MotoGP Portugal 2023, free practice – Corriere.it

First MotoGP race weekend, on the Portimao circuit in Portugal. From the first Friday of the season, interesting verdicts emerge in view of Saturday where the new format will be applied: qualifying in the morning and Sprint Race in the afternoon (HERE TIMETABLES AND TV). How does it work? The Mini-GP, contrary to what happens in F1, will not establish the starting order of the real race on Sunday but will award points for the championship.

«We will need to manage ourselves in order not to risk too much but also to avoid losing too many points» said Pecco Bagnaia. There are also those like Marc Marquez who fear an overload of stress: «Forty-two races in one year risk being too many, we’ll see if we can evaluate adaptations during the season».

In morning free practice (FULL TIMES HERE) Alex Marquez shone on the Gresini team Ducati. Marc’s little brother can be the revelation of the championship. The afternoon session was interrupted after about a quarter of an hour due to an electrical failure: the teams were left without telemetry and data on times, the race direction could do nothing but display the red flag. Boos from the stands of the Algarve racetrack. It took over 20 minutes for the session to restart. The signs from the tests and from the last championship are confirmed: the Ducatis are flying, and with different riders. Confirming the goodness of the technical project led by Gigi Dall’Igna. The second red flag came 13′ from the end due to Pol Espargarò’s bad accident: the Spaniard crashed at turn 10, racing with the GasGas satellite team Ktm.