Piqueras takes split second Rookies Portimão double
Angel Piqueras took an incredible second Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup win by just 0.002 seconds over fellow Spaniard Marcos Ruda in a blanket Portimão finish. Malaysian Hakim Danish was 0.015 seconds back in third 0.001 ahead of Ireland’s Casey O’Gorman.
Saturday’s winner Piqueras was only 4th through the final flat-out downhill left-hander but the 16-year-old pulled out of the 3 KTM slipstream to flash across the line a tyre’s width ahead.
Ruda led through that final turn but the 18-year-old had 15-year-old O’Gorman on his tail and looking the likely winner after a fabulous 14 laps.
By half distance, Màximo Quiles had broken away into a one-second lead that no one could close. The 15-year-old Spaniard then slid off with just 4 laps to go and could only remount and finish 11th. He had been pushed out of Race 1 on Saturday.
Angel Piqueras winning a mystery
“I don’t know how I won that,” he grinned. “I’ll have to look at the replay. On the last lap, I was 4th and didn’t think it was possible.”
“The track is cold this morning, less grip and that changed things, the lap times were faster than yesterday but that is because we had no wind today.”
“Maximo was pushing a lot, he got away and it was not easy to catch him, I don’t know, I was trying, perhaps we could have caught him over the last laps, I don’t know, we were all trying.”
Marcos Ruda from P19 to P2
“What an amazing race, I have no words to describe it. I was back in 19th on the grid, I got a good start and I just pushed and pushed all the way. Maximo was very fast and he got away from us.”
“I got in front at the end and hoped I had enough to win, I knew it was so close at the line and none of us knew who was first. I have to thank everyone who has supported me because last year in Rookies Cup was a tough first season but now I am so happy.”
Hakim Danish a great start to his Cup career
I am so happy with my first podium in Rookies Cup. In the race I felt really good with the bike, we worked hard this weekend and found a good setting. So thanks to everyone supporting me.”
“I pushed to stay in the front group, In the end, I made some good overtakes and got in position to battle at the front. I was trying to win but on the last lap I made a mistake, the wrong gear in turn 5 and I lost the chance. I had to push hard to get back close to the front and on the podium.”
Casey O’Gorman should have won
“I thought I had it, I put myself in the position to be 2nd and have Ruda’s slipstream out of the last corner, Piqueras and Danish came from nowhere.”
“It was .001 to the podium…. but there is always the next one.”
Rico Salmela missing grip
“At the start of the race I was very strong, but by the end of the race I was struggling a bit with the grip of the rear tyre. It was really difficult to get the drive to get the overtakes on corner exit.”
“Still I’m quite happy… I want more but still, I am happy and we continue learning and go on to Jerez.”
Màximo Quiles fastest but…
“The race was very good, I was fast, I opened up a gap. The only thing was that at 4 laps to go I lost the front in turn 5. I tried to pick up the bike as quick as I could and finished P11.”
“In the last 5 laps, I was talking to myself and telling myself to relax in this corner because I crashed 3 times here. I was talking talking and I think I talked myself into it.”
“Still I am happy because I was the fastest and I will come back in Jerez.”
Sunday-Morning Warm-up Session Notes From Portugal
Alex Marquez Quickest In Morning Warmup: Gresini Racing’s Alex Marquez was fastest in the Sunday morning warm-up session with a lap at 1:38.719, ahead of Fabio Quartararo, Marc Marquez, Jorge Martin and Jack Miller.
Alex Marquez (73) topped the Sunday morning warm-up session in Portugal. Photo by Michael Gougis.
Bastianini Injured: Factory Lenovo Ducati rider Enea Bastianini was ruled out of Sunday’s race at Portugal due to a fractured right shoulder blade. Bastianini was taken out during Saturday’s sprint race by fellow Ducati rider Luca Marini, who was trying to out-brake Bastianini going into Turn Five, hit a bump and lost the front. Bastianini may also be out of action in Argentina.
Mir Penalized: Repsol Honda’s Joan Mir was penalized for colliding with Fabio Quartararo on the first lap of Saturday’s sprint race. Quartararo had made a slight error, opening the door for Mir, and they made side-to-side contact, leaving Mir on the ground. Race Directors gave Mir a long-lap penalty for Sunday’s race, and while Honda appealed the penalty, their appeal was rejected.
Rookies: Jakob Rosenthaler (78) crashed out of Sunday morning’s Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup race.
Provisional Hooligans Main Event Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Shawn Raggio (Har), 12 laps
2. Robert Lewis (Har), -0.390 second
3. Lowell Bronstad (Har), -0.884
4. Kole King (KTM), -1.316 seconds
5. Ethan Rosine (Har), -3.019
6. Josh Young (Har), -3.670
7. Chris Boone (Har), -4.165
8. Trevor Quayle (Har), -4.251
9. Danny Slosser (Har), -4.994
10. Jason Griffin (Duc), -6.645
11. Joseph Houston (Har), -7.013
12. Stace Richmond (KTM), -7.082
13. Sam Cover (KTM), -7.468
14. Charles Holmes (Har), -12.374
15. Erik Hartley (Tri), -13.062
16. Scott Jones (Har), -15.405
Provisional Parts Unlimited AFT Singles Main Event Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Max Whale (KTM), 22 laps
2. James Ott (Hus), -1.483 seconds
3. Dalton Gauthier (KTM), -2.225
4. Trevor Brunner (Yam), -2.371
5. Kody Kopp (KTM), -2.548
6. Morgen Mischler (Hon), -3.305
7. Trent Lowe (Hon), -3.866
8. Chase Saathoff (Hon), -4.048
9. Shayna Texter-Bauman (KTM), -6.019
10. Chad Cose (Hus), -6.292
11. Dan Bromley (Yam), -7.527
12. Kevin Stollings (Hon), -7.597
13. Tom Drane (Yam), -8.418
14. Tanner Dean (KTM), -8.447
15. Cole Zabala (Hon), -8.941
16. Jordan Jean (Hon), -9.536
17. Travis Petton (KTM), -11.077
18. Tyler Raggio (Yam), -12.058
19. Justin Jones (KTM), -17.101
Provisional Mission SuperTwins Main Event Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Jared Mees (Ind), 35 laps
2. Dallas Daniels (Yam), -0.174 second
3. JD Beach (Yam), -6.563 seconds
4. Brandon Robinson (Ind), -6.694
5. Davis Fisher (Ind), -10.009
6. Jarod Vanderkooi (Ind), -11.012
7. Briar Bauman (KTM), -12.579
8. Bronson Bauman (KTM), -13.224
9. Jesse Janisch (KTM), -13.874
10. Ben Lowe (Ind), -14.191
11. Kolby Carlile (Yam), -14.684
12. Johnny Lewis (Roy), -1 lap
13. Billy Ross (Ind), -1 lap, 2.785 seconds
14. Michael Hill (Kaw), -1 lap, 5.573
15. Jeffery Lowery (Yam), -1 lap, 7.098
16. Mitch Harvat (Kaw), -1 lap, 9.590
17. Ryan Wells (Roy), -1 lap, 12.301
18. Jordan Harris (KTM), -1 lap, 16.852
19. Brandon Newman (Kaw), -9 laps, DNF
More, from a press release issued by American Flat Track:
Mees Tops Daniels in Stunning Senoia Short Track
Jared Mees (1). Photo courtesy AFT.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 25, 2023) – Reigning Grand National Champion Jared Mees (No. 1 Indian Motorcycle/Rogers Racing/SDI Racing FTR750) came out victorious following an epic showdown featuring two of Progressive American Flat Track’s biggest stars in an epic Yamaha Senoia Short Track on Saturday evening at Senoia Raceway in Senoia, Georgia.
The Mission SuperTwins presented by S&S Cycle king entered the weekend with the knowledge that his place atop the pecking order was under threat from the fast-rising Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT), who opened his ‘23 title campaign in dominating fashion at Daytona International Speedway two weeks back.
Following a quiet opener by his standards, Mees was at the top of his game in Senoia, locking down the top of the charts pretty much all day long. He then looked to exploit his prime starting position, planning to dart away early and eliminate any potential challenge before it could materialize.
Daniels saw what the factory Indian ace was up to, however. He stuck a hard pass in on teammate JD Beach (No. 95 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT) to slot into second and then put his head down in hopes of reeling Mees back in.
Daniels ultimately arrived on Mees’ rear wheel and at last took the lead at half-distance, just as the two made their way into lapped traffic. The second half of the contest was relentless, with passes for the lead executed on nearly every lap, all the while slashing their way past slower riders.
Mees reclaimed the lead with twenty seconds remaining on the clock and then leaned on his decades of experience advantage to formulate a way to cling on for the victory, as he held the Estenson Yamaha pilot off at the stripe by 0.174 seconds.
“Man, that was a duel… a battle… a fist fight in a phone booth,” Mees said. “We rode super clean; we didn’t touch – we came really close – but I didn’t want to give that one up. I was fighting tooth-and-nail, and he was rolling so good. I felt if I could get in a rhythm early, I could maybe get a gap, but he hung tough. We want this championship bad. We want to keep the #1 plate. It’s going to be super tough. Dallas is super hungry, and you can see it in his riding.”
While the Mees-Daniels showdown was the headliner (and quite possibly a preview of more to come), the battle for third was nearly as exciting. Beach fell into the clutches of Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Indian FTR750), losing the podium position late in the Main, only to snatch the spot back on the race’s final lap.
Meanwhile, Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing Indian FTR750) earned his second top five of the year, outdueling Jarod Vanderkooi (No. 20 JMC Motorsports/Fairway Ford Indian FTR750) following an extended tussle of their own.
Seventh went to Briar Bauman (No. 3 Parts Plus/Jacob Companies KTM 890 Duke), who spent the entire Main Event clawing his way forward after an early incident dropped him well down the order.
He was followed home by his younger brother, Bronson Bauman (No. 37 Fastrack Racing/2 Wheelz KTM 890 Duke), in eighth, while Jesse Janisch (No. 33 KTM/Haversack/Z-Max 890 Duke) and Ben Lowe (No. 25 Rackley Racing/Mission Foods Indian FTR750) rounded out the top ten.
Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER
Two-time Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER championship runner-up Max Whale (No. 18 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-F) earned his first victory of the ‘23 season in convincing fashion at Senoia Raceway.
While the field was desperate to slow Whale’s teammate, defending class champ Kody Kopp (No. 1 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-F) after his season-opening double victory at the DAYTONA Short Track, the Australian issued a clear reminder that the Red Bull KTM team boasts not one, but two genuine title contenders under its tent with a wire-to-wire run to the checkered flag.
As Whale walked away at the front, a huge scrap played out behind for second. A hugely impressive James Ott (No. 19 1st Impressions Race Team/Husqvarna Racing FC450) jumped into the position from pole where he found himself under fire almost immediately from the likes of Trevor Brunner (No. 21 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F), Tom Drane (No. 59 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F), Morgen Mischler (No. 13 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R), Kopp, and Dalton Gauthier (No. 79 D&D Racing/Certified KTM 450 SX-F), among others.
Drane pulled off a remarkable save of a near highside just to stay upright, but the resultant drama dropped him from podium contention to outside the top ten. Gauthier then started his charge, slicing his way up from seventh to third with relative ease. But try as he might, he was unable to work out a way past Ott and the two ultimately crossed the stripe the final time in second and third, respectively.
Kopp did threaten to overhaul both late. However, he instead saw his bid for a top-three result foiled by a resurgent Brunner, who stole back fourth and then kept the championship leader corralled behind him in fifth to the flag by a 0.177-second margin.
Mischler took sixth just behind, followed by his Turner Honda teammates, Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R) and Chase Saathoff (No. 88 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R). Shayna Texter-Bauman (No. 52 Parts Plus/Jacob Companies KTM 450 SX-F) and Chad Cose (No. 49 1st Impressions Race Team/Husqvarna Racing FC450) completed the top ten.
Race winner Whale said, “I needed a good race today. Obviously, as a racer you want to win every time. It feels good to do this coming here from Daytona, where my head was hanging low. You put in all the work before the start of the year, and to finish with a fourth and a ‘937th’ was tough. So to come out today and win? I can’t thank my team enough.”
Next Up:
Progressive AFT will power directly to the first TT of the ‘23 season with next weekend’s ZO CBD Arizona Super TT presented by RideNow Powersports at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona, on Saturday, April 1. Visit https://www.tixr.com/promoters/americanflattrack to secure your tickets today.
For those that can’t catch the live action from the circuit, FansChoice.tv is the live streaming home of Progressive AFT. Sign up now and catch every second of on-track action starting with Practice & Qualifying and ending with the Victory Podium at the end of the night at https://www.fanschoice.tv.
FOX Sports coverage of the Yamaha Senoia Short Track, featuring in-depth features and thrilling onboard cameras, will premiere on FS1 on April 1 at 7:00 a.m. ET (4:00 a.m. PT).
MotoGP Portugal: A New Era Begins, With A New Lap Record
By Michael Gougis
Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia started his MotoGP title defense with a win in the series’ first-ever Saturday Sprint Race at the Tissot Grand Prix of Portugal, with Jorge Martin a close second and Marc Marquez a surprising third.
After 12 tense laps, the top seven across the line were separated by less than three seconds. And after the race was over, depending on which rider was speaking, the Sprint Race was either dangerous and encouraged risky riding or a lot more fun than the full-length races. The riders on the podium, not surprisingly, seemed to like the Sprint Race format a whole lot more than the others.
Practice:
Marco Bezzecchi led the time sheets after Saturday’s single practice session was over, although his best lap time–1:38.577–was well off Friday’s best laps. Both factory Ducati riders wound up on the ground, leaving Fabio Quartararo as the Mooney VR46 Racing Team’s closest competitor, followed by Aleix Espargaro. Bagnaia was fourth, just ahead of Miguel Oliveira on the satellite CryptoDATA RNF Aprilia RS-GP.
Friday’s quickest rider, Jack Miller, was a full 1.5 seconds off of his best lap, and the Honda brigade also had trouble. Joan Mir was ninth, Takaaki Nakagami 11th, Marc Marquez 16th and LCR Honda’s Alex Rins, winner of the last Grand Prix of 2022, was 18th.
Qualifying:
Marc Marquez came out hard in Qualifying One, slicing 1.556 seconds off his morning practice time, resetting the lap record and then heading back to the garage to rest. Miguel Oliveira got closest with a 1:37.849 and took the final transfer spot to Qualifying Two. Alex Marquez caught Franco Morbidelli on his flying lap and was balked briefly, the slight hesitation leaving Marquez third and out of Qualifying Two.
The final qualifying session saw Miller re-assert himself as the fastest man on the grid during the first run, a 1:37.549 on his second lap lowering the lap record again. But Miller found himself on the ground when he tried to up the pace, and Bagnaia who recovered from his morning spill and went quickest on his sixth lap, lowering the lap record again to a 1:37.290.
Jack Miller (43) slid off in Turn Three in the final qualifying session, ending up fifth on the grid. Photo by Michael Gougis.
Two laps later, Marquez, who had tucked in behind Enea Bastianini, took his recalcitrant RC213V by the neck and wrung it for all it was worth. The result was pole position, his 64th, a new lap record of 1:37.226 and a surprised look on his face back in the garage.
Marc Marquez (93) battled his way through the first qualifying session, tucked in behind Enea Bastianini (23) in the second qualifying session and took pole, smashing the lap record. Photo by Michael Gougis.
Bagnaia remained second, ahead of Jorge Martin and Oliveira, with Miller fifth ahead of Bastianini. Quartararo only managed 11th, nearly seven-10ths off the pace and with a steep hill to climb (figuratively and literally) in the Sprint Race that afternoon.
Sprint Race:
Marquez took the holeshot and led for the first several corners, but by the end of the lap Bagnaia and Martin had pushed him back to third. On the next lap, Luca Marini tried to go under Bastianini in Turn Five and lost the front, taking both out of the race.
Marc Marquez (93) leads the field at the start of the first-ever MotoGP Sprint Race on Saturday as Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia (1) pushes teammate Enea Bastianini (23) wide while Jorge Martin (89), Maverick Vinales (12) and the rest of the pack follow. Bagnaia won, with Martin second and Marquez third. Photo by Michael Gougis.
Miller showed real speed, leading on Lap Seven on the factory KTM, but Martin pushed him back to second a lap later and then Bagnaia took the runner-up spot. On the penultimate lap, Oliveira, running fourth, dove under Miller into Turn One and pushed wide, opening the door for Marquez to slam through for the final podium position.
Francesco Bagnaia (1) snatched the Sprint Race win from Jorge Martin (89) on the last lap. Miguel Oliveira (88) tried to pass Jack Miller in Turn One and both ran wide, allowing Marc Marquez (93) to slice through for the final podium spot. Photo by Michael Gougis.
On the last lap, Martin waited late to hit the brakes going into Turn Five, trying to defend against Bagnaia. But Martin was too late on the brakes, ran wide and Bagnaia was through and eased away to win by 0.307-second at the finish line.
Fabio Quartararo (20) started the sprint race from the fourth row, dropped to the back of the field due to Joan Mir’s crash at the start and fought back to 10th by the end of the 12-lap Sprint Race. Photo by Michael Gougis.
Maverick Vinales (12) beat teammate Aleix Espargaro (41) to fifth, the highest placing for the Aprilia squad. Photo by Michael Gougis.
Americans Joe Roberts (Above) and Sean Dylan Kelly (Below) qualified 19th and 24th for Sunday’s Moto2 race. Photos by Michael Gougis.
3, 2, 1… SPRINT! History made on the last lap as Pecco pips Martin and Marquez fends off Miller
12 laps, 22 riders, and one incredible debut for the Tissot Sprint: seven names fight it out for the podium and the win gets decided on the final lap
The start of the MotoGP Sprint race Saturday in Portugal. Photo courtesy Dorna.
