During last season in MotoGP, we readily contrasted in terms of performance the European brands in full rise with the Japanese manufacturers taking the exact opposite direction. After this first day of testing in Portimao, we need to refine our approach since, at the top, we only find Italian coats of arms. Missing from the rollout is the Austrian group united under the Pierer Mobility AG brand with the RC16s branded KTM and GASGAS. Four bikes which did not take off from the bottom of the ranking this Saturday in the Algarve, allowing Honda to affirm that it can still beat someone in the category.
It must be recognized that the first day of the last test of this off-season in MotoGP was not very brilliant for KTM et GASGAS. However, these troops came to the track which will be that of the Grand Prix of the next inaugural Portuguese Grand Prix of the season with a lot of new features and the intention of making people forget the last tests at Sepang, which had not revealed what was hoped for in Mattighofen.
A fifteenth position and a sixteenth place were the results of Brad Binder and Jack Miller this Saturday in the Algarve while for the reds of GASGAS, it was worse: Pol Espargaro was 22nd and his rookie teammate Augusto Fernandez 24th
To understand the situation of the Austrians, you have to listen Brad Binder : " It was quite difficult this Saturday. Unfortunately, Portimao is another track that confirmed our problems and that's a bit of what we already knew. It's a little difficult. We play around with the settings a lot, to resolve issues. We haven't found what we're looking for yet. ". And on the track, it looks like this: “ we lose a lot of time from one turn to the next. It's difficult for the pilot, because you are giving your time for free without being able to do anything about it. It's a bit tricky. But I think the guys understand the problem pretty well and they also have an idea of how we can solve it ».
All RC16 MotoGP riders agree on one thing: “ it's difficult«
For his part, his teammate Jack Miller added : " we are dealing with a completely different track here than at Sepang. A completely different setup is needed here. Nevertheless, we are making progress. We used the full 2023 package for the first time, with which we will start the season here in two weeks. We kind of did a shakedown with that. I tried to get comfortable with it. Now we need to figure out how we can improve this package ».
And at GASGAS? Pol Espargaro explain : " this first day of testing was difficult because we encountered a lot of different problems. In a way it's a good thing, because we'd rather have the problems during testing than during a race weekend. In the morning we struggled with the bike's electronics and engine settings. Towards the end of the day, when we wanted to attack the time, we had other problems, so it was difficult to push. It was a day difficult for us, but you learn from these difficult testing days ».
The final word logically comes back to the last one, 24. Augusto Fernandez : " Portimao was a new track for me in MotoGP. It's difficult. Towards the end of the day I started to feel more comfortable but I still have a lot to learn from this route. I'm happy because we made very good progress with the bike and we also started working on the settings to prepare for the race in two weeks. I'm getting closer to my teammates, that's my goal, so I'm happy with my day. Tomorrow is our last day of pre-season testing, we will continue to prepare as best we can for the Portuguese Grand Prix ».
MotoGP Test Portimao J1: times
Credit classification motogp.com
