RiderTua.com – Last year Marc Marquez was like putting on a circus show in Portimao… The start of the season was unusual because for the first time the season-opening MotoGP race was held in Portimao-Portugal. There are no big surprises in the 2022/2023 pre-season tests. Ducati goes to the Algarve with confidence. At least 4 of the 8 Ducati riders are considered to have a chance of winning.
In particular, Enea Bastianini who was promoted to the factory team was considered the favorite by many. Unfortunately, he didn’t even take part in the first race. After strong training (6th position), the Italian rider experienced a brutal highside in the first sprint race which resulted in a broken shoulder blade. In fact, Pecco Bagnaia’s partner, who is again the favorite to win the world title, has already been eliminated here, because Bestia needs half a season to return to his strength.
Last year Marc Marquez did a circus performance in Portimao
In Portugal, Marc Marquez put on a show on the track in the game ‘The Shadow Man’ and successfully took the first starting position (pole). And the first sprint also went perfectly for Marc. Luckily he was able to bring the RC213V to 3rd place in the short sprint race.
Interesting: ‘Sprint King’ Jorge Martin must be behind world champion Bagnaia in starting position. Pecco Bagnaia achieved a dream start from the first row of the grid and got full points, because on Sunday Pecco managed to get out of all the fight and dominate the opening race from the front or he was the one who won.
The foundations for defending the title were laid from the start. The reason is, Jorge Martin, who should be happy to be a strong challenger to defending champion Pecco Bagnaia until the end of the season, buried his Ducati GP23 in the Portimao gravel trap when he was in 11th position. After the first series of the 2023 season, the points difference between Pecco and Martin is 28 points.
However, the circus show in Portugal’s Algarve was performed beautifully by Marc Marquez. In his famously aggressive style, the racer, who at that time was still at Repsol Honda, crashed into the back of Miguel Oliveira. The home racer’s exit from his home race was accompanied by emotionally charged shouts and curses from the crowd.
Behind Pecco Bagnaia, Maverick Vinales and Marco Bezecchi dueled for quite a long time. However, the duel was ultimately won by the Aprilia factory rider. For a long time, it looked like Brad Binder would manage to secure 4th place. However, the Red Bull KTM racer had no chance against Johann Zarco and Alex Marquez, both of whom rode Ducati. Binder finished in 6th position and teammate Jack Miller 7th, this means KTM will still have a strong debut as a team in 2023.
In 8th place and only 8 seconds behind the winner, Fabio Quartararo also has the opportunity to have a good season. The top 10 was completed at kick-off in the Algarve by Aleix Espargaro and Alex Rins. In the first full race of the 2023 season, only 14 drivers made it to the finish line.