Saturday, 25 March 2023
The first Tissot Sprint was a stunner. 12 laps, 22 riders and a last lap finish! Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) came out on top as the final push came down to a duel, piling the pressure on Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) in the last few laps and finding a way through as the Spaniard headed ever so slightly wide. The fight for third was a mammoth battle from the off, too, with seven riders fighting for the top three throughout and ultimately, the rider on pole taking his first medal of the season: Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team).
Marc Marquez got the holeshot despite a spectacular attack from a fast-starting Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team), but Bagnaia took over in second early on as a red duel let Martin also pickpocket into third. Marquez, Bagnaia, Martin and Bastianini was the initial leading quartet, with Marquez defending the lead until the final few metres of Lap 1.
Bagnaia and Martin then struck for the front and got past the number 93, with the leading trio enjoying a little breathing space for a few corners. Miguel Oliveira (CryptoData RNF MotoGP™ Team) had struck back into fourth too, and soon Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was also past Bastianini.
Drama then hit for the number 23, with Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) losing the front on the inside and rider and machine sliding into the factory Ducati, leaving the Beast nowhere to go. Meanwhile, further contact a little further back had also seen Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) overcook it against Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™), with the Spaniard making contact and crashing out, and the Frenchman losing time.
Back at the front, Bagnaia led Martin led Marquez, with Miller moving up into fourth past Oliveira. Then came Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) vs Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) vs Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), but Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) was also intent on joining that party. So he did, and Bezzecchi crashed out of it not long after.
With nine to go, Martin slipped past Bagnaia for the lead as Marquez dug in ahead of Miller and Oliveira. Soon enough, the battle was truly on. Miller and Oliveira passed Marquez, and then the Australian picked Bagnaia’s pocket for second. By six to go, Miller hit the front, but Martin hit back. The chopping and changing let the Aprilia Racing pair also catch up, and it all bubbled up to one duel and one serious fight for third.
As Martin and Bagnaia started to inch away, the two-man decider for Tissot Sprint glory was set. The reigning Champion was gaining and gaining, and finally the door opened ever so slightly on the final lap – with Martin wide and Pecco through. It remained close to the line but the #1 remained so on track, taking that coveted first Sprint win as Martin was forced to settle for second.
Meanwhile, Miller vs Oliveira vs Marquez, plus two factory Aprilias intent on beating each other, set up a stunning grandstand finish in the fight to join Bagnaia and Martin’s date with Prosecco. Marquez had even enjoyed a two for one as the Australian and Portuguese rider went head to head at Turn 1, and once the number 93 was through, there was no looking back. The eight-time World Champion took the spoils.
Heartbreak for Oliveira later in the lap saw him overcook it and drop back in that fight, with Miller suffering no such bad luck and taking a hard fought fourth. Fifth went to Viñales as he won the factory Aprilia war, with Aleix Espargaro sixth and Oliveira crossing the line seventh. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) pipped Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) to P8, with that leaving Quartararo just outside the points in the first Sprint. El Diablo made progress after the early drama with Mir, taking P10 and just off the number 73 ahead.
That’s it: history is made and it’s Bagnaia who takes the biggest spoils on Saturday. But tomorrow, the grid is reset and Marc Marquez returns to pole position, with another 25 laps to be raced. Join us at 14:00 (GMT+1) for more!
Francesco Bagnaia (1) leading Jorge Martin (89) and Marc Marquez (93) during the Sprint race in Portugal. Photo courtesy Dorna.
QUOTES: TOP 3
FRANCESCO BAGNAIA: “I enjoyed it, sincerely. It was fun, it was very fun! It was difficult with the wind because it was the first time we had the wind going in the opposite direction, compared to the test and yesterday. But I had fun, I enjoyed it a lot and I had in mind that the race was long so I took my time in the first part of the race. Then in the last part I just tried to push and I saw that Jorge had better traction but had more problems than me with the front end. So I just used this kind of the things I was better at to overtake. I was thinking it was shorter, but finally it took a long time, but I enjoyed it a lot!”
JORGE MARTIN: “For sure I’m happy with the 2nd place. But for sure, I would like to have that first position! I made a mistake on the last lap and Pecco overtook me but he was super fast in the last two laps. I have been struggling all weekend with the soft rear so I hope tomorrow we have a little bit more. But yeah I’m confident, I led for many laps so I’m gaining some confidence back and think we are ready for tomorrow!”
MARC MARQUEZ: “It was physical. I used all my physical side to compensate, especially in the braking points and especially to go into the corners sliding, because in the Sprint you can do this. It’s only twelve laps, and then I used a lot of energy but I need to recover the time somewhere. Where I can recover time is in the braking points, and there I am taking a lot of risks. But yeah today we did an amazing job. I want to congratulate the team because yesterday we were late at night, checking the small details. They even said to me ‘OK the bike is like this but you can improve this and this in your riding style.’ Sometimes to say this to a guy who has won many races and many championships is difficult, but we have the confidence in each other and this helps me a lot. This morning I was concentrated. It’s not a bad way to start the season, but tomorrow is the most important race which will be a bit more difficult, but in a short time we can do it.”
Salač snatches first Moto2™ pole from Canet and Acosta
The Czech rider is the first from his nation to take pole in the class, denying two pre-season favourites the chance
Filip Salač is the first Czech rider ever to take pole in Moto2™, with the QJMotor Gresini Moto2™ rider putting in a stunner to just get the better of Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40) at the Grande Premio Tissot de Portugal. Top in testing and hot favourite heading in, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) completes the front row.
Celestino Vietti (Fantic Racing) heads up Row 2 but has a Double Long Lap pending from Valencia 2022, which could hamper his race. The likes of Tony Arbolino and Elf Marc VDS Racing teammate Sam Lowes will want to move forward from P8 and P9, as will Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) from P12 and the likes of Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) and Alonso Lopez (CAG Speed Up), right behind the Brit.
See the full timesheets below and gear up for the first intermediate class race of the season on Sunday from 12:15 (GMT+1)!
Sasaki smashes lap record for pole
The pre-season favourite pulls clear of rookie Rueda, with Kelso third for his first front row
Looking back at 2022, Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) is very much an expected contender for the crown this year. And it’s off to a good start, with the Japanese rider smashing the old lap record for the first pole position of 2023.
Red Bull KTM Ajo’s new rookie on the block, Jose Antonio Rueda, starts second as his hype carry over into the weekend. On his third GP start, qualifying nearly 20 places higher than his previous best speaks well of his season ahead… and that’s as he arrives as the first rider to win both the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies and JuniorGP™ crowns in the same year.
Joel Kelso (CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP) takes third and, like for Rueda, it’s his first front row in Grand Prix racing, with a previous best of fifth. Friday’s fastest, Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3), just missed out on the front row.
One of the expected contenders facing the biggest fight back is Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) as he starts in P16.
Who will take first honours? Tune in for the first Moto3™ showdown of the season on Sunday at 11:00 (GMT +1) to find out!
More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing:
TOP-9 RESULT IN FIRST-EVER SPRINT RACE FOR MARQUEZ
Portimao was the stage for the first, spectacular sprint race ever, which also marked the opening encounter of 2023. After a disastrous qualifying, with Alex Marquez only 13th and Fabio Di Giannantonio all the way down in 21st place, both Team Gresini Racing MotoGP riders managed to make amends by finishing the race – with the Spaniard also able to score a point thanks to a ninth-place finish.
A mistake towards the halfway point of the race prevented the Spanish rider from battling with today’s fastest riders, but Marquez still did a good job to attack and at the same time to fend off Quartararo’s attacks – as he wrapped up the Sprint Race point-scoring top nine.
Fabio Di Giannantonio also did a good job as he tried to recovered the lost confidence as he made up several positions while also staying upright aboard his Ducati #49. The first full race of the season will get underway tomorrow at 14:00 local time (GMT +1).
9th – ALEX MARQUEZ #73 (1 point)
“Everyone was a bit nervous and the race was a complicated one, especially as we started from 13th place on the grid. Too bad for that mistake at halfway point at turn five, as without that I could have raced with the front group. Too bad that I didn’t overtake Zarco, we had the pace to do it, but it was important to start with confidence and without mistakes. We know now what we need to work on and on paper we have a pace to do better tomorrow.”
16th – FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO #49
“The good thing is that it was a fun race and we managed to battle a little. Unfortunately we started on the backfoot this weekend compared to the other riders, and we need to make up some ground for the race. Let’s put the first sprint race in our CV and let’s keep working.”
More, from a press release issued by RNF MotoGP Team:
Strong first Sprint Race by Oliveira and Fernandez in Portimao
The CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team experienced an emotional Saturday at the Portuguese Grand Prix, with Miguel Oliveira, the local hero, battling for a podium position in the first-ever Sprint Race in the MotoGP World Championship, and Raul Fernandez making impressive gains in just 12 laps in sunny and windy conditions.
After a challenging Friday and some contusions on his left leg following a heavy crash, Oliveira was fully motivated to make up for lost ground on Saturday at his home circuit, the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve and so he did. The home hero delivered an incredible Qualifying one to make it to P2 in order to get the last ticket for Q2. In Qualifying two, he delivered once again posting the fourth fastest time and earning a spot at the front of the second row for the race on Sunday, and also for the first-ever sprint race in MotoGP history today.
Starting there, he managed to stay inside the top five for quite a while, and even went up to P4 on the fifth lap of the race. During the final three laps of the short sprint, he had a strong battle with Marc Marquez and Jack Miller and even managed to position himself in third place on the last lap. However, an unfortunate mistake on the brake cost him valuable meters, and he ultimately crossed the line in seventh.
Meanwhile, his young teammate, who also suffered from a tough Friday improved gradually. In Qualifying one Fernandez went nearly half a second quicker than yesterday, but in the ultra-competitive MotoGP field, it was still not enough to claim a decent starting position. Yet, the Spaniard needed to start from P20 on the grid. But he made up the first position already in sector one, moved two more places towards the front at the end of the first lap to find himself in P17. Halfway through the short race, he was already in P12 and even pushed further at the end, to eventually grab P11 on the line.
Sunday’s race will feature the first full race distance in 2023, with both CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP riders preparing for the 25-lap race after the Warm Up at 09:45 local time (10:45 CET) and the race starting at 14:00 local time (15:00 CET).
MIGUEL OLIVEIRA
“Of course, it would have been much nicer to be in third place, but it’s not a huge disappointment as we still have a full race tomorrow. I went wide during the last lap as I was braking a bit too much in the wrong place, so I just went off track and couldn’t make the corner with the wind inside of the bike. It’s a shame, but it’s still three points. We have another chance tomorrow, plus we have an opportunity to prepare the bike a bit better for the main race.”
RAUL FERNANDEZ
“It was a bad Qualifying and not what I expected. To be honest, I am not quite familiar yet with the bike when I have to use the new tyre for the time attack. The pace was always good, but now you have the Sprint Race with 12 laps, and when you start on the last row of the grid, it’s hard to recover. But I came back and I was really happy. We will have another opportunity tomorrow, and if we do more or less like today, we can fight back for Top 11. The goal is to enjoy and we will soon get used to this new format within the next couple of rounds.”
More, from a press release issued by GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3:
ROOKIE FERNANDEZ ALREADY LOOKING FORWARD TO SUNDAY’S RACE FOLLOWING DISAPPOINTING SPRINT IN PORTIMAO
With teammate Pol Espargaro absent following his accident on Friday, rookie Augusto Fernandez was the only GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 rider to get on with the Portuguese Grand Prix action today. In addition to experiencing a Saturday for the first time as a MotoGP™ rider, he also faced the new MotoGP™ World Championship format, composed of a Practice 3 and the qualifying sessions in the morning, and the MotoGP™ Sprint in the afternoon.
After a good day in the office on Friday, Augusto Fernandez faced his first qualifying session in the MotoGP™ class this morning. He continued to make improvements on the rollercoaster, and managed to improve his lap time in the first qualifying session of the season, to 1’38.464, getting him a P19 start for his debuts in both the Sprint and the race on Sunday.
Augusto Fernandez lined up on his GASGAS RC16 for the first time of the season, all set for a twelve lap-sprint. Unfortunately, the rookie faced a technical issue on his bike, leaving him with no other option than retiring. It is not an ideal start to the 2023 campaign, but both Fernandez and the GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 team will look forward to Sunday’s race.
Augusto Fernandez
Position: DNF
Championship: NC
Points: 0
“I was quite happy with my lap time in qualifying this morning as I managed to improve from yesterday. I was still far from the other guys because they were flying, but it was a positive point for me. I was really happy with the setup of the bike, so I was looking forward to the race. Unfortunately, we encountered an issue related to the gearing at the race start. I already felt it when I went on the grid, and then I had to retire within the first lap. We will need to look into it tonight. Of course I am disappointed because it was my first MotoGP start and I needed the experience, but luckily we already have another chance tomorrow, and I think that we can do a good job in the race.”
Nicolas Goyon
Team Manager
“First of all, we all wish a speedy recovery to Pol Espargaro following his nasty crash on Friday. He is a fighter and we know that he is already thinking of coming back racing, but he will now need to focus on himself and getting better. The whole team is behind him and we will be waiting for him.
On the other side of the garage, Augusto Fernandez has been having a really positive weekend and has improved at every session so I think that we were all looking forward to seeing what he could do in the sprint. Unfortunately, he had a technical issue in the warm up lap, which forced him to start the race from second gear, and without strategy. As a consequence, it destroyed the clutch. This issue is still under investigation from our end, but it is a big shame for him. I am sure that he will be even more hungry for tomorrow’s race.
Finally, I would like to congratulate Jack Miller on his unbelievable race and it showed all Pierer Mobility Group riders that we have a bike with potential, so thank you to the Pierer Mobility Group for their continued support.”
More, from a press release issued by Mooney VR46 Racing Team:
DOUBLE CRASH FOR THE MOONEY VR46 RACING TEAM IN THE FIRST SPRINT RACE IN PORTUGAL
After a good start, Bezzecchi and Marini are forced to retire
Portimao (Portugal), March 25th 2023 – The first sprint race in MotoGP history ends with a double retirement for the Mooney VR46 Racing Team in Portugal. A shorter epilogue than expected for Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini, both forced to retire after a crash on the Ducati Desmosedici GP of the Tavullia Team.
Started from the eighth box on the grid, a placement also valid for tomorrow’s GP (02.00 pm local time), Marco ends the first lap in 11th place. Fighting in the group to climb up the standings towards the podium, he crashes at turn 14 (P7) without being able to get back on track to cross the finishing line.
Similar fate also for Luca, starting from the third row (P9). After a good start, a crash knocked him out on the second lap when he was in P7.
LUCA MARINI – 10
A difficult race and day: in the free practices I crashed in the out lap with a cold tire, I made a mistake. On the other hand, in the race I leaned too hard in the corners and crashed. I’m very sorry for Enea (Bastianini) and I hope he can recover soon, the bike hit him. The previous lap I had done the same type of overtaking, again at turn five, on Maverick (Viñales): I tried then again and lost the front. Tomorrow will be a demanding race, there are many fast riders. Jack (Miller) and the Aprilia has surprised me, Marc (Marquez) too. The start was very complex, it’s a question of creating spaces without touching anyone. For the show I think it was incredible, but we were maybe close to the limit.
MARCO BEZZECCHI – 72
A difficult race to interpret: in the first three corners, after the start, it was impressive. I lost a lot of ground and was forced to recover. I tried not to be too aggressive, to manage the distance well to arrive strong in the last laps. At turn 14 I hit a bump, I lost the front and couldn’t avoid the crash. It wasn’t the start I expected, I made a mistake and I hope to recover tomorrow.
More, from a press release issued by Monster Energy Yamaha:
DIFFICULT FIRST 2023 SPRINT FOR MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA MOTOGP IN PORTUGAL
Portimao (Portugal), 25th March 2023
GRAND PRIX OF PORTUGAL
SPRINT
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Fabio Quartararo showed his relentless determination in MotoGP‘s first-ever Sprint. Despite a troubled opening lap, he recovered to 10th position at the chequered flag. Morbidelli made progress in the 12-lap contest. Starting from P17, he rode to 14th place before crossing the finish line.
10th FABIO QUARTARARO +5.924 / 12 LAPS
14th FRANCO MORBIDELLI +17.138 / 12 LAPS
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Fabio Quartararo made a strong comeback in today‘s 12-lap MotoGP Sprint at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. Starting from 11th on the grid, he found himself at the back of the pack at the end of the first lap but fought his way back to a top-10 finish. Morbidelli had his work cut out for him, starting from 17th on the grid. He was on an upward trajectory in the opening laps and crossed the finish line in 14th place.
Quartararo had a nightmare of a first lap. After a bad start and a collision with Joan Mir, he dropped to the back of the pack to 19th. But the Frenchman is made of strong stuff; he regrouped and then started to climb back up the order. By lap 5 he was back into the top 10. He kept pushing, setting occasional fastest and personal best sector times. On the last lap, he engaged in a battle with Alex Marquez but couldn‘t manage to keep hold of ninth place. He took the chequered flag in the first MotoGP Sprint in tenth position, 5.924s from the race leader. However, as points in Sprints are rewarded from first to ninth position, he found himself just outside the points.
Starting from 17th position, Morbidelli avoided trouble in the chaotic opening lap. He was in 15th position as they passed the start-finish line for the first time. The Italian was battling in the midpack and later rose through the rankings together with his teammate, moving up to 13th place with nine laps to go. However, on the next go-around, he lost a position to Alex Rins. Morbidelli kept pushing but was unable to make a move. The remainder of the race was a lone ride for him. He finished in 14th place, 17.138s from first.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
TEAM DIRECTOR
We had obviously hoped for a much better start to the season, but today wasn‘t our day. Whilst our riders‘ pace and speed were decent during this morning‘s FP, our competitors made a big step on the soft tyre in qualifying. Starting the Sprint from P11 and P17 was always going to be tricky. Fabio had a bad start, and to make matters worse, he then got clipped by another rider on the opening lap. It effectively ended his chances to fight for the points today, although he did still come really close thanks to his strong comeback. Morbidelli started from 17th, which is much further back than we would have liked, but he made up some positions in the race and finished 14th. Clearly, we have work to do as a team to make sure we get better results tomorrow. The Sprint has given us data and ideas of where we can improve. We will have a 10-minute warm-up session to quickly try some last setting amendments, and then we will look to make a strong comeback in the Race.
