to find out if there will be more rivals worthy of disturbing some Ducati that, with Francesco Bagnaia, defend the world crown. Last year, at the 2022 Portuguese GP, ‘Pecco’ was eighth and Fabio Quartararo won with his Yamaha, on a podium with three different brands. We will see if in this test the scenario is similar to this, or rather to what was seen in Sepang.
These two days separate 5 factories, 11 teams and 22 riders from the 21 Grand Prix of the 2023 World Cup. And if it was Luca Marini who dominated the previous test with a Ducati satellite, in principle the Bagnaia-Enea Bastianini duo will have the version in Portimao ‘definitive’ of the new Ducati of the official Lenovo Team.
But, without a doubt, the test is vital for Honda. In Sepang, Marc Márquez -already fully recovered and wanting to fight for everything- used up to four motorcycles -one from 2022, two from 2023 and one experimental- and the ‘team manager’, Alberto Puig, acknowledged that they were far from their goal for this new championship.