Bagnaia first with record, Ducati in shape – Corriere.it

a Ducati in great shape the one that emerged from the Portimao tests, the last appointment before the world championship start (March 26 on the same circuit): seven Desmosedicis in the first 8 places and Pecco Bagnaia in front of everyone with the new track record. The Piedmontese quickly found the feeling with the new bike: We are at 90% of the potential, already better than the 2022 version, said the reigning champion who always remained in command in the two Portuguese days. Behind him Johann Zarco and Fabio Quartararo (on Yamaha) with a third time which, however, hides the unknown factors of a bike that still needs to be fixed: I’m still not feeling well – explained the Frenchman -. We have to find a basis to work from. And quickly because the World Cup is near. Yamaha has tried various aerodynamic configurations, the sector on which all the manufacturers’ efforts seem to be concentrated.

Only Aprilia seems to keep up with the bikes from Bologna
, apart from the lap times of the second day: only 10 Aleix Espargar who closed prematurely due to an inflammation of his right arm (suspected fibrosis, perhaps in need of surgery) and 12 Vinales in any case satisfied with the progress of the RS-GP. The Italian motorcycles appeared decidedly more refined than the competition.

The Honda

The first of Honda

was that of Joan Mir, the new teammate of a Marc Marquez who is worried about the results of the tests: Lots of new things, we’ve defined the chassis and engine, but there’s still a lot of work to do. More in detail: the customer Ducatis appeared to be up to the official ones and this allows the Bolognese squadron to present itself as a point of reference at the start of the new season. Luca Marini, with the Desmosedici 2022, finished in fourth place

ahead of teammate (Team Mooney VR46) Marco Bezzecchi, ahead of Enea Bastianini with this year’s Ducati. Alex Marquez (7) also did well on Gresini’s Ducati, despite a couple of crashes, finishing in front of the other Ducati rider, Jorge Martin. In ninth place is Brad Binder, the first of the KTMs with which Jack Miller is also racing this year, only 17.