FABIO QUARTARARO
I had an issue with the launch control in the beginning and then also a touch with Joan Mir. I tried to make a comeback as far as I could, but it was not an easy job, and I tried to manage to get the best place possible. I did see in today’s Sprint that my pace was good. Hopefully tomorrow we will have fixed the launch control, and over 25 laps I think we can be quite fast.
FRANCO MORBIDELLI
This afternoon was very tough for me. This morning I had a decent feeling, I was pretty good. This afternoon, we were planning on improving, but instead we got worse. We are investigating why.
More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:
SPRINT RACE AT PORTIMAO
IN THEIR FIRST WEEKEND WITH FOUR BIKES ON THE TRACK, APRILIA PLACES THREE IN THE TOP SEVEN FOR THE SPRINT RACE THAT KICKED OFF THE MOTOGP SEASON
CONSISTENTLY IN THE LEADING GROUP, THE RS-GP MACHINES FINISHED FIFTH WITH VIÑALES, SIXTH WITH ESPARGARÓ, AND SEVENTH WITH OLIVEIRA WHO LOST THE PODIUM POSITION ON THE FINAL LAP
ALEIX: “WE ARE FASTER THAN WE THOUGHT”
MAVERICK: “WE’RE HERE, AND WE’RE EXTREMELY FAST!”
The first Sprint Race in MotoGP history launched the 2023 season, providing spectators with a great show and showing that Aprilia is an absolute contender in the championship, occupying three of the top seven position at its début with four RS-GP machines on the track. After taking three bikes through to Q2 – the two factory riders, Espargaró and Viñales, were joined by Miguel Oliveira from satellite team CryptoDATA RNF – the RS-GPs proved that they are extremely competitive in the race. Maverick Viñales, starting from the third row, demonstrated a pace worthy of the podium, but questionable contact with Álex Márquez initially and then the accident ahead of him involving Marini and Bastianini cost him quite a few positions. Armed with a great pace, consistently at 1’38/low 1’39, he recovered positions, but the short, 12-lap race kept him from moving any farther up in the rankings. His final fifth place, just 1.8 seconds behind the winner, and the speed he demonstrated rank him among the favourites for the race tomorrow.
Aleix Espargaró, who started from the fourth row, executed a similar comeback to finish sixth, just behind Maverick. The outstanding seventh-place finish earned by Oliveira, of the CryptoDATA RNF satellite team is worth a mention – a nice placement, but Miguel lost the third-place position, which he had been occupying until the final lap, when he ran long just a few turns from the end.
It was a great test of strength for the Italian manufacturer, since even young Raul Fernandez, on the satellite team, cut a fine figure, finishing eleventh after a great comeback from the twentieth spot on the grid.
In short, Aprilia has confirmed its role in the spotlight of this MotoGP season.
Aleix
“I am truly satisfied, not only with the result, but because I am convinced that our speed is better than we thought. Unfortunately, the Sprint Race was conditioned by less than perfect qualifiers. Starting twelfth is not idea, although both Maverick and I were among the best in the race today in terms of pace. Not bad, since I always say that I like to learn from small mistakes and we’ll exploit everything we learned today. Tomorrow things will be different. Rear tyre choice will be crucial and, looking at today, the RS-GP showed that it treats the tyres well.”
Maverick
“I had fun in the race. We were extremely fast, especially in the second part. Unfortunately, I lost a bit of time after an accident ahead of me. From that moment on, I just focused on defending every position and giving it my all. From this first Sprint Race we learned above all that starting up front is crucial because in the beginning I had a lot of contact with other riders and that doesn’t help. At the end, I had rubber marks all over my leathers. In any case, we’re here and things are working properly! And that is the most important thing.”
More, from a press release issued by KTM Factory Racing:
KTM CHARGE TO THE SECOND ROW IN FIRST MOTOGP™ QUALIFIER AND SEAL 4TH AFTER INAUGURAL SPRINT IN PORTUGAL
MotoGP 2023 – Round 1 of 21, Algarve International Circuit – Qualification and Sprint
The highlight of the first day of MotoGP qualification and the first ever ‘Sprint’ was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jack Miller taking 5th position at a warm and sunny Algarve International Circuit. The first Saturday of the 2023 season was a hectic one with qualifying followed by the 12-lap Sprint in which the Australian led and finally finished 4th at the Grande Premio TISSOT de Portugal.
Jack Miller and Brad Binder end qualification with 5th and 15th positions on the grid respectively
The Australian and South African score 4th and 12th in the short and intense Sprint with the KTM RC16s
Miller shatters the lap-record on Friday during Practice 2 and goes quicker on Saturday
Jose Rueda 2nd fastest in Moto3™ and Pedro Acosta on the front row for Moto2™
Jack Miller smashed the lap record by one second during Practice 2 on Friday to head into Q2 as the top ranked rider. He then went faster again but was denied a third fantastic flyer at Pole Position by a slow speed crash at Turn 3. Miller will start the Grand Prix race from 5th and the middle of the second row. Brad Binder was dealing with a stiff neck and shoulder but logged a lap-time good enough to be 15th fastest after Q1 and less than a second from Pole Position.
At 3pm Red Bull KTM Factory Racing lined-up for the first ever MotoGP Sprint: 12 laps of intense action with world championship points at stake and early bragging rights. Miller and Binder filled their grid slots and went full-gas. Miller harnessed all the grip of his soft tire selection and moved up from the fringe of the top five to lead with a thrilling move at Turn 13. He couldn’t quite keep Marc Marquez at bay and took 4th by the checkered flag. Binder was on the edge of the top ten after being bustled in the opening corners and was pipped to the line, eventually taking 12th.
The team and riders will now reset and review their configuration for the full-length 25-lap Grand Prix on Sunday at 14.00 GMT.
Jack Miller, 5th in qualification, 4th in the Sprint: “I was a bit nervous and didn’t know what to expect but it’s safe to say the first Sprint was a success. We threw our nose into the lead there for a little bit. I enjoyed that race a lot. The team and the engineers have been working tirelessly. I’m not a good test rider: I’m a racer! I enjoy risking when it’s worth it. We’ve made some big improvements and we’re showing some potential. It’s been a progression and every time we go out it’s getting better and better. More and more seat time is really helping me. We will have a different strategy for tomorrow and hopefully we can make that work.”
Brad Binder, 15th in qualification, 12th in the Sprint: “The Sprint was a lot of fun. It was pretty wild and I was hung out to dry by other riders on the first lap and that cost me a lot of time. This weekend hasn’t been easy for me so far but I know what I need to do: I have to get fit again because I have been really struggling with my neck and shoulder on the bike. I’ll try and do a good job tomorrow and get some valuable points.”
Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “A great Friday that allowed Jack to get to Q2 directly with the lap-record. Unfortunately, we know Brad is not in the best condition and we need to give him time to come back to his best level. Jack started well from the second row and fought for the podium until the end of the race: It was a good start of the season and a very good Sprint. It was strange for us to be on the grid on Saturday afternoon and we are trying to extract as much information as possible to see if we can use data for the Sunday race. We will see how this goes, but, I’m sure all the fans enjoyed this extra show! We’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
Results Qualifying MotoGP Grande Premio TISSOT de Portugal
1. Marc Marquez (ESP) Honda 1:37.226
2. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati +0.064
3. Jorge Martin (ESP) Ducati +0.228
5. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.323
15. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.879
Results MotoGP Sprint Grande Premio TISSOT de Portugal
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati 19:52.862
2. Jorge Martin (ESP) Ducati +0.307
3. Marc Marquez (ESP) Honda +1.517
4. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +1.603
12. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +8.384
More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:
Magic Marquez converts 92nd career pole to debut Sprint podium
Marc Marquez surprised even himself as he secured a record-breaking pole and converted it into a history-making podium in the first MotoGP Sprint.
Saturday, March 25, saw history made as the MotoGP World Championship contested its first ever Sprint race. The morning started with pure excitement and elation for the Repsol Honda Team as Marc Marquez went through Q1 with just a single run, bettering the lap record set by Jack Miller the previous day. This was the converted into a truly spectacular performance in Q2 as Marquez again improved on the lap record to take a sensational pole position. Repsol Honda Team teammate Joan Mir narrowly missed out on the second transfer spot and secured 14th on the grid for his MotoGP debut on the Honda RC213V.
Tension filled the air as the MotoGP class lined up for the Sprint race, an incredible 12-lap contest awaiting them. From pole position, Marquez got an explosive start as he and his Repsol Honda Team RC213V rocketed off the line to lead the first lap. Defending well for the opening laps, the #93 was able to maintain his position in the leading group and waited as the riders ahead battled. In the final moments of the race, Oliveira and Miller opened a gap and the eight-time World Champion was able to attack – moving up into third.
With his 64th premier class pole, Marquez’s 1’37.226 set a new outright lap record around the Portuguese circuit. This is Marc Marquez’s first pole position since the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix and his first pole in dry conditions since the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix – some 1,253 days ago. Marc Marquez heads into Sunday with seven World Championship points, third in the World Championship standings.
From 14th on the grid Mir was immediately locked into a tense battle with the riders around him. Recovering positions and already showing a pace faster than those ahead, the #36 began to pick his way forward and passed several riders on the opening lap. Unfortunately Turn 13 would see Mir’s race come to an end as he lost the front, colliding with Fabio Quartararo as a result.
Racing continues tomorrow, Sunday March 26, as the Portuguese Grand Prix is scheduled to run at 15:00 Local Time. This will be a full-distance race, 25 laps where Marc Marquez will again start in pole position.
Marc Marquez
THIRD
“Well, today was really a surprising day but it was a great day, it helped to restore a lot of confidence for myself and the team. Starting with the pole, honestly, I don’t know how I was able to find this time – it was much faster than I had been before. It’s a good advantage to start from pole position and we were able to fight in the Sprint race. When I saw Oliveira and Miller go wide, I knew this was my chance and I attacked. The new format is very demanding, but I think this short race was a good show for the fans. Tomorrow is what really counts and will show where we are more I think.”
Joan Mir
DNF
“Starting in 14th is a lottery, you have a lot of riders around you who are very eager to recover positions as quickly as possible. It was a very aggressive start to the race because of this, I think if we were starting up higher then we could show our true pace. We have good pace for the race tomorrow, so this makes me feel more confident if everything is more calm at the start. I also want to apologise to Fabio for the contact.”
More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda Idemitsu:
FIRST SPRINT FOR TAKAAKI NAKAGAMI AT PORTIMAO
2023 means the start of new formats during the MotoGP weekends, and the Sprint is one of them. LCR Honda IDEMITSU rider Takaaki Nakagami has pushed and fought throughout the 12 laps in Portimao and has finished 15th.
After qualifying 18th this morning, the Japanese carried out the first-ever kind of race and gathered valuable information to provide the team and HRC. On Sunday, he will occupy the same grid position and have another chance to keep pushing and progressing, as the season’s first race will take place at 14.00 CET.
Takaaki Nakagami 15th
“The first lap of the Sprint race was particular, with many crashes. Everyone was aggressive; this is what I expected because it’s only 12 laps, so you need to be very strong at the beginning of the race. Honestly, my performance was not the best, but we have another chance tomorrow, 25 laps. That’s a long race, so I need to get some data from the sprint race to understand where to improve. We need to generate more rear grip.”
More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda Castrol:
FIRST SPRINT FOR ALEX RINS AT PORTIMAO
2023 means the start of new formats during the MotoGP weekends, and the Sprint is one of them. LCR Honda CASTROL rider Alex Rins has pushed and fought throughout the 12 laps in Portimao and has finished 13th.
After qualifying 16th this morning, the Spaniard has carried out the first-ever kind of race with his Honda and has gathered valuable information to provide the team and HRC. On Sunday, he will occupy the same grid position and have another chance to keep pushing and progressing, as the first race will take place at 14.00 CET.
Alex Rins 13th
“We made a really good start, but many people were over the limit, so we tried to stay focused. The wind was so high compared to practice this morning and yesterday. In the race, at one point, I was trying to catch the riders in front, but I couldn’t so let’s try to give a little more tomorrow. We took much information from the Sprint because the conditions will be the same for the GP race, so let’s see. Now, I am losing a bit in acceleration. In the Sprint, the grip from the rear tire didn’t come, so I couldn’t get the benefit of the soft tire.”
More, from a press release issued by Ducati:
Ducati one-two in Portimão. Bagnaia wins the Sprint Race in Portugal ahead of Jorge Martín (Pramac Racing)
Enea Bastianini, involved in a crash on the second lap, will have to sit out tomorrow’s race and the Argentina GP due to a fracture in his right shoulder blade
Francesco Bagnaia wrote another page of history today at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão, Portugal, stage of this weekend’s opening Grand Prix for the 2023 MotoGP World Championship. The Ducati Lenovo Team rider was the first to win the new sprint race, introduced this year, thus taking the lead in the overall standings.
As he was starting with the second fastest time, Bagnaia took the lead soon after the lights went out. Overtaken first by the Desmosedici GP machine of Jorge Martín (Pramac Racing) and then by former teammate Jack Miller, Pecco managed to regain the lead on the last lap and win the first Sprint Race in MotoGP history. With Martín second, today was Ducati’s first one-two for the 2023 season.
For the Ducati Lenovo Team, however, this was a bittersweet Saturday following Enea Bastianini’s injury. Starting with the sixth fastest time, Enea had managed to stay in the fight for the top positions after the start, but on the second lap, he was involved in Luca Marini’s (VR46 Racing Team) crash, suffering a fracture of his right shoulder blade. Bastianini will therefore be forced to miss tomorrow’s race and the Argentina GP scheduled for next week.
Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st
“Today, we had to adopt a completely different strategy than in a traditional race. Normally you have to wait for a few laps before starting to push and manage the tyres well, but in the Sprint Race, you must push right away. I struggled a bit in the first few laps because of the wind, but I saw that my rivals were also suffering, so I waited for a few laps to attack. When I saw that my front-end feeling was better than Martín’s, I tried to close the gap and then pass him on the last lap. Now we have to stay focused on tomorrow’s race. I am very sorry for Enea’s injury, and I wish him a speedy recovery, hoping he will be back with us soon!”
Luigi Dall’Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager)
“Pecco did an incredible race, and I am happy that he took this win in the first Sprint Race of the season. Now we must stay focused and work to be just as ready for tomorrow’s race. Unfortunately, with Enea’s injury, it was a bittersweet day for us. We hope he can recover soon and get back on track with us as soon as possible.”
The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back on track tomorrow at 9:45am for the warm-up, while the Portuguese GP will start at 2pm local time, over a 25-lap distance.
It was Álvaro Carpe’s first Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup race but the 15-year-old Spaniard fought his more experienced fellow countryman Angel Piqueras for the win all the way to the last lap.16-year-old Piqueras just found a touch extra to win the first race of season 17 by 0.673 second over Carpe with Rico Salmela, the 15-year-old Finn taking an excellent 3rd less than 2 seconds further back at the Portimão finish line.
It was much more than a two KTM race with a host of early leaders including South African 16-year-old Ruché Moodley and Malaysian 15-year-old Hakim Danish enjoying his first Rookies Cup race.
Angel Piqueras had the answer
“I am happy that finally, I could win but it was not an easy race, I had to fight all the way. I planned to make a good start and try to break away but I didn’t get the start I needed and could not get a gap.”
“We were battling all the way and I thought about the last lap. I realised that I could not leave it to the last corners, I had to get ahead and get clear for the last lap. I was able to take another step with the pace and get away just enough on the last lap.”
Álvaro Carpe living the dream
“If you asked me before the race if I would be on the podium I would say no,” he laughed, “Sure No. Now I am on the podium and this is awesome when I was a kid I dreamed of exactly this and I can’t believe that it has happened.”
“Sure I will try and win tomorrow but if I end anywhere on the podium that will be OK… but yes I will try and win.”
Rico Salmela changed style
“At the start of the race I was struggling a bit, I was a bit nervous and I was in the group. In the middle of the group, I settled a bit and got to the front of the group but when I tried to get to the leading two my bike was having a few moments.”
“So I had to change my riding style and that worked, the handling was better and I started to get away from the group and catch the riders on the front. I still need to start the catching a few more laps earlier. I might think about changing the bike for Race two, I had some moments on the rear but I still felt really good on the bike and enjoyed the race.”
Casey O’Gorman not thrilled
“I’m a bit disappointed with the result,” explained the 15-year-old Irishman “Because I felt that I had the pace to go with the front guys but the group I was with were always overtaking and the leaders got away.”
“Then at the end Rico got past, I pushed so hard to catch him but finally I couldn’t. The bike was good but tomorrow I will stay with the front group and not get caught in the group, there is always something that can happen.”
Hakim Danish fighting at the front
“Yes, I am very happy with my first race in the Red Bull Rookies Cup. I was able to lead for a little and I finished P5. I felt good, I tried to fight in the front group but I made a few mistakes and I ran really wide. But I managed to catch the group again and could fight again.”
“We did change the bike after Qualifying, it was better and good for the race, I think it can still be better and we will think if it is worthing trying another change for Race 2.”
Ruche Moodley learning from a single error
“The first lap I led, then coming into the second lap 4 riders overtook me, I didn’t want more riders to overtake me so into turn 3 I passed Rico, so then one rider that was making a pass to the rider in front of him backed out of the pass and I got really close to his wheel, I had to brake hard and the back end came around. I had to go straight.”
