The Official MotoGP™ Portimao Test is well underway and thankfully, the Algarve weather conditions have been kind to us as blue skies and a dry Autodromo Internacional do Algarve greeted the premier class riders and teams.
Halfway through the first of two days of testing, Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) tops the timesheets with a 1:39.548, a time good enough to place the Italian 0.062s ahead of reigning World Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team). Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) currently occupies P3, with Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) sitting in a tightly packed top five.
Some early technical updates include Honda bringing an updated chassis to the table in Portugal, with both Marc Marquez and Repsol Honda Team teammate Joan Mir having one of the chassis they liked in Sepang on one bike, and the updated version on the other.
Morning action ???? pic.twitter.com/AXdKXaS96f
— Repsol Honda Team (@HRC_MotoGP) March 11, 2023
Elsewhere, Bagnaia and teammate Enea Bastianini are both running the updated Ducati aero package that we saw in Sepang, with Bagnaia currently sticking with the downwash ducts – not the ground effect fairing that we’re seeing on plenty of machines.
In terms of crashes, Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) and Viñales have all gone down so far – all riders are ok.
Make sure you tune into After The Flag at 17:00 local time (GMT+1) for all the latest information and analysis of what we’ll have seen. Highlights, interviews and an extensive end of day report will also be available. And don’t forget to keep an eye on Live Timing to watch the lap times as they’re set.
Sound on???? Can you hear it? The sound of racing being back very soon?????
— Tech3 Racing (@Tech3Racing) March 11, 2023
Ultimate two days of testing here in Portimao before the start of the #MotoGP season. Work work work⚒️#GASGASFactoryRacingTech3 #GetOnTheGas #PortimaoTest #Pol44 #AF37 pic.twitter.com/xYE1f942N4
Top 10 (13:00 local time):
1. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) – 1:39.548
2. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.062
3. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) + 0.093
4. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.095
5. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) + 0.145
6. Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) + 0.162
7. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.206
8. Miguel Oliveira (RNF MotoGP™ Team) + 0.224
9. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 0.423
10. Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.461