Red flag impacted Friday in Portugal for Repsol Honda Team 24.03.2023: Grande Premio de Portugal MotoGP 2023 Round 1 A complicated afternoon session saw Joan Mir and Marc Marquez work to keep their places in the combined top ten, ultimately missing out by just a few tenths in the hyper-competitive MotoGP field.

Grande Premio de Portugal
MotoGP 2023   Round 1

A complicated afternoon session saw Joan Mir and Marc Marquez work to keep their places in the combined top ten, ultimately missing out by just a few tenths in the hyper-competitive MotoGP field.



The sound of MotoGP returned in earnest as round one of the 2023 World Championship season got underway in Portimao. A return to Europe for the first race of the year, fans were already lining the stands of the circuit as the premier class rolled out for Free Practice 1 just before 11:00 Local Time.



Spits of rain in the morning session would send the majority of the field back to their garages after only a few laps as they waited for the conditions to improve. After setup adjustments to suit the conditions, both Joan Mir and Marc Marquez returned to the track to make the most of the remaining track time.



Ending the morning in second place with a 1’38.827, the newest addition to the Repsol Honda Team was able to impress immediately as he led a strong session for the Honda RC213V. In the afternoon, Mir was again able to end the day as the fastest Honda – claiming 12th place with a best lap of 1’38.394. Just over 0.1s saw the double World Champion miss out on a combined top ten spot on his Honda Grand Prix debut, the #36 poised to fight for one of the two transfer spots in Q1. A crash during Free Practice 2 saw Mir walk away without serious consequence.



Marc Marquez’s day followed a similar pattern as he finished the morning inside the top ten before improving his time by over a second to a 1’38.419. Unfortunately, his improvements were not enough and finished the day as the 14th fastest rider, a harmless fall in the final minutes of the session ending his last chance of improvements.



Saturday will not only see the classic battle for pole position, but also the debut of the MotoGP Sprint – a shortened 12 lap race where riders will battle for half points.   
    
       
    


Joan Mir  36
12TH  1'38.394

 
“We were able to improve a lot from the test to today and I was able to feel a lot better with the bike. I think we left something more out there on track, so I am not fully satisfied. With our second tyre we weren’t able to make the most of it, but the team and I understand what we need to do in the future to improve this.


That’s important. Of course, it’s a shame because we were having a great day. Tomorrow is a new day and I think we have a good chance to go through Q1.”         

    
       
    
Marc Marquez  93
14TH  1'38.419


“All of the Honda riders were quite close today. I was feeling quite good with the bike today and our goal today was to get into Q2 and we just missed that. It will be an intense day tomorrow because everyone is riding very well and at the limit after the test.


It wasn’t the best day overall today, it was a standard day, but I am aiming to make a step tomorrow and be a bit faster. The crash I had today was one of those crashes where you know it will come, I was braking too late after Turn 2 – I tried to save it but it didn’t work.”         

    
       
    
Friday Practice - Portugal Grand Prix


1    MILLER Jack     43    AUS    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    1'37.709
2    VINALES Maverick     12    SPA    Aprilia Racing    Aprilia    0.037
3    BAGNAIA Francesco     1    ITA    Ducati Lenovo Team    Ducati    0.147
4    MARINI Luca     10    ITA    Mooney VR46 Racing Team    Ducati    0.190
5    MARTIN Jorge     89    SPA    Pramac Racing    Ducati    0.282
6    QUARTARARO Fabio     20    FRA    Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP    Yamaha    0.306
7    ZARCO Johann     5    FRA    Pramac Racing    Ducati    0.403
8    BEZZECCHI Marco     72    ITA    Mooney VR46 Racing Team    Ducati    0.449
9    ESPARGARO Aleix     41    SPA    Aprilia Racing    Aprilia    0.544
10    BASTIANINI Enea     23    ITA    Ducati Lenovo Team    Ducati    0.547
11    MARQUEZ Alex     73    SPA    Team Gresini Racing MotoGP    Ducati    0.676
12    MIR Joan     36    SPA    Repsol Honda Team    Honda    0.685
13    RINS Alex     42    SPA    LCR Honda    Honda    0.707
14    MARQUEZ Marc     93    SPA    Repsol Honda Team    Honda    0.710
15    NAKAGAMI Takaaki     30    JPN    LCR Honda    Honda    1.118
16    FERNANDEZ Augusto     37    SPA    Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing    KTM    1.173
17    FERNANDEZ Raul     25    SPA    RNF MotoGP Team    Aprilia    1.195
18    BINDER Brad     33    RSA    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    1.201
19    OLIVEIRA Miguel     88    POR    RNF MotoGP Team    Aprilia    1.249
20    MORBIDELLI Franco     21    ITA    Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP    Yamaha    1.269
21    DI GIANNANTONIO Fabio     49    ITA    Team Gresini Racing MotoGP    Ducati    1.712
22    ESPARGARO Pol     44    SPA    Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing    KTM    2.421

    
 Repsol Honda Team - MotoGP, also photos