“I learned my lesson today, I am not going to make the silly mistake again, I think I can race at the front.”
Broadcast
This weekend’s Rookies Cup races can be seen live on www.redbull.tv and on TV stations around the world.
Note the early times for Race 2 on Sunday morning this season and the switch to summertime this Sunday so: Race 2 is on Sunday at 09:50 CEST, the show starts 10 minutes before the race.
ASBK ’23: Calm Waters At Night, Dunker Dunks on Supersport Regulars
Saturday at SMSP – It All Happens Now
There’s been a number of comparisons over the years between Phillip Island and Sydney Motorsport Park and today it was SMPS’s chance to really shine.
The weather here at SMSP was just as unpredictable as The Island, so there’s that and congrats all round…
Almost joking aside, it did indeed sprinkle down ahead of the warmup sessions for all classes and we spent an inordinate amount of time looking and the rain radar and thoughtfully making rubbish predictions.
Like The Island, Western Sydney does what it does and you best get used to it.
We poor fools, we didn’t know what was coming…
For all weekend results see Computime.com.au
Alpinestars Superbike
The warm-up was declared dry and so Josh Waters naturally went .9 of a second faster than most and Glenn Allerton brought his usual game-day excellence to the caper and was up to P2. At the end of the short session, it was Waters still up top with pole sitter Cru Halliday in second, Allerton third, Bryan Staring looking very good in fourth and Arthur Sissis up to fifth.
Race One
Herfoss, Allerton and Waters all got a ripping start, but it was Josh Waters on that ever-present McMartin Ducati Panigale V4R.
Cru Halliday – by his self-admitted lowly standards – got a great start and was second to Josh Waters who ripped out a 1:34 standing lap, a time that would have once been a pretty good flying lap.
Settling slightly through to lap three, it was Waters from Halliday and Allerton who had Troy Herfoss and Mike Jones for company.
Arthur Sissis had been unable to really launch like the rabbit he usually is and was fifth with Bryan Staring sixth.
Herfoss laid down a big black rubber line that impressed many but cost him four spots. Waters was now out to a half-second lead from Halliday and then a three-second gap back to Allerton in third. Waters’ fastest lap was a 1:29.001 to obliterate the lap record- indeed the top three had already knocked off the lap record.
Bryan Staring was in the 1:29s and was stalking Allerton who had slipped down to fourth after Mike Jones did stealthy Mike Jones things to limit his losses once again.
With nine laps to go, Herfoss was now working his way back into contention, passing Sissis and on a mission to get to Bryan Staring who in turn was all over Glenn Allerton. They swapped positions a few times, allowing Herfoss to get closer still.
A few light drops of rain kept life interesting and uncomfortable, but lap times remained in the 1:29s. Allerton, Staring and Herfoss got into an old school gentleman’s Donnybrook. Halliday was the fastest man on the circuit, but Waters was still .75 up on the factory Yamaha R1M.
At six laps to go, Staring and Herfoss tried to get through on Allerton, but Allerton can late brake like few others and Staring and Herfoss simply swapped spots while leaving Allerton in fourth.
Waters out front was looking composed, while Halliday was clearly not giving up the chase. The gap was now down to .5 of a second, but it felt like Waters was working his lap board pretty well.
Herfoss was finally past Allerton to take fourth position, while Staring remained in sixth.
Waters’ lead was down to just .2 of a second as Halliday was having the “ride of his life” according to commentator Steve Martin.
The cameras cut to Mike Jones’ bike as it massively let go an engine with a huge cloud of blue smoke. Shortly afterwards, the bike caught fire and brought out the red flag to stop the race.
Ten laps had been completed and race direction declared it a done deal. Josh Waters was the winner from pole-sitter Cru Halliday and the ever-present Troy Herfoss.
These were strange days, but Waters was still king.
1 21 Josh WATERS
2 65 Cru HALLIDAY
3 17 Troy HERFOSS
Josh Waters (21). Photo courtesy ASBK.
Race Two
From the second row of the grid, Herfoss blazed away with Arthur Sissis for company. The front-row starters were swamped. Allerton went around the outside of everyone to take the lead. Halliday had just described the back side of the circuit as “sketchy as” and the whole field was now sketching their way through this section.
Allerton led from Halliday, Waters, Herfoss and Staring. Broc Pearson had done a great job and worked his way up to sixth with Artur Sissis shuffled back to seventh, despite being second early in lap one.
Herfoss got the elbows out to pass Waters to then seek out Halliday and ultimately race leader Allerton.
Meanwhile, Mike Jones was down in a lowly eighth position on his second bike and would need to move forward to limit his losses. Waters was past Herfoss for third and he and Halliday were off after Allerton.
Allerton put his hand up down the straight to indicate rain, but new-found waterman Halliday took the lead with his foot down like a motocross rider through turn one and we wondered if there would be a red flag. It was hard to tell if it was raining elsewhere, and the merciful red flag came out after just three laps as the rain really fell in earnest.
Race Two Restart
At the restart- in order they crossed the line a lap earlier- Halliday led the bunch despite not getting the best jump. Sissis did the crazy fast start thing as he is want to do and this time he made it stick and he was third behind Herfoss.
Herfoss moved into the lead while Allerton went around Waters to move into third.
Herfoss went wide at turn six and Halliday politely followed so he wouldn’t feel alone. The rain continued. Mike Jones was back in tenth and struggling once again.
With five laps to run, Waters was out to a three-second lead with a gaggle of chasers: Allerton, Halliday, Herfoss, Sissis and Pearson.
Four laps to go and Waters was absolutely trucking. He was now six seconds up the road and effectively gone. Herfoss moved back into second on a mission like we had rarely seen before. Allerton continued to chase, but Halliday passed him down the straight as we ticked down to three laps remaining. Herfoss ran wide again, but this time lost no places but gave even more time to the seemingly absent Josh Waters who was now eight seconds ahead.
Two laps left and Herfoss was second from Halliday , Sissis and Allerton. The nine-second lead Waters enjoyed continued to grow. Herfoss seemed secure in second place, with Halliday also comfortably ahead of Sissis.
At the finish, it was the dominant shape of the McMartin Ducati Panigale V4R with Josh Waters aboard taking an easy win by 6.3 seconds (he gave them a few seconds on the last lap) from Troy Herfoss, Cru Halliday, Arthur Sissis and Glenn Allerton in fifth.
Five wins from five starts. The only blemish for the entire season to date was the single point missed for pole at round two. While Josh Waters might have been under some pressure leading into the round where he was dominant at the test, the pressure was now all the other way; how will the field respond?
But as Mike Jones had discovered at SMSP; even the seemingly invincible can have a day that goes DNF/10th…
1 21 Josh WATERS
2 17 Troy HERFOSS
3 65 Cru HALLIDAY
Michelin Supersport
Race One
The weather was again all the talk, but the precipitation thankfully stayed away. Pole sitter Sean Condon led them away from pole, but both Hayden Nelson and Tom Bramich fired off the line and were at the front or close to it. A few riders ran wide early and trying to work out who was where was a challenge.
Olly Simpson completed his first racing lap of Sydney Motorsport Park in the lead, Jake Farnsworth put a solid pass on Sean Condon while Olly Simpson was nearly unseated. That gave Farnsworth the opening he needed to take the lead.
Championship leader Ty Lynch was back in seventh while season-long contenders Lytras and Bramich were fifth and sixth.
At the front, Olly Simpson had a big moment and ran wide, allowing the likes of Bramich and Lytras to move forward.
Condon was boxing on and was back up to second and then took the lead via a clever late braking move. Farnsworth nearly threw himself down the road after getting on the gas a little early. Condon was leading and had the fastest lap of the race to boot.
Olly Simpson was working himself back into the caper and was back up to fifth. Passfield had found himself involved in some early bar banging and was down in 14th. Condon ripped out a 1:32.969 to stretch his lead to .7 of a second with six laps to go.
The order settled for the top three with Condon, Jake Farnsworth and Tom Bramich all evenly spaced. The battle was on for fifth with 2022 Supersport 300 champion Cameron Dunker leading a solid group that included John Lytras, Ty Lynch and Hayden Nelson.
At three laps to go, Condon was out to a second-plus gap and set sail for home for his first win of the year. Farnsworth was secure in second place with Bramich also solid in third.
While Farnsworth was able to chip away at Condon’s lead, it certainly felt like Condon was just doing what he needed to chalk up 25 points- which he did. The gap was still a second to second and Tom Bramich was a further 2.5 seconds in third. Olly Simpson was fourth with Cameron Dunker fifth.
1 26 Sean CONDON
2 49 Jake FARNSWORTH
3 44 Tom BRAMICH
Race Two
With a mixed grid of wets and dry tyres and weather conditions that could have been a separate article, it was always going to be a very different sort of race.
Jake Farnsworth was pulled from the grid at the 11th hour due to a faulty rear light.
The wet tyre crew took off as expected, with flat track wonderkid (And baby faced assassin) Cameron Dunker out quickly, but Ty Lynch was first through turns one and two and took off as best he could on what must be wet Michelins.
Olly Simpson- another rider very handy when the going gets weird, was up to second with Dunker settling into third. With about one third of the circuit dry and the rest varyinging degrees of damp, Simpson pushed past Dunker to take second and the top runners were off in an attempt to get away before the circuit got too dry.
Pole man Sean Condon was way down in 20th and would have been screaming for dry running, but it was still too early to say whether slicks were the wrong call.
It was still very wet at turn two, and the lack of a breeze and the high humidity just stopped the drying process.
Up front, Olly Simpson was leading by half a second to Cameron Dunker and a few more seconds back to Ty Lynch. Luke Sanders went down on the exit of turn four, throwing away a chance at a podium finish.
For the regulars, the contenders and past race winners it was a disaster: Lytras was in 10th, Bramich 16th, while Condon was the mover up to 12th.
Passfield was rumored to have chosen the odd combo of a slick front and wet rear, but no matter what he was running, he was still in fourth, just two seconds behind third placed Ty Lynch.
Cameron Dunker is a renowned flat tracker and was a smooth as butter in the mixed conditions. The gap between him and race leader Olly Simpson was down to half a second.
Sean Condon went down at turn six to end his night and really create issues for the once favoured rider for champion in 2023.
Jack Passfield was past Ty Lynch for third, but Lynch was determined to hang on to both Passfield tail and the championship lead.
Dunker continued his march to the lead, and the pressure he was excerting worked when Olly Simpson had a huge moment into turn one with two laps to go. Dunker was able to get .8 ahead almost immediately and set off for his first ever Supersport race win after a championship Supersport 300 year in 2022.
Ty Lynch was slowing significantly and was swamped by a group including Jonathan Nahlous, Dallas Skeer and Scott Nicholson. Lynch was in survival mood.
Dunker still had a .8 second lead into the last lap and was able to hang on for the win in his second-ever event in the Supersport category. Olly Simpson rolled through for second, but it was Scott Nicholson who took third after Passfield was shuffled back to seventh.
Some riders take years to get a race win and /or a round win in Supersport.
It took Cameron Dunker two rounds of Supersport to achieve both goals.
1 3 Cameron DUNKER
2 45 Olly SIMPSON
3 39 Scott NICHOLSON
Supersport 300
Race Two
Brandon Demmery would start from pole in the second Supersport 300 race of the weekend and the second-to-last race before the night sessions began in earnest.
The commentators teased the assembled crowd with the usual weather talk, but we started the race without precipitation, but with Brandon Demmery off the front into turn one. Marcus Hamod had a great start and was up to second and Henry Snell was also away well and into third.
OJC graduate Ryan Larkin was fourth with Jai Russo nipping at his heels. Snell got through Hamod mid-lap while Demmery held a small .1 lead.
The first trip down the straight saw the usual shuffling of the pack with Snell and Larkin being the biggest beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, Race Direction noted the start was once again under investigation.
Cameron Swain had been stalking the field for some time and was now up to third with Ryan Larkin behind him. Swain was soon into the lead, and Demmery was happy to let them lead and observe for a time. Swain had his “I’d like to get away thanks” attitude in full effect and was out to a .5 lead over Snell and Demmery.
At four laps to go, Demmery was back into the lead, dashing Swain’s hopes of a solo win. Russo was in third while Brodie Gawith and Henry Snell were fourth and fifth.
As the laps ran down, there was a clear lead group, but no clear leader. Russo, Swain and Demmery all spent time on the front while Casey Middleton and Cooper Rowntree stayed in contact.
The lead group was seven deep and all were capable of taking the win. Brock Quinlan was down and the race was red flagged with six laps completed due to Quinlan’s bike being in a dangerous place. The lead riders looked at each other, understandably confused about who was the winner.
Race direction declared Cameron Swain the winner from Brandon Demmery and Jai Russo after winding the clock back a lap per the usual red flag rules.
1 26 Cameron SWAIN
2 11 Brandon DEMMERY
3 32 Jai RUSSO
Race Three
The night race for the three hundies was still damp and so the teams took their cues from the just-completed Supersport race where those on wet tyres capitalised.
Cameron Swain jumped away with plenty of company but lead through lap one with Brandon Demmery and Brodie Gawith second and third.
A chase group formed with Luke Jhonston, Henry Snell, Marcos Hamod and Jai Russo all jostling for position. At the head of the group, Demmery and Swain were swapping off but not breaking away.
At six laps to go, it was still Swain and Demmery but they had plenty of willing company, but no definitive challenger for the top spot. Indeed, the leading pair were now out to a small but important lead of about 3.5 seconds.
Not realising that their dicing was going to end with no better result than third, the chasing group continued to box each others ears. The race was now down to Demmery and Swain and they spent the last few laps working out what to do as they headed to the finish.
Swain decided to try to establish a break of his own as he did at Phillip island a few weeks ago. He bever achieved more than a few tenths of a second and perhaps was playing into Demmery’s hands.
Then there were reports of some rain falling- just to ensure the drama had drama on drama.
But Demmery continued to fox behind Swain, absolutely content to let him lead aswe headed into the last lap. Their gar was out to 4 seconds, but Swain decided he’d had enough leading and slowed even more. You lead!… no sir YOU LEAD! But at the line, it was Demmery who picked Swain’s pocket for another win.
Brodie Gawith was third, some 3.3 seconds behind with Henry Snell right behind him
The battle for fifth was dramatic as they tried for five wide over the line but it was Hamod from Knezovic, Middleton, Russo, Jhonston and Josh Newman 10th…
1 11 Brandon DEMMERY
2 26 Cameron SWAIN
3 25 Brodie GAWITH
The bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup
Race Two
Slicks were the go and the go was slick for Bodie Paige who jumped away to a small lead, but with an enthusiastic group chasing. Immediately, race direction noted the start was under investigation after a few nervous clutch hands were faster than the start lights.
By half lap, Bodie had a half second advantage with Archie Schmidt and Ella McCausland fighting for the right be first to chase Bodie.
Of course, this simply allowed Bodie Paige to grind out a slightly bigger gap. But McCausland was having none of it and around the time she took the lead of the race down the main straight she was also announced has having jumped the start.
Whether McCausland knew this via the race direction boards at the track was impossible to say, but she continued to race hard and remained close to or at the front for much of the middle part of the race.
The leading group was now McCausland, Bodie Paige, Riley Nauta, Valentino Knezovic and Hunter Corney rounding out the top five.
At two laps to go, Paige led while McCausland was clearly measuring her run for the finale. Ther riders diced as they do through the last lap, all competing to get into the ideal spot for the run to the line. McCausland led, but seemingly didn’t want to.
The run to the line: McCausland lead them down the straight and inexplicably none we able to make a run past her and she hit the line as the first female to cross the line first in the bLu cRU Oceania Junior Cup.
…then the race direction penalty for a jump start was applied and the win went to Haydn Fordyce from Valentino Knezovic and Bodie Paige in third.
The breakthrough win would have to wait for McCausland.
1 17 Haydn FORDYCE
2 48 Valentino KNEZOVIC
3 74 Bodie PAIGE
Race Three
The final Oceania Junior Cup race of the weekend was an exciting affair with plenty of action from start to finish. Ella Mcausland made a great start, quickly moving up to third after losing out in race two. Meanwhile, Bodie Paige took the lead by half a second and looked comfortable in the opening stages of the race, with the track not entirely wet and the back half dry.
Paige continued to lead the pack, with Nauta and Mcausland battling for second place. However, their fighting allowed Paige to extend his lead to one second on lap three. McAdam went down at turn two, but rejoined the race unharmed.
The lead group eventually split, with Paige signaling to the riders behind him that working together would be the only way to catch up. The group of four began to close in on Paige, but Oscar Lewis went down at turn two and Bodie Paige’s visor apparently started fogging up, causing him to wipe it repeatedly for visibility.
The lead group was now five strong, with a gap of 6 seconds to sixth. However, a mistake from Nixon Frost dropped him several positions from the front of the chasing pack. Mcausland made a great move from fifth to second at turn three, while Nauta was unseated at the exit of turn two, but able to continue.
The first sector was still wet, but Corporate Hill and T9 were drying quickly. Early podium sitter Lazos went down at T2, which claimed its third victim of the race. Paige took advantage of all the battling behind him to open up a multi second gap, eventually claiming a dominant victory.
Archie Schmidt made an impressive move from fourth to second at the turn none hairpin on the last lap, while Nauta and Schmidt claimed the final podium spots. All in all, it was a thrilling race full of ups and downs, and Paige proved to be the strongest rider of the day.
The overall round win went to rookie OJC entrant, New Zealand lad Haydn Fordyce who took up motorcycle racing less than a year ago…!
Piqueras takes split second Rookies Portimão double
Angel Piqueras took an incredible second Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup win by just 0.002 seconds over fellow Spaniard Marcos Ruda in a blanket Portimão finish. Malaysian Hakim Danish was 0.015 seconds back in third 0.001 ahead of Ireland’s Casey O’Gorman.
