The first sprint race of the 2023 MotoGP season has concluded with Francesco Bagnaia defending his title with a win the on Saturday at the Portugal Grand Prix. Having fallen short of pole position to Marc Marquez. Bagnaia quickly bounced back and solidified his presence on track when it counted. After being fastest in FP2 Jack Miller was able to salvage 4th. Marc Marquez was not able to capitalize on his unexpected pole position finish in qualifying but he was able to salvage a podium.
Jack Miller; KTM Racing. Photo by Lukasz Swiderek / photoPSP.comSaturday’s sprint race was the first of the new race weekend format that will feature half distance races for all 21 rounds this season. These races will occur on the Saturday before the main event grand prix on Sundays, and offer additional opportunities for riders to score championship points. The change in racing format was influenced by the pressures a substantial decrease in viewership and ticket sales surrounding the MotoGP championship. Pundits for the series and with the Motorsports Network conducted a survey prior to the start of the season to determine what fans wanted to see to improve viewership. Over 100,000 responses were provided, which speaks volumes to fans still being invested in the sport despite preseason viewership concerns. There are 20 more rounds in the 2023 season so there will be plenty of data gathering opportunities to help us understand if Dorna is able to increase viewership with these changes.
The decision to add sprint races has a mixed response from the riders. Monster Energy Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo stated his distaste, “There will be a big accident soon. It’s a jungle.” Quartararo had a disappointing finish at P10 after falling to as far as 19th after a lap 1 racing incident with Joan Mir. Joan Mir received a long lap penalty for Sunday’s grand prix. Other riders saw it as an opportunity to score championship points. The top 5 in the sprint race represent 4 different manufacturers. Tomorrow we will determine if the top 5 can repeat that success in the grand prix.
Tune in tomorrow:
Sunday 26th March 2023
- Warm-up: 04:45 – 04:55 ET / 01:45 – 01:55 PT
- Race: 09:00 ET / 06:00 PT
Top 10 Results for the Portugal Grand Prix Sprint Race
1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1:38.577
2. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing + 0.149
3. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.224
4. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.226
5. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) +0.285
6. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing)) + 0.228
7. Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP™ Team) + 0.292
8. Johann Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.418
9. Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) + 0.440
10. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 0.445
KTM Racing rider Jack Miller is on top after practice 2 for the MotoGP Portugal Grand Prix weekend. Practice 2 saw two red flags; one resulting in serious injury for Tech3 GASGAS rider Pol Espargaro. Espargaro was airlifted after a nasty high side crash in turn 10. The latest reports confirm that he did not suffer from any neurological damage however further test results are pending. MotoGP Medical Director Ángel Charte stated in a commentary with DAZN, “Pol Espargaro had a high energy crash with a big polytraumatic injury that we will have to see to what level when we do the complementary exams in Faro Hospital – all over the spine, back and lumbar. At the cervical level, he’s perfectly fine, neurologically he’s fine – he didn’t lose consciousness at any time, and didn’t need intubation at any point. But it’s true that he had a serious pulmonary contusion, which will have to be checked again with the CT and MRI scans we’ll be taking at Faro Hospital.” We are hoping he sees a speedy recovery.
Jack Miller is on top after FP2 in Portugal. Photo by Rob Gray (Polarity photo) Courtesy of KTMFP2 results are below.
Ducati dominance continued this past weekend in Portimão with Francesco Bagnaia fastest in pretesting setting a new track record on day two. Ducati accounted for seven of the top eight fastest in Portimão. Fabio Quartararo broke up the Ducati train going third fastest overall for Monster Yamaha after logging 88 laps on day two of testing. After some early disappointment with not being able to improve lap times on day one.
Quartararo knew there is more work to do if he is going to earn a result for Yamaha at the Portugal Grand Prix but for now spirits seem high. Quartararo said, “ Today we made a big improvement, especially with new tyres. We’ve tried all aero-packages Yamaha brought here and also some settings from the past that were working well. I’m pretty happy. We are still missing a few things, but we made a massive step from yesterday and from Sepang. We are much closer to be ready for GP1 than we were yesterday, although we are not 100% ready yet. We will be giving our best, for sure. We are not giving up.” His mood seemed to lighten with this post testing tweet.
