2023 Portimão MotoGP Test Sunday 12:30 Times: Bagnaia Leads As Riders Try Sprint Race Simulations

By David Emmett | Sun, 12/03/2023 - 12:43

The final day of testing has started, and the riders have turned their attentions to race simulations. Very few new parts have made an appearance, though a few teams have tried some new aero. Three hours into the test, Pecco Bagnaia leads an Italian charge, with Jorge Martin making it a Ducati 1-2, and Miguel Oliveira sitting in third. Alex Marquez, who had a small crash before noon, is fourth, while Aleix Espargaro is fifth.

Times at 12:30pm:

Portimão MotoGP Test Saturday Round Up: The Fast, The Furious, And The Lost

By David Emmett | Sun, 12/03/2023 - 01:07

The two-day MotoGP test at Portimão is clearly going to be a test of two halves. Today, Saturday, was the last day of concentrating on new parts, while Sunday is to be the day the teams focus on preparing for the first race of the season, which happens here in two weeks time.

That is how it works for the factories and teams who have everything sorted. But not everyone has everything sorted, as was all too obvious from Saturday. The paddock falls into three groups: The Fast (Aprilia and Ducati), The Lost (KTM and Honda), and The Inbetweeners (Yamaha).

The timesheet would also appear to tell the same story, but the headline lap times are not as significant as they look. The number of riders who sat down and went for an outright lap time was limited, and some, such as Marc Marquez, didn't bother at all.

But even those who were fast were not necessarily chasing a quick lap time. Maverick Viñales was third fastest overall, and he did his best lap time on the first lap of a 10-lap run. Likewise sixth-placed Miguel Oliveira, who set his best time in the middle of a nine-lap run. But this rather proves the point: Viñales is on a 2023 Aprilia, Oliveira on a 2022 Aprilia, and they were both quick. Aprilia are in really good shape.

Ready to roll

2023 Portimão MotoGP Test Saturday Final Times: Bagnaia Closes In On Record

By David Emmett | Sat, 11/03/2023 - 17:37

Reigning MotoGP champion Pecco Bagnaia laid down a marker on the first day of the Portimão MotoGP test, getting within a few hundredths of his own outright lap record set at the race in 2021. The Ducati Lenovo rider was a quarter of a second faster than Luca Marini on the Mooney VR46 Ducati GP22.

2023 Portimão MotoGP Test Saturday 13:30 Times: Marini Leads Italian Clean Sweep

By David Emmett | Sat, 11/03/2023 - 13:37

Luca Marini leads the way at lunchtime on the first day of the Portimão test, the VR46 rider getting down into race lap record territory, just a tenth of a second behind Fabio Quartararo's official lap record set during the 2022 race. Marini leads an echelon of Italians, Pecco Bagnaia, Fabio Di Giannantonio, and Jorge Martin filling out the top four on Ducatis, Maverick Viñales putting the Aprilia into fifth spot, Alex Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi putting their satellite Ducatis into sixth and seventh, Miguel Oliveira in eighth on the RNF Aprilia.

2023 Portimão MotoGP Test Saturday 11:30 Times: Bagnaia Leads As Testing Ramps Up

By David Emmett | Sat, 11/03/2023 - 11:42

The morning has been busy on the first day of the final MotoGP test at Portimão, with riders and factories putting the last touches to their bikes before the beginning of the season two weeks from now. The factories appear to be using the first day to finalize parts testing, before moving on to setting up the bikes for the first race at this circuit.

Portimão MotoGP Test Preview - Last Chance To Prepare For 2023

By David Emmett | Sat, 11/03/2023 - 00:14

Two days of riding before the 2023 MotoGP season will start. Two days to test, and two weeks to analyze all the data collected and finalize the MotoGP bikes ready to open their 2023 campaigns. The MotoGP factories have a lot of work to do, and very little time to do it. So what is on the testing agenda for the Portimão test, which starts on Saturday and ends on Sunday?

One of the biggest things that all of the teams – factory and satellite – have to test is the new weekend format. With hot conditions and track time lost to the weather at Sepang, the riders didn't really get a chance to try a sprint race simulation. Some teams will be doing just the sprint race simulation, most will be aiming to try both.

"The plan is to use this test to prepare for the first race of the year," GasGas Tech3 rider Pol Espargaro explained. "In the first race especially this year where Saturday is going to be the Sprint race and everything is going to be so new that you need to go into it with everything ready."

Preparing for the new format

Part of that is getting used to the feeling of a bike set up for a Sprint race, which will be different to the normal full-length grand prix race. "The bike is going to feel different," Espargaro said. "I mean the fuel capacity inside the tank is going to be different because you don't need to put as much fuel in the tank. So with half of the weight on the full tank, for sure, you're going to feel the big difference."

Grand Prix Commission: More Revs For Moto2, Qualifying Practice Rules Clarified

By David Emmett | Fri, 10/03/2023 - 18:01

The FIM issued the following press release with some minor revisions to the 2023 grand prix regulations.

The biggest change is the raising of the rev limit in Moto2. A revised Triumph 765 engine allows the maximum revs to be raised from 14,000 to 14,400 RPM. That should allow for a slightly higher top speed, but it should also allow riders to hold on to a gear longer in some corners.

The other change is to clarify the procedure in the case of qualifying practice being interrupted before it is complete. If 50% of the session has been completed, the results will stand. If the session is interrupted before the halfway mark, then the grid will be set by the combined results from free practice.

How that will work in case of an interrupted Q2 but a completed Q1, the rules do not say.

The FIM press release appears below:

FIM Grand Prix World Championship
Decisions of the Grand Prix Commission

Sepang MotoGP Test Photo Analysis: Aprilia's Wings, KTM's 3D Printing Advantage, And Yamaha Aero And Frame

By David Emmett | Fri, 10/03/2023 - 17:36

Aerodynamics was a main focus for most of the teams (and coincidentally, also the easiest thing to spot), and almost all the manufacturers rolled out some interesting parts. Aprilia have taken a leading role recently, picking up after Ducati and in some aspects, overtaking them. At Sepang, they rolled out a new front wing, pictured here (my phone photo) on Maverick Viñales' bike.

As you can see, the front wing now is now a triplane and not a biplane, with three wings instead of two. If you compare it with the photo of the standard front wing (below, picture by Cormac Ryan Meenan), you can see that the upper wing has been split in two to create something similar to the original, while an extra wing has been added below, curving up before reaching the fairing.

Paddock Pass Podcast Episode 322: Scenes From The GasGas Launch

By David Emmett | Thu, 09/03/2023 - 11:20

It's a two-show week for the Paddock Pass Podcast, and in this episode, Adam Wheeler and Neil Morrison report back from the launch of the GasGas Factory Racing Tech3 presentation in Barcelona.

Adam and Neil talk us through the ramifications of the Pierer Mobility Group (KTM's parent company) choosing MotoGP to promote their brand of youth-oriented motorcycles to the general public. And they here from Pol Espargaro, Pit Beirer, and Hervé Poncharal about the aims and objectives of the project.

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