Saturday’s winner Piqueras was only 4th through the final flat-out downhill left-hander but the 16-year-old pulled out of the 3 KTM slipstream to flash across the line a tyre’s width ahead.
Ruda led through that final turn but the 18-year-old had 15-year-old O’Gorman on his tail and looking the likely winner after a fabulous 14 laps.
By half distance, Màximo Quiles had broken away into a one-second lead that no one could close. The 15-year-old Spaniard then slid off with just 4 laps to go and could only remount and finish 11th. He had been pushed out of Race 1 on Saturday.
Angel Piqueras winning a mystery
“I don’t know how I won that,” he grinned. “I’ll have to look at the replay. On the last lap, I was 4th and didn’t think it was possible.”
“The track is cold this morning, less grip and that changed things, the lap times were faster than yesterday but that is because we had no wind today.”
“Maximo was pushing a lot, he got away and it was not easy to catch him, I don’t know, I was trying, perhaps we could have caught him over the last laps, I don’t know, we were all trying.”
Marcos Ruda from P19 to P2
“What an amazing race, I have no words to describe it. I was back in 19th on the grid, I got a good start and I just pushed and pushed all the way. Maximo was very fast and he got away from us.”
“I got in front at the end and hoped I had enough to win, I knew it was so close at the line and none of us knew who was first. I have to thank everyone who has supported me because last year in Rookies Cup was a tough first season but now I am so happy.”
Hakim Danish a great start to his Cup career
I am so happy with my first podium in Rookies Cup. In the race I felt really good with the bike, we worked hard this weekend and found a good setting. So thanks to everyone supporting me.”
“I pushed to stay in the front group, In the end, I made some good overtakes and got in position to battle at the front. I was trying to win but on the last lap I made a mistake, the wrong gear in turn 5 and I lost the chance. I had to push hard to get back close to the front and on the podium.”
Casey O’Gorman should have won
“I thought I had it, I put myself in the position to be 2nd and have Ruda’s slipstream out of the last corner, Piqueras and Danish came from nowhere.”
“It was .001 to the podium…. but there is always the next one.”
Rico Salmela missing grip
“At the start of the race I was very strong, but by the end of the race I was struggling a bit with the grip of the rear tyre. It was really difficult to get the drive to get the overtakes on corner exit.”
“Still I’m quite happy… I want more but still, I am happy and we continue learning and go on to Jerez.”
Màximo Quiles fastest but…
“The race was very good, I was fast, I opened up a gap. The only thing was that at 4 laps to go I lost the front in turn 5. I tried to pick up the bike as quick as I could and finished P11.”
“In the last 5 laps, I was talking to myself and telling myself to relax in this corner because I crashed 3 times here. I was talking talking and I think I talked myself into it.”
“Still I am happy because I was the fastest and I will come back in Jerez.”
Autodromo Internacional do Algarve (a.k.a. Algarve International Circuit) in Portimão, Portugal. Photo courtesy Dorna.
Sunday-Morning Warm-up Session Notes From Portugal
Alex Marquez Quickest In Morning Warmup: Gresini Racing’s Alex Marquez was fastest in the Sunday morning warm-up session with a lap at 1:38.719, ahead of Fabio Quartararo, Marc Marquez, Jorge Martin and Jack Miller.
Alex Marquez (73) topped the Sunday morning warm-up session in Portugal. Photo by Michael Gougis.
Bastianini Injured: Factory Lenovo Ducati rider Enea Bastianini was ruled out of Sunday’s race at Portugal due to a fractured right shoulder blade. Bastianini was taken out during Saturday’s sprint race by fellow Ducati rider Luca Marini, who was trying to out-brake Bastianini going into Turn Five, hit a bump and lost the front. Bastianini may also be out of action in Argentina.
Mir Penalized: Repsol Honda’s Joan Mir was penalized for colliding with Fabio Quartararo on the first lap of Saturday’s sprint race. Quartararo had made a slight error, opening the door for Mir, and they made side-to-side contact, leaving Mir on the ground. Race Directors gave Mir a long-lap penalty for Sunday’s race, and while Honda appealed the penalty, their appeal was rejected.
Rookies: Jakob Rosenthaler (78) crashed out of Sunday morning’s Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup race.
Provisional Hooligans Main Event Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Shawn Raggio (Har), 12 laps
2. Robert Lewis (Har), -0.390 second
3. Lowell Bronstad (Har), -0.884
4. Kole King (KTM), -1.316 seconds
5. Ethan Rosine (Har), -3.019
6. Josh Young (Har), -3.670
7. Chris Boone (Har), -4.165
8. Trevor Quayle (Har), -4.251
9. Danny Slosser (Har), -4.994
10. Jason Griffin (Duc), -6.645
11. Joseph Houston (Har), -7.013
12. Stace Richmond (KTM), -7.082
13. Sam Cover (KTM), -7.468
14. Charles Holmes (Har), -12.374
15. Erik Hartley (Tri), -13.062
16. Scott Jones (Har), -15.405
Provisional Parts Unlimited AFT Singles Main Event Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Max Whale (KTM), 22 laps
2. James Ott (Hus), -1.483 seconds
3. Dalton Gauthier (KTM), -2.225
4. Trevor Brunner (Yam), -2.371
5. Kody Kopp (KTM), -2.548
6. Morgen Mischler (Hon), -3.305
7. Trent Lowe (Hon), -3.866
8. Chase Saathoff (Hon), -4.048
9. Shayna Texter-Bauman (KTM), -6.019
10. Chad Cose (Hus), -6.292
11. Dan Bromley (Yam), -7.527
12. Kevin Stollings (Hon), -7.597
13. Tom Drane (Yam), -8.418
14. Tanner Dean (KTM), -8.447
15. Cole Zabala (Hon), -8.941
16. Jordan Jean (Hon), -9.536
17. Travis Petton (KTM), -11.077
18. Tyler Raggio (Yam), -12.058
19. Justin Jones (KTM), -17.101
Provisional Mission SuperTwins Main Event Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Jared Mees (Ind), 35 laps
2. Dallas Daniels (Yam), -0.174 second
3. JD Beach (Yam), -6.563 seconds
4. Brandon Robinson (Ind), -6.694
5. Davis Fisher (Ind), -10.009
6. Jarod Vanderkooi (Ind), -11.012
7. Briar Bauman (KTM), -12.579
8. Bronson Bauman (KTM), -13.224
9. Jesse Janisch (KTM), -13.874
10. Ben Lowe (Ind), -14.191
11. Kolby Carlile (Yam), -14.684
12. Johnny Lewis (Roy), -1 lap
13. Billy Ross (Ind), -1 lap, 2.785 seconds
14. Michael Hill (Kaw), -1 lap, 5.573
15. Jeffery Lowery (Yam), -1 lap, 7.098
16. Mitch Harvat (Kaw), -1 lap, 9.590
17. Ryan Wells (Roy), -1 lap, 12.301
18. Jordan Harris (KTM), -1 lap, 16.852
19. Brandon Newman (Kaw), -9 laps, DNF
More, from a press release issued by American Flat Track:
Mees Tops Daniels in Stunning Senoia Short Track
Jared Mees (1). Photo courtesy AFT.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 25, 2023) – Reigning Grand National Champion Jared Mees (No. 1 Indian Motorcycle/Rogers Racing/SDI Racing FTR750) came out victorious following an epic showdown featuring two of Progressive American Flat Track’s biggest stars in an epic Yamaha Senoia Short Track on Saturday evening at Senoia Raceway in Senoia, Georgia.
The Mission SuperTwins presented by S&S Cycle king entered the weekend with the knowledge that his place atop the pecking order was under threat from the fast-rising Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT), who opened his ‘23 title campaign in dominating fashion at Daytona International Speedway two weeks back.
Following a quiet opener by his standards, Mees was at the top of his game in Senoia, locking down the top of the charts pretty much all day long. He then looked to exploit his prime starting position, planning to dart away early and eliminate any potential challenge before it could materialize.
Daniels saw what the factory Indian ace was up to, however. He stuck a hard pass in on teammate JD Beach (No. 95 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT) to slot into second and then put his head down in hopes of reeling Mees back in.
Daniels ultimately arrived on Mees’ rear wheel and at last took the lead at half-distance, just as the two made their way into lapped traffic. The second half of the contest was relentless, with passes for the lead executed on nearly every lap, all the while slashing their way past slower riders.
Mees reclaimed the lead with twenty seconds remaining on the clock and then leaned on his decades of experience advantage to formulate a way to cling on for the victory, as he held the Estenson Yamaha pilot off at the stripe by 0.174 seconds.
“Man, that was a duel… a battle… a fist fight in a phone booth,” Mees said. “We rode super clean; we didn’t touch – we came really close – but I didn’t want to give that one up. I was fighting tooth-and-nail, and he was rolling so good. I felt if I could get in a rhythm early, I could maybe get a gap, but he hung tough. We want this championship bad. We want to keep the #1 plate. It’s going to be super tough. Dallas is super hungry, and you can see it in his riding.”
While the Mees-Daniels showdown was the headliner (and quite possibly a preview of more to come), the battle for third was nearly as exciting. Beach fell into the clutches of Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Indian FTR750), losing the podium position late in the Main, only to snatch the spot back on the race’s final lap.
Meanwhile, Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing Indian FTR750) earned his second top five of the year, outdueling Jarod Vanderkooi (No. 20 JMC Motorsports/Fairway Ford Indian FTR750) following an extended tussle of their own.
Seventh went to Briar Bauman (No. 3 Parts Plus/Jacob Companies KTM 890 Duke), who spent the entire Main Event clawing his way forward after an early incident dropped him well down the order.
He was followed home by his younger brother, Bronson Bauman (No. 37 Fastrack Racing/2 Wheelz KTM 890 Duke), in eighth, while Jesse Janisch (No. 33 KTM/Haversack/Z-Max 890 Duke) and Ben Lowe (No. 25 Rackley Racing/Mission Foods Indian FTR750) rounded out the top ten.
Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER
Two-time Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER championship runner-up Max Whale (No. 18 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-F) earned his first victory of the ‘23 season in convincing fashion at Senoia Raceway.
While the field was desperate to slow Whale’s teammate, defending class champ Kody Kopp (No. 1 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-F) after his season-opening double victory at the DAYTONA Short Track, the Australian issued a clear reminder that the Red Bull KTM team boasts not one, but two genuine title contenders under its tent with a wire-to-wire run to the checkered flag.
As Whale walked away at the front, a huge scrap played out behind for second. A hugely impressive James Ott (No. 19 1st Impressions Race Team/Husqvarna Racing FC450) jumped into the position from pole where he found himself under fire almost immediately from the likes of Trevor Brunner (No. 21 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F), Tom Drane (No. 59 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F), Morgen Mischler (No. 13 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R), Kopp, and Dalton Gauthier (No. 79 D&D Racing/Certified KTM 450 SX-F), among others.
Drane pulled off a remarkable save of a near highside just to stay upright, but the resultant drama dropped him from podium contention to outside the top ten. Gauthier then started his charge, slicing his way up from seventh to third with relative ease. But try as he might, he was unable to work out a way past Ott and the two ultimately crossed the stripe the final time in second and third, respectively.
Kopp did threaten to overhaul both late. However, he instead saw his bid for a top-three result foiled by a resurgent Brunner, who stole back fourth and then kept the championship leader corralled behind him in fifth to the flag by a 0.177-second margin.
Mischler took sixth just behind, followed by his Turner Honda teammates, Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R) and Chase Saathoff (No. 88 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R). Shayna Texter-Bauman (No. 52 Parts Plus/Jacob Companies KTM 450 SX-F) and Chad Cose (No. 49 1st Impressions Race Team/Husqvarna Racing FC450) completed the top ten.
Race winner Whale said, “I needed a good race today. Obviously, as a racer you want to win every time. It feels good to do this coming here from Daytona, where my head was hanging low. You put in all the work before the start of the year, and to finish with a fourth and a ‘937th’ was tough. So to come out today and win? I can’t thank my team enough.”
Next Up:
Progressive AFT will power directly to the first TT of the ‘23 season with next weekend’s ZO CBD Arizona Super TT presented by RideNow Powersports at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona, on Saturday, April 1. Visit https://www.tixr.com/promoters/americanflattrack to secure your tickets today.
For those that can’t catch the live action from the circuit, FansChoice.tv is the live streaming home of Progressive AFT. Sign up now and catch every second of on-track action starting with Practice & Qualifying and ending with the Victory Podium at the end of the night at https://www.fanschoice.tv.
FOX Sports coverage of the Yamaha Senoia Short Track, featuring in-depth features and thrilling onboard cameras, will premiere on FS1 on April 1 at 7:00 a.m. ET (4:00 a.m. PT).
The start of the MotoGP Sprint race Saturday in Portugal. Photo courtesy Dorna.
MotoGP Portugal: A New Era Begins, With A New Lap Record
By Michael Gougis
Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia started his MotoGP title defense with a win in the series’ first-ever Saturday Sprint Race at the Tissot Grand Prix of Portugal, with Jorge Martin a close second and Marc Marquez a surprising third.
After 12 tense laps, the top seven across the line were separated by less than three seconds. And after the race was over, depending on which rider was speaking, the Sprint Race was either dangerous and encouraged risky riding or a lot more fun than the full-length races. The riders on the podium, not surprisingly, seemed to like the Sprint Race format a whole lot more than the others.
Practice:
Marco Bezzecchi led the time sheets after Saturday’s single practice session was over, although his best lap time–1:38.577–was well off Friday’s best laps. Both factory Ducati riders wound up on the ground, leaving Fabio Quartararo as the Mooney VR46 Racing Team’s closest competitor, followed by Aleix Espargaro. Bagnaia was fourth, just ahead of Miguel Oliveira on the satellite CryptoDATA RNF Aprilia RS-GP.
Friday’s quickest rider, Jack Miller, was a full 1.5 seconds off of his best lap, and the Honda brigade also had trouble. Joan Mir was ninth, Takaaki Nakagami 11th, Marc Marquez 16th and LCR Honda’s Alex Rins, winner of the last Grand Prix of 2022, was 18th.
Qualifying:
Marc Marquez came out hard in Qualifying One, slicing 1.556 seconds off his morning practice time, resetting the lap record and then heading back to the garage to rest. Miguel Oliveira got closest with a 1:37.849 and took the final transfer spot to Qualifying Two. Alex Marquez caught Franco Morbidelli on his flying lap and was balked briefly, the slight hesitation leaving Marquez third and out of Qualifying Two.
The final qualifying session saw Miller re-assert himself as the fastest man on the grid during the first run, a 1:37.549 on his second lap lowering the lap record again. But Miller found himself on the ground when he tried to up the pace, and Bagnaia who recovered from his morning spill and went quickest on his sixth lap, lowering the lap record again to a 1:37.290.
Jack Miller (43) slid off in Turn Three in the final qualifying session, ending up fifth on the grid. Photo by Michael Gougis.
Two laps later, Marquez, who had tucked in behind Enea Bastianini, took his recalcitrant RC213V by the neck and wrung it for all it was worth. The result was pole position, his 64th, a new lap record of 1:37.226 and a surprised look on his face back in the garage.
Marc Marquez (93) battled his way through the first qualifying session, tucked in behind Enea Bastianini (23) in the second qualifying session and took pole, smashing the lap record. Photo by Michael Gougis.
Bagnaia remained second, ahead of Jorge Martin and Oliveira, with Miller fifth ahead of Bastianini. Quartararo only managed 11th, nearly seven-10ths off the pace and with a steep hill to climb (figuratively and literally) in the Sprint Race that afternoon.
Sprint Race:
Marquez took the holeshot and led for the first several corners, but by the end of the lap Bagnaia and Martin had pushed him back to third. On the next lap, Luca Marini tried to go under Bastianini in Turn Five and lost the front, taking both out of the race.
Marc Marquez (93) leads the field at the start of the first-ever MotoGP Sprint Race on Saturday as Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia (1) pushes teammate Enea Bastianini (23) wide while Jorge Martin (89), Maverick Vinales (12) and the rest of the pack follow. Bagnaia won, with Martin second and Marquez third. Photo by Michael Gougis.
Miller showed real speed, leading on Lap Seven on the factory KTM, but Martin pushed him back to second a lap later and then Bagnaia took the runner-up spot. On the penultimate lap, Oliveira, running fourth, dove under Miller into Turn One and pushed wide, opening the door for Marquez to slam through for the final podium position.
Francesco Bagnaia (1) snatched the Sprint Race win from Jorge Martin (89) on the last lap. Miguel Oliveira (88) tried to pass Jack Miller in Turn One and both ran wide, allowing Marc Marquez (93) to slice through for the final podium spot. Photo by Michael Gougis.
On the last lap, Martin waited late to hit the brakes going into Turn Five, trying to defend against Bagnaia. But Martin was too late on the brakes, ran wide and Bagnaia was through and eased away to win by 0.307-second at the finish line.
Fabio Quartararo (20) started the sprint race from the fourth row, dropped to the back of the field due to Joan Mir’s crash at the start and fought back to 10th by the end of the 12-lap Sprint Race. Photo by Michael Gougis.
Maverick Vinales (12) beat teammate Aleix Espargaro (41) to fifth, the highest placing for the Aprilia squad. Photo by Michael Gougis.
Americans Joe Roberts (Above) and Sean Dylan Kelly (Below) qualified 19th and 24th for Sunday’s Moto2 race. Photos by Michael Gougis.
3, 2, 1… SPRINT! History made on the last lap as Pecco pips Martin and Marquez fends off Miller
12 laps, 22 riders, and one incredible debut for the Tissot Sprint: seven names fight it out for the podium and the win gets decided on the final lap
The start of the MotoGP Sprint race Saturday in Portugal. Photo courtesy Dorna.