Quartararo set a 1’39.292s, which was more than 0.3s quicker than his fastest lap on Day 1. At the time it put him in third place provisionally. He then continued assessing aero-packages and race simulations to gather data for the upcoming race weekend. While teammate Franco Morbidelli didn’t have quite as much success finishing 19th after logging 195 laps between Day 1 and 2 of testing; Team Director for Monster Yamaha, Massimo Meregalli had some positive takeaways.
“Today we wrapped up pre-season testing. Because Yamaha had prepared many items this winter, we knew we had a lot on our plate for this final 2023 pre-season test. We only had two days, so we prioritized accordingly. Fabio and Franky both evaluated aero-package options and tried settings we felt are promising for the first GP weekend, held here two weeks from now. Fabio made a big step today, so that’s positive. Franky also tried many things during this test and gathered a lot of data that should be helpful for Round 1. We got a lot of work done, but there’s still more to do. We will now carefully go over the data we collected here, and subsequently draft a strategy on how we will tackle the first GP of the 2023 season. I’m sure the fans are as impatient to get the racing started as we are. We will put in our full effort to be ready to go.
With testing coming to an end social media is in a frenzy of ups and downs, positive team outlooks and some that need to go back to the drawing board as we approach race 1 of the MotoGP season. Ducati remains on top having run fastest in all preseason testing events. However, for some teams Portimão revealed more weaknesses than strengths. One such team is Repsol Honda. It’s clear that Marc Marquez wasn’t optimistic about the direction the RC213V was heading after an early low speed crash however after the final day of testing he stated:
Marc Marquez on Portimão testing after finishing 14th fastest
“We had the best feeling of our pre-season today, I was riding well and I was able to do a Sprint Race simulation. Riding for a longer run I was able to focus more on my riding style and keep making improvements there. Our rhythm wasn’t bad and today we worked more towards what will come at the Portugal GP. We were able to make a few steps, of course you want more. The most important thing was that today I had the best feeling with the bike so far.”
Photo Courtesy of Honda Racing CorporationHonda Repsol teammate Joan Mir also shared some words that seems to be a big more encouraging. “Today we were able to make some more progress forward in adapting to the Honda. There is still a lot I need to learn and adapt to because it’s still a new bike and some aspects that are not yet second nature. Overall it has been an off-season of progress but of course as a rider you are always wanting more and more. We head into the opening races wanting to keep improving and to see what’s possible.”
Full Day two testing results can be found below:
By Yamaha Racing; This press release was not authored by Speed Trap Magazine Staff. Read the original press release here: Yamaha MotoGP 2023 Livery Release
The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team unveiled their brand-new colour scheme at Yamaha Indonesia Motor Manufacturing’s 2023 ‘3S Dealer Meeting’, the largest dealer meeting in the world within Yamaha’s network.
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. President Yoshihiro Hidaka, General Manager Motorsports Development Division of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. and President of Yamaha Motor Racing Takahiro Sumi, Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director and Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Principal Lin Jarvis, Yamaha Indonesia Motor Manufacturing President Dyonisius Beti, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director Massimo Meregalli, and riders Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli took to the stage to share their excitement ahead of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship kick-off in Portugal in March.
All eyes were on the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team today as they showed off their new 2023 livery in Jakarta, Indonesia, at Yamaha Indonesia Motor Manufacturing’s 2023 ‘3S Dealer Meeting’. This being the largest dealer meeting in the world within Yamaha’s network, it made the perfect occasion for the premiere of the brand-new 2023 Factory Yamaha colour scheme – an event motorsports fans had been highly anticipating.
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. President Yoshihiro Hidaka, General Manager Motorsports Development Division of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. & President of Yamaha Motor Racing Takahiro Sumi, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Principal & Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director Lin Jarvis, Yamaha Indonesia Motor Manufacturing President Dyonisius Beti, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director Massimo Meregalli, and Factory Yamaha riders Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli took to the stage at the 2023 ‘3S Dealer Meeting’ to share their thoughts on ‘a new era’ for the Yamaha and Monster Energy Company partnership.
