Following a few days of private testing for many riders in the Moto2 and Moto3 categories, mainly in Jerez, the only official test for the intermediate and lightweight categories begins today at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão.
From 11:00 a.m. to 19:00 p.m. (French time), three days of tests are on the program, with three sessions of 70 then 75 minutes per day for each category. Moto3™ starts on Saturday, Moto2™ on Sunday and Moto3™ returns to first place on Monday, with live timing available throughout the test on motogp.com.
En Moto2, the reigning world champion team Red Bull KTM Ajo of Aki Ajo having seen its two riders move to MotoGP, the Moto3 world champion Pedro Acosta will have the task of taking over, with his new teammate Augusto Fernandez from the Marc VDS team.
However, Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team), Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) and Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) certainly do not intend to endure another season dominated by the Finnish team and will look to maximize track time to move to the top of the standings. The pilots Fermín Aldeguer (Speed Up Racing), already impressive since his arrival mid-season last year, and Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team), looking for a turnaround after a much more difficult 2021, also seemed fast.
It will also be necessary to take into account Cameron Beaubier (American Racing), now joined by his compatriot Sean Dylan Kelly, which will be interesting to follow. Roman Fenati (Speed Up Racing) returns to the category, Jorge Navarro goes to Flexbox HP 40, Jake dixon at GASGAS Aspar, while Tony Arbolino will also have high hopes for his new era within the Elf Marc VDS Racing team.
And how will the rookies fare? A third of the workforce has been renewed, coming from Moto3 like Filip Salač (Gresini Racing Moto2) but also from various backgrounds, like Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) arriving from World Supersport, Alessandro Zaccone (Gresini Racing Moto2) of MotoE and even Zonta van den Goorbergh (RW Racing GP) directly from FIM CEV.
The Moto2s will be limited in tires (6 front, 7 rear) and kilometers, since they will use the engines that will be used in Qatar. A new Dunlop rear tire is also worth trying.
En Moto3, Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing), Sergio Garcia (GASGAS Aspar Team) and Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) emerge as riders to beat in 2022, with all three having solid experience in the category alongside a race-winning pedigree. However, they will have to take into account the speed of Deniz Oncu (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), John mcphee and his teammate Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max), Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team), and a Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) which was the fastest in the last private test.
On the French side, we will closely follow the second season of Lorenzo Fellon (SIC58 Squadra Corse) in the category, after a winter spent training in Spain.
The Grand Prix entry category also sees the addition of some interesting names to watch in 2022. Ana Carrasco (BOE SKX) returns to the category for the first time since 2015, while the 3 Moto2021™ Junior World Champion Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and the already noticed Joel Kelso (CIP Green Power), Scott Ogden (VisionTrack Racing Team) and Mario Aji (Honda Team Asia) strengthen the list of beginner drivers with emerging potential. You should also be wary of Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia), who was undefeated in 2021 at the Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup and won his first ever Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup round on a track he had never ridden on. Will the Japanese driver be up to the task in the Grand Prix?
The Moto3s will have 6 front and 6 rear tires, with two new Dunlop rubbers to try for the front.
See you this evening for the report of the day!