Saturday, 25 March 2023
The first Tissot Sprint was a stunner. 12 laps, 22 riders and a last lap finish! Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) came out on top as the final push came down to a duel, piling the pressure on Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) in the last few laps and finding a way through as the Spaniard headed ever so slightly wide. The fight for third was a mammoth battle from the off, too, with seven riders fighting for the top three throughout and ultimately, the rider on pole taking his first medal of the season: Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team).
Marc Marquez got the holeshot despite a spectacular attack from a fast-starting Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team), but Bagnaia took over in second early on as a red duel let Martin also pickpocket into third. Marquez, Bagnaia, Martin and Bastianini was the initial leading quartet, with Marquez defending the lead until the final few metres of Lap 1.
Bagnaia and Martin then struck for the front and got past the number 93, with the leading trio enjoying a little breathing space for a few corners. Miguel Oliveira (CryptoData RNF MotoGP™ Team) had struck back into fourth too, and soon Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was also past Bastianini.
Drama then hit for the number 23, with Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) losing the front on the inside and rider and machine sliding into the factory Ducati, leaving the Beast nowhere to go. Meanwhile, further contact a little further back had also seen Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) overcook it against Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™), with the Spaniard making contact and crashing out, and the Frenchman losing time.
Back at the front, Bagnaia led Martin led Marquez, with Miller moving up into fourth past Oliveira. Then came Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) vs Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) vs Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), but Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) was also intent on joining that party. So he did, and Bezzecchi crashed out of it not long after.
With nine to go, Martin slipped past Bagnaia for the lead as Marquez dug in ahead of Miller and Oliveira. Soon enough, the battle was truly on. Miller and Oliveira passed Marquez, and then the Australian picked Bagnaia’s pocket for second. By six to go, Miller hit the front, but Martin hit back. The chopping and changing let the Aprilia Racing pair also catch up, and it all bubbled up to one duel and one serious fight for third.
As Martin and Bagnaia started to inch away, the two-man decider for Tissot Sprint glory was set. The reigning Champion was gaining and gaining, and finally the door opened ever so slightly on the final lap – with Martin wide and Pecco through. It remained close to the line but the #1 remained so on track, taking that coveted first Sprint win as Martin was forced to settle for second.
Meanwhile, Miller vs Oliveira vs Marquez, plus two factory Aprilias intent on beating each other, set up a stunning grandstand finish in the fight to join Bagnaia and Martin’s date with Prosecco. Marquez had even enjoyed a two for one as the Australian and Portuguese rider went head to head at Turn 1, and once the number 93 was through, there was no looking back. The eight-time World Champion took the spoils.
Heartbreak for Oliveira later in the lap saw him overcook it and drop back in that fight, with Miller suffering no such bad luck and taking a hard fought fourth. Fifth went to Viñales as he won the factory Aprilia war, with Aleix Espargaro sixth and Oliveira crossing the line seventh. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) pipped Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) to P8, with that leaving Quartararo just outside the points in the first Sprint. El Diablo made progress after the early drama with Mir, taking P10 and just off the number 73 ahead.
That’s it: history is made and it’s Bagnaia who takes the biggest spoils on Saturday. But tomorrow, the grid is reset and Marc Marquez returns to pole position, with another 25 laps to be raced. Join us at 14:00 (GMT+1) for more!
Francesco Bagnaia (1) leading Jorge Martin (89) and Marc Marquez (93) during the Sprint race in Portugal. Photo courtesy Dorna.
QUOTES: TOP 3
FRANCESCO BAGNAIA: “I enjoyed it, sincerely. It was fun, it was very fun! It was difficult with the wind because it was the first time we had the wind going in the opposite direction, compared to the test and yesterday. But I had fun, I enjoyed it a lot and I had in mind that the race was long so I took my time in the first part of the race. Then in the last part I just tried to push and I saw that Jorge had better traction but had more problems than me with the front end. So I just used this kind of the things I was better at to overtake. I was thinking it was shorter, but finally it took a long time, but I enjoyed it a lot!”
JORGE MARTIN: “For sure I’m happy with the 2nd place. But for sure, I would like to have that first position! I made a mistake on the last lap and Pecco overtook me but he was super fast in the last two laps. I have been struggling all weekend with the soft rear so I hope tomorrow we have a little bit more. But yeah I’m confident, I led for many laps so I’m gaining some confidence back and think we are ready for tomorrow!”
MARC MARQUEZ: “It was physical. I used all my physical side to compensate, especially in the braking points and especially to go into the corners sliding, because in the Sprint you can do this. It’s only twelve laps, and then I used a lot of energy but I need to recover the time somewhere. Where I can recover time is in the braking points, and there I am taking a lot of risks. But yeah today we did an amazing job. I want to congratulate the team because yesterday we were late at night, checking the small details. They even said to me ‘OK the bike is like this but you can improve this and this in your riding style.’ Sometimes to say this to a guy who has won many races and many championships is difficult, but we have the confidence in each other and this helps me a lot. This morning I was concentrated. It’s not a bad way to start the season, but tomorrow is the most important race which will be a bit more difficult, but in a short time we can do it.”
Salač snatches first Moto2™ pole from Canet and Acosta
The Czech rider is the first from his nation to take pole in the class, denying two pre-season favourites the chance
Filip Salač is the first Czech rider ever to take pole in Moto2™, with the QJMotor Gresini Moto2™ rider putting in a stunner to just get the better of Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40) at the Grande Premio Tissot de Portugal. Top in testing and hot favourite heading in, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) completes the front row.
Celestino Vietti (Fantic Racing) heads up Row 2 but has a Double Long Lap pending from Valencia 2022, which could hamper his race. The likes of Tony Arbolino and Elf Marc VDS Racing teammate Sam Lowes will want to move forward from P8 and P9, as will Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) from P12 and the likes of Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) and Alonso Lopez (CAG Speed Up), right behind the Brit.
See the full timesheets below and gear up for the first intermediate class race of the season on Sunday from 12:15 (GMT+1)!
Sasaki smashes lap record for pole
The pre-season favourite pulls clear of rookie Rueda, with Kelso third for his first front row
Looking back at 2022, Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) is very much an expected contender for the crown this year. And it’s off to a good start, with the Japanese rider smashing the old lap record for the first pole position of 2023.
Red Bull KTM Ajo’s new rookie on the block, Jose Antonio Rueda, starts second as his hype carry over into the weekend. On his third GP start, qualifying nearly 20 places higher than his previous best speaks well of his season ahead… and that’s as he arrives as the first rider to win both the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies and JuniorGP™ crowns in the same year.
Joel Kelso (CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP) takes third and, like for Rueda, it’s his first front row in Grand Prix racing, with a previous best of fifth. Friday’s fastest, Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3), just missed out on the front row.
One of the expected contenders facing the biggest fight back is Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) as he starts in P16.
Who will take first honours? Tune in for the first Moto3™ showdown of the season on Sunday at 11:00 (GMT +1) to find out!
More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing:
TOP-9 RESULT IN FIRST-EVER SPRINT RACE FOR MARQUEZ
Portimao was the stage for the first, spectacular sprint race ever, which also marked the opening encounter of 2023. After a disastrous qualifying, with Alex Marquez only 13th and Fabio Di Giannantonio all the way down in 21st place, both Team Gresini Racing MotoGP riders managed to make amends by finishing the race – with the Spaniard also able to score a point thanks to a ninth-place finish.
A mistake towards the halfway point of the race prevented the Spanish rider from battling with today’s fastest riders, but Marquez still did a good job to attack and at the same time to fend off Quartararo’s attacks – as he wrapped up the Sprint Race point-scoring top nine.
Fabio Di Giannantonio also did a good job as he tried to recovered the lost confidence as he made up several positions while also staying upright aboard his Ducati #49. The first full race of the season will get underway tomorrow at 14:00 local time (GMT +1).
9th – ALEX MARQUEZ #73 (1 point)
“Everyone was a bit nervous and the race was a complicated one, especially as we started from 13th place on the grid. Too bad for that mistake at halfway point at turn five, as without that I could have raced with the front group. Too bad that I didn’t overtake Zarco, we had the pace to do it, but it was important to start with confidence and without mistakes. We know now what we need to work on and on paper we have a pace to do better tomorrow.”
16th – FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO #49
“The good thing is that it was a fun race and we managed to battle a little. Unfortunately we started on the backfoot this weekend compared to the other riders, and we need to make up some ground for the race. Let’s put the first sprint race in our CV and let’s keep working.”
More, from a press release issued by RNF MotoGP Team:
Strong first Sprint Race by Oliveira and Fernandez in Portimao
The CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team experienced an emotional Saturday at the Portuguese Grand Prix, with Miguel Oliveira, the local hero, battling for a podium position in the first-ever Sprint Race in the MotoGP World Championship, and Raul Fernandez making impressive gains in just 12 laps in sunny and windy conditions.
After a challenging Friday and some contusions on his left leg following a heavy crash, Oliveira was fully motivated to make up for lost ground on Saturday at his home circuit, the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve and so he did. The home hero delivered an incredible Qualifying one to make it to P2 in order to get the last ticket for Q2. In Qualifying two, he delivered once again posting the fourth fastest time and earning a spot at the front of the second row for the race on Sunday, and also for the first-ever sprint race in MotoGP history today.
Starting there, he managed to stay inside the top five for quite a while, and even went up to P4 on the fifth lap of the race. During the final three laps of the short sprint, he had a strong battle with Marc Marquez and Jack Miller and even managed to position himself in third place on the last lap. However, an unfortunate mistake on the brake cost him valuable meters, and he ultimately crossed the line in seventh.
Meanwhile, his young teammate, who also suffered from a tough Friday improved gradually. In Qualifying one Fernandez went nearly half a second quicker than yesterday, but in the ultra-competitive MotoGP field, it was still not enough to claim a decent starting position. Yet, the Spaniard needed to start from P20 on the grid. But he made up the first position already in sector one, moved two more places towards the front at the end of the first lap to find himself in P17. Halfway through the short race, he was already in P12 and even pushed further at the end, to eventually grab P11 on the line.
Sunday’s race will feature the first full race distance in 2023, with both CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP riders preparing for the 25-lap race after the Warm Up at 09:45 local time (10:45 CET) and the race starting at 14:00 local time (15:00 CET).
MIGUEL OLIVEIRA
“Of course, it would have been much nicer to be in third place, but it’s not a huge disappointment as we still have a full race tomorrow. I went wide during the last lap as I was braking a bit too much in the wrong place, so I just went off track and couldn’t make the corner with the wind inside of the bike. It’s a shame, but it’s still three points. We have another chance tomorrow, plus we have an opportunity to prepare the bike a bit better for the main race.”
RAUL FERNANDEZ
“It was a bad Qualifying and not what I expected. To be honest, I am not quite familiar yet with the bike when I have to use the new tyre for the time attack. The pace was always good, but now you have the Sprint Race with 12 laps, and when you start on the last row of the grid, it’s hard to recover. But I came back and I was really happy. We will have another opportunity tomorrow, and if we do more or less like today, we can fight back for Top 11. The goal is to enjoy and we will soon get used to this new format within the next couple of rounds.”
More, from a press release issued by GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3:
ROOKIE FERNANDEZ ALREADY LOOKING FORWARD TO SUNDAY’S RACE FOLLOWING DISAPPOINTING SPRINT IN PORTIMAO
With teammate Pol Espargaro absent following his accident on Friday, rookie Augusto Fernandez was the only GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 rider to get on with the Portuguese Grand Prix action today. In addition to experiencing a Saturday for the first time as a MotoGP™ rider, he also faced the new MotoGP™ World Championship format, composed of a Practice 3 and the qualifying sessions in the morning, and the MotoGP™ Sprint in the afternoon.
After a good day in the office on Friday, Augusto Fernandez faced his first qualifying session in the MotoGP™ class this morning. He continued to make improvements on the rollercoaster, and managed to improve his lap time in the first qualifying session of the season, to 1’38.464, getting him a P19 start for his debuts in both the Sprint and the race on Sunday.
Augusto Fernandez lined up on his GASGAS RC16 for the first time of the season, all set for a twelve lap-sprint. Unfortunately, the rookie faced a technical issue on his bike, leaving him with no other option than retiring. It is not an ideal start to the 2023 campaign, but both Fernandez and the GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 team will look forward to Sunday’s race.
Augusto Fernandez
Position: DNF
Championship: NC
Points: 0
“I was quite happy with my lap time in qualifying this morning as I managed to improve from yesterday. I was still far from the other guys because they were flying, but it was a positive point for me. I was really happy with the setup of the bike, so I was looking forward to the race. Unfortunately, we encountered an issue related to the gearing at the race start. I already felt it when I went on the grid, and then I had to retire within the first lap. We will need to look into it tonight. Of course I am disappointed because it was my first MotoGP start and I needed the experience, but luckily we already have another chance tomorrow, and I think that we can do a good job in the race.”
Nicolas Goyon
Team Manager
“First of all, we all wish a speedy recovery to Pol Espargaro following his nasty crash on Friday. He is a fighter and we know that he is already thinking of coming back racing, but he will now need to focus on himself and getting better. The whole team is behind him and we will be waiting for him.
On the other side of the garage, Augusto Fernandez has been having a really positive weekend and has improved at every session so I think that we were all looking forward to seeing what he could do in the sprint. Unfortunately, he had a technical issue in the warm up lap, which forced him to start the race from second gear, and without strategy. As a consequence, it destroyed the clutch. This issue is still under investigation from our end, but it is a big shame for him. I am sure that he will be even more hungry for tomorrow’s race.
Finally, I would like to congratulate Jack Miller on his unbelievable race and it showed all Pierer Mobility Group riders that we have a bike with potential, so thank you to the Pierer Mobility Group for their continued support.”
More, from a press release issued by Mooney VR46 Racing Team:
DOUBLE CRASH FOR THE MOONEY VR46 RACING TEAM IN THE FIRST SPRINT RACE IN PORTUGAL
After a good start, Bezzecchi and Marini are forced to retire
Portimao (Portugal), March 25th 2023 – The first sprint race in MotoGP history ends with a double retirement for the Mooney VR46 Racing Team in Portugal. A shorter epilogue than expected for Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini, both forced to retire after a crash on the Ducati Desmosedici GP of the Tavullia Team.
Started from the eighth box on the grid, a placement also valid for tomorrow’s GP (02.00 pm local time), Marco ends the first lap in 11th place. Fighting in the group to climb up the standings towards the podium, he crashes at turn 14 (P7) without being able to get back on track to cross the finishing line.
Similar fate also for Luca, starting from the third row (P9). After a good start, a crash knocked him out on the second lap when he was in P7.
LUCA MARINI – 10
A difficult race and day: in the free practices I crashed in the out lap with a cold tire, I made a mistake. On the other hand, in the race I leaned too hard in the corners and crashed. I’m very sorry for Enea (Bastianini) and I hope he can recover soon, the bike hit him. The previous lap I had done the same type of overtaking, again at turn five, on Maverick (Viñales): I tried then again and lost the front. Tomorrow will be a demanding race, there are many fast riders. Jack (Miller) and the Aprilia has surprised me, Marc (Marquez) too. The start was very complex, it’s a question of creating spaces without touching anyone. For the show I think it was incredible, but we were maybe close to the limit.
MARCO BEZZECCHI – 72
A difficult race to interpret: in the first three corners, after the start, it was impressive. I lost a lot of ground and was forced to recover. I tried not to be too aggressive, to manage the distance well to arrive strong in the last laps. At turn 14 I hit a bump, I lost the front and couldn’t avoid the crash. It wasn’t the start I expected, I made a mistake and I hope to recover tomorrow.
More, from a press release issued by Monster Energy Yamaha:
DIFFICULT FIRST 2023 SPRINT FOR MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA MOTOGP IN PORTUGAL
Portimao (Portugal), 25th March 2023
GRAND PRIX OF PORTUGAL
SPRINT
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Fabio Quartararo showed his relentless determination in MotoGP‘s first-ever Sprint. Despite a troubled opening lap, he recovered to 10th position at the chequered flag. Morbidelli made progress in the 12-lap contest. Starting from P17, he rode to 14th place before crossing the finish line.
10th FABIO QUARTARARO +5.924 / 12 LAPS
14th FRANCO MORBIDELLI +17.138 / 12 LAPS
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Fabio Quartararo made a strong comeback in today‘s 12-lap MotoGP Sprint at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. Starting from 11th on the grid, he found himself at the back of the pack at the end of the first lap but fought his way back to a top-10 finish. Morbidelli had his work cut out for him, starting from 17th on the grid. He was on an upward trajectory in the opening laps and crossed the finish line in 14th place.
Quartararo had a nightmare of a first lap. After a bad start and a collision with Joan Mir, he dropped to the back of the pack to 19th. But the Frenchman is made of strong stuff; he regrouped and then started to climb back up the order. By lap 5 he was back into the top 10. He kept pushing, setting occasional fastest and personal best sector times. On the last lap, he engaged in a battle with Alex Marquez but couldn‘t manage to keep hold of ninth place. He took the chequered flag in the first MotoGP Sprint in tenth position, 5.924s from the race leader. However, as points in Sprints are rewarded from first to ninth position, he found himself just outside the points.