Yamaha has a long-term global alliance with the team’s title sponsor, Monster Energy Company, based on their mutual passion for racing. A first multiple-year title sponsorship agreement with the Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP team was signed in the summer of 2018 and came naturally, as Monster Energy Company sponsors multiple Yamaha teams (among them the Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP team since 2013) and riders (including Quartararo and Morbidelli) in various racing classes. The multiple-year title sponsorship agreement with the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team was extended at the Catalan GP last year, and fittingly celebrated when Fabio Quartararo went on to win the race that same weekend.
Riders
With the colour scheme of the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP YZR-M1 updated for 2023, the pit box, the riders’ leathers, and the team clothing couldn’t stay behind. The new camouflage look blends Yamaha’s colours (with a new addition of grey) with the adventurous lifestyle colour scheme of Monster Energy. Their iconic Monster claw branding remains instantly recognisable on the bikes, in the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team logo, and on the team uniforms.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are also pleased to announce that throughout the 2023 racing season the bike will continue to feature the slogans of Yamaha Motor Philippines and PT Yamaha Indonesia Motor Manufacturing, starting from the IRTA MotoGP Official Pre-Season Tests held from 5-7 February and 10-12 February in Sepang, Malaysia, and on 11-12 March in Portimão, Portugal.
Moreover, the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team is delighted to confirm the continuation of their relationship with numerous Official Sponsors and Official Partners, including the new prominent placement of Beta Tools as they have expanded their longstanding involvement with the MotoGP team.
OFFICIAL SPONSORS
Monster Energy Company: https://www.monsterenergy.com/
– Eneos: https://www.eneos.co.jp/index.html
– Blue Core: https://global.yamaha-motor.com/showroom/bluecore/en/sp
– Yamalube: http://yamalube.com
– Akrapovic: http://www.akrapovic.com
– Yamaha Indonesia Motor Manufacturing/Semakin Di Depan: http://www.yamaha-motor.co.id
– Yamaha Motor Philippines/MIO: https://www.yamaha-motor.com.ph/product-series/mio-series.html
– BETA Tools: http://beta-tools.it
– Alpinestars: https://www.alpinestars.com
– VR46: https://www.vr46.com/en
– bLU cRU: https://www.yamaha-racing.com
– Gilles Tooling: http://www.gillestooling.com
– RCB: https://www.racingboy.com.my
– Furukawa Electrics: https://www.furukawa.co.jp/en
– Debem: https://www.debem.com/en/
– DID: https://www.did-daido.co.jp/en/
– NGK Spark Plugs: https://www.ngkntk.co.jp/english/
– BMC Air Filters: http://www.bmcairfilters.com
– Pont Grup: http://www.pontgrup.com
– Capit: https://www.capit.it/
– 2D: http://2d-datarecording.com
– Axalta: https://www.axalta.com/corporate/en_US.html
– Yamaha Corporation (Yamaha Music): https://www.yamaha.com
– Michelin: https://www.michelin.com/eng
OFFICIAL PARTNERS
– Alpinestars: https://www.alpinestars.com
– Siemens-LMS: https://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/global/en/products/simcenter/
– BLS: https://www.blsgroup.com/en/
– BETA Tools: http://beta-tools.it
– GOM: https://www.gomlab.com/
– RCM: https://www.rcm.it/
– Toyota Material Handling: https://toyota-forklifts.eu/
– Hygenia: https://www.hygenia.it
– Camaleonic Analytics: https://camaleonicanalytics.com
– 3M Peltor: https://www.3msverige.se/3M/sv_SE/company-ndc/
– Namedsport: https://www.namedsport.com
– ParkingGO: https://www.parkingo.com/en/
– Flex: https://flex.it/en/
– Airbank: https://www.airbank.it/en/index.php
HOSPITALITY PARTNERS
– Mokador: https://en.mokador.it/
– Ca’ dei Frati: https://cadeifrati.it
– Pastificio Artigiano Fabbri: https://pastafabbri.it/en/
– Azienda Olearia del Chianti: https://www.oleariadelchianti.com/en/home
The upcoming MotoGP season is shaping up nicely, currently projected to count 21 GP rounds and 42 races (due to the new MotoGP race weekend format that includes a MotoGP sprint race on the Saturdays). Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP Test Team rider Cal Crutchlow will be joining Quartararo and Morbidelli at the Official MotoGP Sepang Test, as Yamaha intends to deploy all forces to make their 2023 campaign a success.