MotoGP | Portimao reduces the size of gravel in escape routes

The issue gained traction during the 2022 Portuguese Grand Prix, following criticism from Pecco Bagnaia, who complained that the stones forming the track's escape routes are too large and therefore dangerous. After a fall in Friday testing, the Turin rider returned to the Ducati garage with a handful of stones and handed them to Davide Tardozzi, the team manager, to discuss the issue during the Safety Commission meeting.

A year later, in the pre-season, it was Fabio Di Giannantonio who suffered a heavy accident which forced him to miss the last day of the winter tests, due to the impact on the stones, which were still unusually large. His helmet was shattered by the blows. The drivers then asked the organizers to put pressure on the structure, which replaced some stones with smaller ones for the Grand Prix. This weekend, when the MotoGP World Championship caravan arrives in Portugal, most of the gravel in the run-off routes will have been replaced.

As usual ahead of each event, the organizers send the teams a document with details of the modified elements. “Most gravel areas have a new type of stone, some asphalt escape routes have been reduced to increase gravel areas and air fence modules have been added,” the document reads.

While no details are provided as to where these additional air fences have been fitted, common sense would suggest that one of these locations is likely to be at Turn 10, where Pol Espargaro suffered the crash in last year's second free practice session. he held out for half the season.

At the same time, new generation curbs have been added to turns 4, 8, 14 and 15, to prevent track limits from being broken.

The scooters in the paddock will be 100% electric from Portugal

One of the big news of the season is the introduction of 40% non-fossil fuels, a percentage that will rise to 100% by 2027. In line with the transition to a higher level of sustainability, all the motorbikes used in the paddock to move from one place to another must be electric. This initiative will be applied to all races in Europe.