Starting from 17th position, Morbidelli avoided trouble in the chaotic opening lap. He was in 15th position as they passed the start-finish line for the first time. The Italian was battling in the midpack and later rose through the rankings together with his teammate, moving up to 13th place with nine laps to go. However, on the next go-around, he lost a position to Alex Rins. Morbidelli kept pushing but was unable to make a move. The remainder of the race was a lone ride for him. He finished in 14th place, 17.138s from first.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
TEAM DIRECTOR
We had obviously hoped for a much better start to the season, but today wasn‘t our day. Whilst our riders‘ pace and speed were decent during this morning‘s FP, our competitors made a big step on the soft tyre in qualifying. Starting the Sprint from P11 and P17 was always going to be tricky. Fabio had a bad start, and to make matters worse, he then got clipped by another rider on the opening lap. It effectively ended his chances to fight for the points today, although he did still come really close thanks to his strong comeback. Morbidelli started from 17th, which is much further back than we would have liked, but he made up some positions in the race and finished 14th. Clearly, we have work to do as a team to make sure we get better results tomorrow. The Sprint has given us data and ideas of where we can improve. We will have a 10-minute warm-up session to quickly try some last setting amendments, and then we will look to make a strong comeback in the Race.
FABIO QUARTARARO
I had an issue with the launch control in the beginning and then also a touch with Joan Mir. I tried to make a comeback as far as I could, but it was not an easy job, and I tried to manage to get the best place possible. I did see in today’s Sprint that my pace was good. Hopefully tomorrow we will have fixed the launch control, and over 25 laps I think we can be quite fast.
FRANCO MORBIDELLI
This afternoon was very tough for me. This morning I had a decent feeling, I was pretty good. This afternoon, we were planning on improving, but instead we got worse. We are investigating why.
More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:
SPRINT RACE AT PORTIMAO
IN THEIR FIRST WEEKEND WITH FOUR BIKES ON THE TRACK, APRILIA PLACES THREE IN THE TOP SEVEN FOR THE SPRINT RACE THAT KICKED OFF THE MOTOGP SEASON
CONSISTENTLY IN THE LEADING GROUP, THE RS-GP MACHINES FINISHED FIFTH WITH VIÑALES, SIXTH WITH ESPARGARÓ, AND SEVENTH WITH OLIVEIRA WHO LOST THE PODIUM POSITION ON THE FINAL LAP
ALEIX: “WE ARE FASTER THAN WE THOUGHT”
MAVERICK: “WE’RE HERE, AND WE’RE EXTREMELY FAST!”
The first Sprint Race in MotoGP history launched the 2023 season, providing spectators with a great show and showing that Aprilia is an absolute contender in the championship, occupying three of the top seven position at its début with four RS-GP machines on the track. After taking three bikes through to Q2 – the two factory riders, Espargaró and Viñales, were joined by Miguel Oliveira from satellite team CryptoDATA RNF – the RS-GPs proved that they are extremely competitive in the race. Maverick Viñales, starting from the third row, demonstrated a pace worthy of the podium, but questionable contact with Álex Márquez initially and then the accident ahead of him involving Marini and Bastianini cost him quite a few positions. Armed with a great pace, consistently at 1’38/low 1’39, he recovered positions, but the short, 12-lap race kept him from moving any farther up in the rankings. His final fifth place, just 1.8 seconds behind the winner, and the speed he demonstrated rank him among the favourites for the race tomorrow.
Aleix Espargaró, who started from the fourth row, executed a similar comeback to finish sixth, just behind Maverick. The outstanding seventh-place finish earned by Oliveira, of the CryptoDATA RNF satellite team is worth a mention – a nice placement, but Miguel lost the third-place position, which he had been occupying until the final lap, when he ran long just a few turns from the end.
It was a great test of strength for the Italian manufacturer, since even young Raul Fernandez, on the satellite team, cut a fine figure, finishing eleventh after a great comeback from the twentieth spot on the grid.
In short, Aprilia has confirmed its role in the spotlight of this MotoGP season.
Aleix
“I am truly satisfied, not only with the result, but because I am convinced that our speed is better than we thought. Unfortunately, the Sprint Race was conditioned by less than perfect qualifiers. Starting twelfth is not idea, although both Maverick and I were among the best in the race today in terms of pace. Not bad, since I always say that I like to learn from small mistakes and we’ll exploit everything we learned today. Tomorrow things will be different. Rear tyre choice will be crucial and, looking at today, the RS-GP showed that it treats the tyres well.”
Maverick
“I had fun in the race. We were extremely fast, especially in the second part. Unfortunately, I lost a bit of time after an accident ahead of me. From that moment on, I just focused on defending every position and giving it my all. From this first Sprint Race we learned above all that starting up front is crucial because in the beginning I had a lot of contact with other riders and that doesn’t help. At the end, I had rubber marks all over my leathers. In any case, we’re here and things are working properly! And that is the most important thing.”
More, from a press release issued by KTM Factory Racing:
KTM CHARGE TO THE SECOND ROW IN FIRST MOTOGP™ QUALIFIER AND SEAL 4TH AFTER INAUGURAL SPRINT IN PORTUGAL
MotoGP 2023 – Round 1 of 21, Algarve International Circuit – Qualification and Sprint
The highlight of the first day of MotoGP qualification and the first ever ‘Sprint’ was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jack Miller taking 5th position at a warm and sunny Algarve International Circuit. The first Saturday of the 2023 season was a hectic one with qualifying followed by the 12-lap Sprint in which the Australian led and finally finished 4th at the Grande Premio TISSOT de Portugal.
Jack Miller and Brad Binder end qualification with 5th and 15th positions on the grid respectively
The Australian and South African score 4th and 12th in the short and intense Sprint with the KTM RC16s
Miller shatters the lap-record on Friday during Practice 2 and goes quicker on Saturday
Jose Rueda 2nd fastest in Moto3™ and Pedro Acosta on the front row for Moto2™
Jack Miller smashed the lap record by one second during Practice 2 on Friday to head into Q2 as the top ranked rider. He then went faster again but was denied a third fantastic flyer at Pole Position by a slow speed crash at Turn 3. Miller will start the Grand Prix race from 5th and the middle of the second row. Brad Binder was dealing with a stiff neck and shoulder but logged a lap-time good enough to be 15th fastest after Q1 and less than a second from Pole Position.
At 3pm Red Bull KTM Factory Racing lined-up for the first ever MotoGP Sprint: 12 laps of intense action with world championship points at stake and early bragging rights. Miller and Binder filled their grid slots and went full-gas. Miller harnessed all the grip of his soft tire selection and moved up from the fringe of the top five to lead with a thrilling move at Turn 13. He couldn’t quite keep Marc Marquez at bay and took 4th by the checkered flag. Binder was on the edge of the top ten after being bustled in the opening corners and was pipped to the line, eventually taking 12th.
The team and riders will now reset and review their configuration for the full-length 25-lap Grand Prix on Sunday at 14.00 GMT.
Jack Miller, 5th in qualification, 4th in the Sprint: “I was a bit nervous and didn’t know what to expect but it’s safe to say the first Sprint was a success. We threw our nose into the lead there for a little bit. I enjoyed that race a lot. The team and the engineers have been working tirelessly. I’m not a good test rider: I’m a racer! I enjoy risking when it’s worth it. We’ve made some big improvements and we’re showing some potential. It’s been a progression and every time we go out it’s getting better and better. More and more seat time is really helping me. We will have a different strategy for tomorrow and hopefully we can make that work.”
Brad Binder, 15th in qualification, 12th in the Sprint: “The Sprint was a lot of fun. It was pretty wild and I was hung out to dry by other riders on the first lap and that cost me a lot of time. This weekend hasn’t been easy for me so far but I know what I need to do: I have to get fit again because I have been really struggling with my neck and shoulder on the bike. I’ll try and do a good job tomorrow and get some valuable points.”
Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “A great Friday that allowed Jack to get to Q2 directly with the lap-record. Unfortunately, we know Brad is not in the best condition and we need to give him time to come back to his best level. Jack started well from the second row and fought for the podium until the end of the race: It was a good start of the season and a very good Sprint. It was strange for us to be on the grid on Saturday afternoon and we are trying to extract as much information as possible to see if we can use data for the Sunday race. We will see how this goes, but, I’m sure all the fans enjoyed this extra show! We’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
Results Qualifying MotoGP Grande Premio TISSOT de Portugal
1. Marc Marquez (ESP) Honda 1:37.226
2. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati +0.064
3. Jorge Martin (ESP) Ducati +0.228
5. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.323
15. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.879
Results MotoGP Sprint Grande Premio TISSOT de Portugal
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati 19:52.862
2. Jorge Martin (ESP) Ducati +0.307
3. Marc Marquez (ESP) Honda +1.517
4. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +1.603
12. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +8.384
More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:
Magic Marquez converts 92nd career pole to debut Sprint podium
Marc Marquez surprised even himself as he secured a record-breaking pole and converted it into a history-making podium in the first MotoGP Sprint.
Saturday, March 25, saw history made as the MotoGP World Championship contested its first ever Sprint race. The morning started with pure excitement and elation for the Repsol Honda Team as Marc Marquez went through Q1 with just a single run, bettering the lap record set by Jack Miller the previous day. This was the converted into a truly spectacular performance in Q2 as Marquez again improved on the lap record to take a sensational pole position. Repsol Honda Team teammate Joan Mir narrowly missed out on the second transfer spot and secured 14th on the grid for his MotoGP debut on the Honda RC213V.
Tension filled the air as the MotoGP class lined up for the Sprint race, an incredible 12-lap contest awaiting them. From pole position, Marquez got an explosive start as he and his Repsol Honda Team RC213V rocketed off the line to lead the first lap. Defending well for the opening laps, the #93 was able to maintain his position in the leading group and waited as the riders ahead battled. In the final moments of the race, Oliveira and Miller opened a gap and the eight-time World Champion was able to attack – moving up into third.
With his 64th premier class pole, Marquez’s 1’37.226 set a new outright lap record around the Portuguese circuit. This is Marc Marquez’s first pole position since the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix and his first pole in dry conditions since the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix – some 1,253 days ago. Marc Marquez heads into Sunday with seven World Championship points, third in the World Championship standings.
From 14th on the grid Mir was immediately locked into a tense battle with the riders around him. Recovering positions and already showing a pace faster than those ahead, the #36 began to pick his way forward and passed several riders on the opening lap. Unfortunately Turn 13 would see Mir’s race come to an end as he lost the front, colliding with Fabio Quartararo as a result.
Racing continues tomorrow, Sunday March 26, as the Portuguese Grand Prix is scheduled to run at 15:00 Local Time. This will be a full-distance race, 25 laps where Marc Marquez will again start in pole position.
Marc Marquez
THIRD
“Well, today was really a surprising day but it was a great day, it helped to restore a lot of confidence for myself and the team. Starting with the pole, honestly, I don’t know how I was able to find this time – it was much faster than I had been before. It’s a good advantage to start from pole position and we were able to fight in the Sprint race. When I saw Oliveira and Miller go wide, I knew this was my chance and I attacked. The new format is very demanding, but I think this short race was a good show for the fans. Tomorrow is what really counts and will show where we are more I think.”
Joan Mir
DNF
“Starting in 14th is a lottery, you have a lot of riders around you who are very eager to recover positions as quickly as possible. It was a very aggressive start to the race because of this, I think if we were starting up higher then we could show our true pace. We have good pace for the race tomorrow, so this makes me feel more confident if everything is more calm at the start. I also want to apologise to Fabio for the contact.”
More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda Idemitsu:
FIRST SPRINT FOR TAKAAKI NAKAGAMI AT PORTIMAO
2023 means the start of new formats during the MotoGP weekends, and the Sprint is one of them. LCR Honda IDEMITSU rider Takaaki Nakagami has pushed and fought throughout the 12 laps in Portimao and has finished 15th.
After qualifying 18th this morning, the Japanese carried out the first-ever kind of race and gathered valuable information to provide the team and HRC. On Sunday, he will occupy the same grid position and have another chance to keep pushing and progressing, as the season’s first race will take place at 14.00 CET.
Takaaki Nakagami 15th
“The first lap of the Sprint race was particular, with many crashes. Everyone was aggressive; this is what I expected because it’s only 12 laps, so you need to be very strong at the beginning of the race. Honestly, my performance was not the best, but we have another chance tomorrow, 25 laps. That’s a long race, so I need to get some data from the sprint race to understand where to improve. We need to generate more rear grip.”
More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda Castrol:
FIRST SPRINT FOR ALEX RINS AT PORTIMAO
2023 means the start of new formats during the MotoGP weekends, and the Sprint is one of them. LCR Honda CASTROL rider Alex Rins has pushed and fought throughout the 12 laps in Portimao and has finished 13th.
After qualifying 16th this morning, the Spaniard has carried out the first-ever kind of race with his Honda and has gathered valuable information to provide the team and HRC. On Sunday, he will occupy the same grid position and have another chance to keep pushing and progressing, as the first race will take place at 14.00 CET.
Alex Rins 13th
“We made a really good start, but many people were over the limit, so we tried to stay focused. The wind was so high compared to practice this morning and yesterday. In the race, at one point, I was trying to catch the riders in front, but I couldn’t so let’s try to give a little more tomorrow. We took much information from the Sprint because the conditions will be the same for the GP race, so let’s see. Now, I am losing a bit in acceleration. In the Sprint, the grip from the rear tire didn’t come, so I couldn’t get the benefit of the soft tire.”
More, from a press release issued by Ducati:
Ducati one-two in Portimão. Bagnaia wins the Sprint Race in Portugal ahead of Jorge Martín (Pramac Racing)
Enea Bastianini, involved in a crash on the second lap, will have to sit out tomorrow’s race and the Argentina GP due to a fracture in his right shoulder blade
Francesco Bagnaia wrote another page of history today at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão, Portugal, stage of this weekend’s opening Grand Prix for the 2023 MotoGP World Championship. The Ducati Lenovo Team rider was the first to win the new sprint race, introduced this year, thus taking the lead in the overall standings.
As he was starting with the second fastest time, Bagnaia took the lead soon after the lights went out. Overtaken first by the Desmosedici GP machine of Jorge Martín (Pramac Racing) and then by former teammate Jack Miller, Pecco managed to regain the lead on the last lap and win the first Sprint Race in MotoGP history. With Martín second, today was Ducati’s first one-two for the 2023 season.
For the Ducati Lenovo Team, however, this was a bittersweet Saturday following Enea Bastianini’s injury. Starting with the sixth fastest time, Enea had managed to stay in the fight for the top positions after the start, but on the second lap, he was involved in Luca Marini’s (VR46 Racing Team) crash, suffering a fracture of his right shoulder blade. Bastianini will therefore be forced to miss tomorrow’s race and the Argentina GP scheduled for next week.
Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st
“Today, we had to adopt a completely different strategy than in a traditional race. Normally you have to wait for a few laps before starting to push and manage the tyres well, but in the Sprint Race, you must push right away. I struggled a bit in the first few laps because of the wind, but I saw that my rivals were also suffering, so I waited for a few laps to attack. When I saw that my front-end feeling was better than Martín’s, I tried to close the gap and then pass him on the last lap. Now we have to stay focused on tomorrow’s race. I am very sorry for Enea’s injury, and I wish him a speedy recovery, hoping he will be back with us soon!”
Luigi Dall’Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager)
“Pecco did an incredible race, and I am happy that he took this win in the first Sprint Race of the season. Now we must stay focused and work to be just as ready for tomorrow’s race. Unfortunately, with Enea’s injury, it was a bittersweet day for us. We hope he can recover soon and get back on track with us as soon as possible.”
The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back on track tomorrow at 9:45am for the warm-up, while the Portuguese GP will start at 2pm local time, over a 25-lap distance.
It was Álvaro Carpe’s first Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup race but the 15-year-old Spaniard fought his more experienced fellow countryman Angel Piqueras for the win all the way to the last lap.16-year-old Piqueras just found a touch extra to win the first race of season 17 by 0.673 second over Carpe with Rico Salmela, the 15-year-old Finn taking an excellent 3rd less than 2 seconds further back at the Portimão finish line.
It was much more than a two KTM race with a host of early leaders including South African 16-year-old Ruché Moodley and Malaysian 15-year-old Hakim Danish enjoying his first Rookies Cup race.
Angel Piqueras had the answer
“I am happy that finally, I could win but it was not an easy race, I had to fight all the way. I planned to make a good start and try to break away but I didn’t get the start I needed and could not get a gap.”
“We were battling all the way and I thought about the last lap. I realised that I could not leave it to the last corners, I had to get ahead and get clear for the last lap. I was able to take another step with the pace and get away just enough on the last lap.”
Álvaro Carpe living the dream
“If you asked me before the race if I would be on the podium I would say no,” he laughed, “Sure No. Now I am on the podium and this is awesome when I was a kid I dreamed of exactly this and I can’t believe that it has happened.”
“Sure I will try and win tomorrow but if I end anywhere on the podium that will be OK… but yes I will try and win.”
Rico Salmela changed style
“At the start of the race I was struggling a bit, I was a bit nervous and I was in the group. In the middle of the group, I settled a bit and got to the front of the group but when I tried to get to the leading two my bike was having a few moments.”
“So I had to change my riding style and that worked, the handling was better and I started to get away from the group and catch the riders on the front. I still need to start the catching a few more laps earlier. I might think about changing the bike for Race two, I had some moments on the rear but I still felt really good on the bike and enjoyed the race.”
Casey O’Gorman not thrilled
“I’m a bit disappointed with the result,” explained the 15-year-old Irishman “Because I felt that I had the pace to go with the front guys but the group I was with were always overtaking and the leaders got away.”
“Then at the end Rico got past, I pushed so hard to catch him but finally I couldn’t. The bike was good but tomorrow I will stay with the front group and not get caught in the group, there is always something that can happen.”
Hakim Danish fighting at the front
“Yes, I am very happy with my first race in the Red Bull Rookies Cup. I was able to lead for a little and I finished P5. I felt good, I tried to fight in the front group but I made a few mistakes and I ran really wide. But I managed to catch the group again and could fight again.”
“We did change the bike after Qualifying, it was better and good for the race, I think it can still be better and we will think if it is worthing trying another change for Race 2.”
