The MotoGP riders speed up their last tests before the official start of the championship, the last weekend of March. And they do it at the Algarve Autodromo, on the same stage that hosts the first grand prix of the 2023 season. For this reason, it is not just another test where brands test novelties and work on new concepts. The motorcycles that are on the Portuguese track are already entering their final set-up phase and work is being done especially with the first race of the year in mind.
The Ducatis once again set the pace to the surprise of absolutely no one in the first of the two practice days. And it is that, so far this preseason, every time the MotoGP has taken to the track, a Ducati has led the time classification. This time it was the turn of Pecco Bagnaia, who was just a thousandths away from beating the circuit record on a day marked by almost perfect weather conditions.
The current champion of the queen class puts fear into the body of his rivals, since he led second place, Luca Marini, by two tenths, also with Ducati. Maverick Viñales, with the Aprilia, avoided another red recital with the third time of the day, ahead of Álex Márquez, whose signing by Ducati has raised his price in the championship.
One day before the end of the 2023 preseason, the two Italian brands remain one step ahead of their rivals. One only has to look at the top ten of the day, in which six Ducati riders and three Aprilia riders were placed. Only the Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo, eighth, was the discordant note in the classification. And to find the first Honda, you have to get to eleventh position, where Álex Rins finished. Much further down, almost at the bottom of the time table, Marc Márquez finished this first day of testing in nineteenth position.
“We’re not so, so bad…”
With the start of the championship just around the corner, the expected reaction from Honda did not arrive and Marc Márquez is already resigned. The man from Cervera strives to find the limits of a motorcycle that is very far from the Ducati. According to the time table, almost a second and a half behind Bagnaia’s time, although the Spaniard tried to make a more optimistic reading when the day ended: «We are not as, as bad as it seems in qualifying. In pace we were between half a second and seven tenths of the fastest. We are a long way off, but we haven’t used a soft tyre. Maybe we would have finished 12th, 13th or 14th…». This is the harsh reality of the eight-time world champion.
Despite the fact that Honda has had four months to work on its new weapon, the distribution of forces has not changed much compared to 2022. Márquez has been one of the drivers who did the most laps on the Portimao track (78). “I haven’t even stopped to eat,” said the Catalan, who even suffered a slight fall without consequences. Which shows that he is physically at an optimal level for the start of the championship. Another 74 was given by his teammate, Joan Mir, who finished 14th and has not been seen in the fight for at least the first part of the year. With one day of preseason ahead, the Hondas are trading down, and it doesn’t seem like the situation is going to turn around two weeks before the start of the World Cup.
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