MotoGP is entering its home stretch before starting its 2023 season during the last weekend of March. To assess the forces involved and thus develop your predictions, the only updates on the track at the moment come from the three days of testing at Sepang. Two more days are expected in Portimao and they will therefore not be too long to fully understand the situation. Especially since these tests will take place on the route which will launch hostilities from March 24 to 26. However, we can already have some ideas on what to expect, and here are those from legend Dani Pedrosa.
Dani Pedrosa is a test pilot KTM who is working hard to bring the RC16 to the now high level of MotoGP. He will even make this a wild card to understand how the new Grand Prix format is experienced. He was at Sepang where he did the three days of Shakedown and also those of the tests reserved for the regular drivers. An experience that gave him this feeling: “ I can't tell you whether or not this year's Ducati is better than last year's, but what is clear is that right now they are superior ».
Public chat GP One, he adds : at least that's what they demonstrated during this first test in Sepang. I was also at the track watching and they seemed very strong in all corners and all parts of the track. They seemed very comfortable » he insists. From there, you don’t have to be a great cleric to guess the rest: “ the easiest would be to choose one of the Ducati riders to place your sports bets, because at the moment it is the most stable motorcycle on all types of circuits, the one with the best performance and which can go the fastest » said the Spaniard again 37 years.
The latter even singles out certain cases in the Borgo Panigale clan on which to focus particularly: “if I have to name names, from what I saw in Malaysia, one of the drivers I found the best was Jorge Martin. Pecco Bagnaia is the reigning champion and will attempt to defend his title. Last year, he won by making a lot of mistakes, unheard of, so all he needs to do is not make mistakes to do better. And then there is Enea Bastianini who is very determined to prove his worth and I think that having the champion by his side will not make him give up, on the contrary, I think it will motivate him ". And he concludes: “ these three seem very strong ».
Dani Pedrosa: “entre le premier et le 20è en MotoGP il y a 8 ou 9 dixièmes, donc avec une petite erreur ou une mauvaise journée, tu finis très bas"
Finally, there would be no new under the sun and the mass would therefore already be said... An observation that the same Dani Pedrosa does not, however, do: “ I nevertheless think that there could be changes of position » he surprises before clarifying his thoughts: “ the order in which they closed this test or in which they could close the next one could be different in the first, second or third race » envisages the pilot KTM.
He analyses : " it will not be not because of the behavior of the motorcycles, but the behavior of the riders, in the sense that some feel more comfortable during a race weekend than during testing. Others, on the other hand, always do well in practice, but then in the race, with the atmosphere of the weekend or the pressure, they don't know how to do good laps and the order changes. But the most important thing is that between the first and the 20th there were 8 or 9 tenths. So with a small mistake or a bad day, you finish very low ».
But it's not just that. Dani Pedrosa broadens its vision of the progress of a simple Grand Prix to that of an entire season in the light of a new MotoGP format which will have to be taken very seriously: “ there are now so many races in which you can fall or get injured… A lot of things can happen and, after five races, maybe you won't be in the fight for the title anymore » Dani pointed out. “ If you lose a race due to injury, now it's not just one you miss, it's two. And if the appointments are consecutive, up to four or six may be missed, which will cause you to lose many points »...