Ruche Moodley learning from a single error
“The first lap I led, then coming into the second lap 4 riders overtook me, I didn’t want more riders to overtake me so into turn 3 I passed Rico, so then one rider that was making a pass to the rider in front of him backed out of the pass and I got really close to his wheel, I had to brake hard and the back end came around. I had to go straight.”
“I learned my lesson today, I am not going to make the silly mistake again, I think I can race at the front.”
Broadcast
This weekend’s Rookies Cup races can be seen live on www.redbull.tv and on TV stations around the world.
Note the early times for Race 2 on Sunday morning this season and the switch to summertime this Sunday so: Race 2 is on Sunday at 09:50 CEST, the show starts 10 minutes before the race.
ASBK ’23: Calm Waters At Night, Dunker Dunks on Supersport Regulars
Saturday at SMSP – It All Happens Now
There’s been a number of comparisons over the years between Phillip Island and Sydney Motorsport Park and today it was SMPS’s chance to really shine.
The weather here at SMSP was just as unpredictable as The Island, so there’s that and congrats all round…
Almost joking aside, it did indeed sprinkle down ahead of the warmup sessions for all classes and we spent an inordinate amount of time looking and the rain radar and thoughtfully making rubbish predictions.
Like The Island, Western Sydney does what it does and you best get used to it.
We poor fools, we didn’t know what was coming…
For all weekend results see Computime.com.au
Alpinestars Superbike
The warm-up was declared dry and so Josh Waters naturally went .9 of a second faster than most and Glenn Allerton brought his usual game-day excellence to the caper and was up to P2. At the end of the short session, it was Waters still up top with pole sitter Cru Halliday in second, Allerton third, Bryan Staring looking very good in fourth and Arthur Sissis up to fifth.
Race One
Herfoss, Allerton and Waters all got a ripping start, but it was Josh Waters on that ever-present McMartin Ducati Panigale V4R.
Cru Halliday – by his self-admitted lowly standards – got a great start and was second to Josh Waters who ripped out a 1:34 standing lap, a time that would have once been a pretty good flying lap.
Settling slightly through to lap three, it was Waters from Halliday and Allerton who had Troy Herfoss and Mike Jones for company.
Arthur Sissis had been unable to really launch like the rabbit he usually is and was fifth with Bryan Staring sixth.
Herfoss laid down a big black rubber line that impressed many but cost him four spots. Waters was now out to a half-second lead from Halliday and then a three-second gap back to Allerton in third. Waters’ fastest lap was a 1:29.001 to obliterate the lap record- indeed the top three had already knocked off the lap record.
Bryan Staring was in the 1:29s and was stalking Allerton who had slipped down to fourth after Mike Jones did stealthy Mike Jones things to limit his losses once again.
With nine laps to go, Herfoss was now working his way back into contention, passing Sissis and on a mission to get to Bryan Staring who in turn was all over Glenn Allerton. They swapped positions a few times, allowing Herfoss to get closer still.
A few light drops of rain kept life interesting and uncomfortable, but lap times remained in the 1:29s. Allerton, Staring and Herfoss got into an old school gentleman’s Donnybrook. Halliday was the fastest man on the circuit, but Waters was still .75 up on the factory Yamaha R1M.
At six laps to go, Staring and Herfoss tried to get through on Allerton, but Allerton can late brake like few others and Staring and Herfoss simply swapped spots while leaving Allerton in fourth.
Waters out front was looking composed, while Halliday was clearly not giving up the chase. The gap was now down to .5 of a second, but it felt like Waters was working his lap board pretty well.
Herfoss was finally past Allerton to take fourth position, while Staring remained in sixth.
Waters’ lead was down to just .2 of a second as Halliday was having the “ride of his life” according to commentator Steve Martin.
The cameras cut to Mike Jones’ bike as it massively let go an engine with a huge cloud of blue smoke. Shortly afterwards, the bike caught fire and brought out the red flag to stop the race.
Ten laps had been completed and race direction declared it a done deal. Josh Waters was the winner from pole-sitter Cru Halliday and the ever-present Troy Herfoss.
These were strange days, but Waters was still king.
1 21 Josh WATERS
2 65 Cru HALLIDAY
3 17 Troy HERFOSS
Josh Waters (21). Photo courtesy ASBK.
Race Two
From the second row of the grid, Herfoss blazed away with Arthur Sissis for company. The front-row starters were swamped. Allerton went around the outside of everyone to take the lead. Halliday had just described the back side of the circuit as “sketchy as” and the whole field was now sketching their way through this section.
Allerton led from Halliday, Waters, Herfoss and Staring. Broc Pearson had done a great job and worked his way up to sixth with Artur Sissis shuffled back to seventh, despite being second early in lap one.
Herfoss got the elbows out to pass Waters to then seek out Halliday and ultimately race leader Allerton.
Meanwhile, Mike Jones was down in a lowly eighth position on his second bike and would need to move forward to limit his losses. Waters was past Herfoss for third and he and Halliday were off after Allerton.
Allerton put his hand up down the straight to indicate rain, but new-found waterman Halliday took the lead with his foot down like a motocross rider through turn one and we wondered if there would be a red flag. It was hard to tell if it was raining elsewhere, and the merciful red flag came out after just three laps as the rain really fell in earnest.
Race Two Restart
At the restart- in order they crossed the line a lap earlier- Halliday led the bunch despite not getting the best jump. Sissis did the crazy fast start thing as he is want to do and this time he made it stick and he was third behind Herfoss.
Herfoss moved into the lead while Allerton went around Waters to move into third.
Herfoss went wide at turn six and Halliday politely followed so he wouldn’t feel alone. The rain continued. Mike Jones was back in tenth and struggling once again.
With five laps to run, Waters was out to a three-second lead with a gaggle of chasers: Allerton, Halliday, Herfoss, Sissis and Pearson.
Four laps to go and Waters was absolutely trucking. He was now six seconds up the road and effectively gone. Herfoss moved back into second on a mission like we had rarely seen before. Allerton continued to chase, but Halliday passed him down the straight as we ticked down to three laps remaining. Herfoss ran wide again, but this time lost no places but gave even more time to the seemingly absent Josh Waters who was now eight seconds ahead.
Two laps left and Herfoss was second from Halliday , Sissis and Allerton. The nine-second lead Waters enjoyed continued to grow. Herfoss seemed secure in second place, with Halliday also comfortably ahead of Sissis.
At the finish, it was the dominant shape of the McMartin Ducati Panigale V4R with Josh Waters aboard taking an easy win by 6.3 seconds (he gave them a few seconds on the last lap) from Troy Herfoss, Cru Halliday, Arthur Sissis and Glenn Allerton in fifth.
Five wins from five starts. The only blemish for the entire season to date was the single point missed for pole at round two. While Josh Waters might have been under some pressure leading into the round where he was dominant at the test, the pressure was now all the other way; how will the field respond?
But as Mike Jones had discovered at SMSP; even the seemingly invincible can have a day that goes DNF/10th…
1 21 Josh WATERS
2 17 Troy HERFOSS
3 65 Cru HALLIDAY
Michelin Supersport
Race One
The weather was again all the talk, but the precipitation thankfully stayed away. Pole sitter Sean Condon led them away from pole, but both Hayden Nelson and Tom Bramich fired off the line and were at the front or close to it. A few riders ran wide early and trying to work out who was where was a challenge.
Olly Simpson completed his first racing lap of Sydney Motorsport Park in the lead, Jake Farnsworth put a solid pass on Sean Condon while Olly Simpson was nearly unseated. That gave Farnsworth the opening he needed to take the lead.
Championship leader Ty Lynch was back in seventh while season-long contenders Lytras and Bramich were fifth and sixth.
At the front, Olly Simpson had a big moment and ran wide, allowing the likes of Bramich and Lytras to move forward.
Condon was boxing on and was back up to second and then took the lead via a clever late braking move. Farnsworth nearly threw himself down the road after getting on the gas a little early. Condon was leading and had the fastest lap of the race to boot.
Olly Simpson was working himself back into the caper and was back up to fifth. Passfield had found himself involved in some early bar banging and was down in 14th. Condon ripped out a 1:32.969 to stretch his lead to .7 of a second with six laps to go.
The order settled for the top three with Condon, Jake Farnsworth and Tom Bramich all evenly spaced. The battle was on for fifth with 2022 Supersport 300 champion Cameron Dunker leading a solid group that included John Lytras, Ty Lynch and Hayden Nelson.
At three laps to go, Condon was out to a second-plus gap and set sail for home for his first win of the year. Farnsworth was secure in second place with Bramich also solid in third.
While Farnsworth was able to chip away at Condon’s lead, it certainly felt like Condon was just doing what he needed to chalk up 25 points- which he did. The gap was still a second to second and Tom Bramich was a further 2.5 seconds in third. Olly Simpson was fourth with Cameron Dunker fifth.
1 26 Sean CONDON
2 49 Jake FARNSWORTH
3 44 Tom BRAMICH
Race Two
With a mixed grid of wets and dry tyres and weather conditions that could have been a separate article, it was always going to be a very different sort of race.
Jake Farnsworth was pulled from the grid at the 11th hour due to a faulty rear light.
The wet tyre crew took off as expected, with flat track wonderkid (And baby faced assassin) Cameron Dunker out quickly, but Ty Lynch was first through turns one and two and took off as best he could on what must be wet Michelins.
Olly Simpson- another rider very handy when the going gets weird, was up to second with Dunker settling into third. With about one third of the circuit dry and the rest varyinging degrees of damp, Simpson pushed past Dunker to take second and the top runners were off in an attempt to get away before the circuit got too dry.
Pole man Sean Condon was way down in 20th and would have been screaming for dry running, but it was still too early to say whether slicks were the wrong call.
It was still very wet at turn two, and the lack of a breeze and the high humidity just stopped the drying process.
Up front, Olly Simpson was leading by half a second to Cameron Dunker and a few more seconds back to Ty Lynch. Luke Sanders went down on the exit of turn four, throwing away a chance at a podium finish.
For the regulars, the contenders and past race winners it was a disaster: Lytras was in 10th, Bramich 16th, while Condon was the mover up to 12th.
Passfield was rumored to have chosen the odd combo of a slick front and wet rear, but no matter what he was running, he was still in fourth, just two seconds behind third placed Ty Lynch.
Cameron Dunker is a renowned flat tracker and was a smooth as butter in the mixed conditions. The gap between him and race leader Olly Simpson was down to half a second.
Sean Condon went down at turn six to end his night and really create issues for the once favoured rider for champion in 2023.
Jack Passfield was past Ty Lynch for third, but Lynch was determined to hang on to both Passfield tail and the championship lead.
Dunker continued his march to the lead, and the pressure he was excerting worked when Olly Simpson had a huge moment into turn one with two laps to go. Dunker was able to get .8 ahead almost immediately and set off for his first ever Supersport race win after a championship Supersport 300 year in 2022.
Ty Lynch was slowing significantly and was swamped by a group including Jonathan Nahlous, Dallas Skeer and Scott Nicholson. Lynch was in survival mood.
Dunker still had a .8 second lead into the last lap and was able to hang on for the win in his second-ever event in the Supersport category. Olly Simpson rolled through for second, but it was Scott Nicholson who took third after Passfield was shuffled back to seventh.
Some riders take years to get a race win and /or a round win in Supersport.
It took Cameron Dunker two rounds of Supersport to achieve both goals.
1 3 Cameron DUNKER
2 45 Olly SIMPSON
3 39 Scott NICHOLSON
Supersport 300
Race Two
Brandon Demmery would start from pole in the second Supersport 300 race of the weekend and the second-to-last race before the night sessions began in earnest.
The commentators teased the assembled crowd with the usual weather talk, but we started the race without precipitation, but with Brandon Demmery off the front into turn one. Marcus Hamod had a great start and was up to second and Henry Snell was also away well and into third.
OJC graduate Ryan Larkin was fourth with Jai Russo nipping at his heels. Snell got through Hamod mid-lap while Demmery held a small .1 lead.
The first trip down the straight saw the usual shuffling of the pack with Snell and Larkin being the biggest beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, Race Direction noted the start was once again under investigation.
Cameron Swain had been stalking the field for some time and was now up to third with Ryan Larkin behind him. Swain was soon into the lead, and Demmery was happy to let them lead and observe for a time. Swain had his “I’d like to get away thanks” attitude in full effect and was out to a .5 lead over Snell and Demmery.
At four laps to go, Demmery was back into the lead, dashing Swain’s hopes of a solo win. Russo was in third while Brodie Gawith and Henry Snell were fourth and fifth.
As the laps ran down, there was a clear lead group, but no clear leader. Russo, Swain and Demmery all spent time on the front while Casey Middleton and Cooper Rowntree stayed in contact.
The lead group was seven deep and all were capable of taking the win. Brock Quinlan was down and the race was red flagged with six laps completed due to Quinlan’s bike being in a dangerous place. The lead riders looked at each other, understandably confused about who was the winner.
Race direction declared Cameron Swain the winner from Brandon Demmery and Jai Russo after winding the clock back a lap per the usual red flag rules.
1 26 Cameron SWAIN
2 11 Brandon DEMMERY
3 32 Jai RUSSO
Race Three
The night race for the three hundies was still damp and so the teams took their cues from the just-completed Supersport race where those on wet tyres capitalised.
Cameron Swain jumped away with plenty of company but lead through lap one with Brandon Demmery and Brodie Gawith second and third.
A chase group formed with Luke Jhonston, Henry Snell, Marcos Hamod and Jai Russo all jostling for position. At the head of the group, Demmery and Swain were swapping off but not breaking away.
At six laps to go, it was still Swain and Demmery but they had plenty of willing company, but no definitive challenger for the top spot. Indeed, the leading pair were now out to a small but important lead of about 3.5 seconds.
Not realising that their dicing was going to end with no better result than third, the chasing group continued to box each others ears. The race was now down to Demmery and Swain and they spent the last few laps working out what to do as they headed to the finish.
Swain decided to try to establish a break of his own as he did at Phillip island a few weeks ago. He bever achieved more than a few tenths of a second and perhaps was playing into Demmery’s hands.
Then there were reports of some rain falling- just to ensure the drama had drama on drama.
But Demmery continued to fox behind Swain, absolutely content to let him lead aswe headed into the last lap. Their gar was out to 4 seconds, but Swain decided he’d had enough leading and slowed even more. You lead!… no sir YOU LEAD! But at the line, it was Demmery who picked Swain’s pocket for another win.
Brodie Gawith was third, some 3.3 seconds behind with Henry Snell right behind him
The battle for fifth was dramatic as they tried for five wide over the line but it was Hamod from Knezovic, Middleton, Russo, Jhonston and Josh Newman 10th…
1 11 Brandon DEMMERY
2 26 Cameron SWAIN
3 25 Brodie GAWITH
The bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup
Race Two
Slicks were the go and the go was slick for Bodie Paige who jumped away to a small lead, but with an enthusiastic group chasing. Immediately, race direction noted the start was under investigation after a few nervous clutch hands were faster than the start lights.
By half lap, Bodie had a half second advantage with Archie Schmidt and Ella McCausland fighting for the right be first to chase Bodie.
Of course, this simply allowed Bodie Paige to grind out a slightly bigger gap. But McCausland was having none of it and around the time she took the lead of the race down the main straight she was also announced has having jumped the start.
Whether McCausland knew this via the race direction boards at the track was impossible to say, but she continued to race hard and remained close to or at the front for much of the middle part of the race.
The leading group was now McCausland, Bodie Paige, Riley Nauta, Valentino Knezovic and Hunter Corney rounding out the top five.
At two laps to go, Paige led while McCausland was clearly measuring her run for the finale. Ther riders diced as they do through the last lap, all competing to get into the ideal spot for the run to the line. McCausland led, but seemingly didn’t want to.
The run to the line: McCausland lead them down the straight and inexplicably none we able to make a run past her and she hit the line as the first female to cross the line first in the bLu cRU Oceania Junior Cup.
…then the race direction penalty for a jump start was applied and the win went to Haydn Fordyce from Valentino Knezovic and Bodie Paige in third.
The breakthrough win would have to wait for McCausland.
1 17 Haydn FORDYCE
2 48 Valentino KNEZOVIC
3 74 Bodie PAIGE
Race Three
The final Oceania Junior Cup race of the weekend was an exciting affair with plenty of action from start to finish. Ella Mcausland made a great start, quickly moving up to third after losing out in race two. Meanwhile, Bodie Paige took the lead by half a second and looked comfortable in the opening stages of the race, with the track not entirely wet and the back half dry.
Paige continued to lead the pack, with Nauta and Mcausland battling for second place. However, their fighting allowed Paige to extend his lead to one second on lap three. McAdam went down at turn two, but rejoined the race unharmed.
The lead group eventually split, with Paige signaling to the riders behind him that working together would be the only way to catch up. The group of four began to close in on Paige, but Oscar Lewis went down at turn two and Bodie Paige’s visor apparently started fogging up, causing him to wipe it repeatedly for visibility.
The lead group was now five strong, with a gap of 6 seconds to sixth. However, a mistake from Nixon Frost dropped him several positions from the front of the chasing pack. Mcausland made a great move from fifth to second at turn three, while Nauta was unseated at the exit of turn two, but able to continue.
The first sector was still wet, but Corporate Hill and T9 were drying quickly. Early podium sitter Lazos went down at T2, which claimed its third victim of the race. Paige took advantage of all the battling behind him to open up a multi second gap, eventually claiming a dominant victory.
Archie Schmidt made an impressive move from fourth to second at the turn none hairpin on the last lap, while Nauta and Schmidt claimed the final podium spots. All in all, it was a thrilling race full of ups and downs, and Paige proved to be the strongest rider of the day.
The overall round win went to rookie OJC entrant, New Zealand lad Haydn Fordyce who took up motorcycle racing less than a year ago…!
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www.roadracingworld.com
May 10, 2026
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Disability profiles supported in our website
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Notes, comments, and feedback
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