Bumper MotoGP season gets under way this weekend

The 2023 MotoGP season has its opening round at Portugal’s Algarve circuit this weekend.

Fans of the premier motorcycle racing category have a bumper year in store with a record 21 Grands Prix on the calendar and the introduction of sprint races on Saturday afternoons. These will be half-distance races with half-points on offer and will have no bearing on the starting grid for the main grand prix. The starting grid for both the sprint and main races will be determined by the usual Saturday qualifying session.

There have been four different world champions in as many years — respectively Marc Marquez, Joan Mir, Fabio Quartararo and Francesco Bagnaia — and a new champion may be crowned in 2023. Riders such as Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales, Ducati’s Enea Bastianini and Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin are riders who have shown great potential, while SA’s Brad Binder clearly has the talent to win a title at the top level if his Red Bull KTM is up to the task.

Binder was ninth fastest in preseason test at Portimao in Portugal, half-a-second off the pace of world champion Bagnaia on his Ducati, which signalled that progress was being made by the KTM factory team. However, on the eve of the opening race it does seem like Ducati is again the marque to beat, with six of the Italian machines in the top 10 at the Portimao test.

After four surgeries, a fully fit Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) returns looking for a ninth world championship title after three tough seasons. He is joined by new teammate Mir, the 2020 champion.

Eight riders have moved to different teams including recent race winners Bastianini, Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Miguel Oliveira (RNF MotoGP Team), Alex Rins (LCR Honda Castrol), Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati), Pol Espargaro (GasGas Factory Racing Tech3) and Raul Fernandez (RNF MotoGP Team). New to the field is 2022 Moto2 World Champion Augusto Fernandez (GasGas Factory Racing Tech3).

‘I’ve never seen a car so fast’, says Hamilton of Red Bull

Lewis Hamilton, winner of a record 103 Formula One grands prix and seven world championships, said on Sunday he had never seen a car as quick as Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.

The Mercedes driver was overtaken by the double world champion as Verstappen powered from 15th on the grid to second in a Saudi Arabian Grand Prix won by Red Bull’s Mexican Sergio Perez.

It was Red Bull’s second one-two in two races this season and the only point they have missed so far was the bonus for fastest lap in Bahrain.

“I’ve definitely never seen a car so fast,” Hamilton told reporters after finishing fifth in Jeddah.

“When we were fast, we weren’t that fast.

“That’s the fastest car I think, I’ve seen, especially compared to the rest. I don’t know how or why but he came past me with serious speed.

“I didn’t even bother to block because there was a huge speed difference.”

Before the race, Hamilton believed Red Bull enjoyed a one and a half second advantage per lap.

Hamilton’s teammate George Russell, who finished fourth and was promoted to third before being demoted back to fourth on review, said already in Bahrain that he could see Red Bull winning every race.

“You’ve got to give credit to what Red Bull have done,” the Briton said on Sunday.

“The gap they have to the rest of the field, I think is bigger than we’ve seen probably since Mercedes in 2014. It’s a serious, serious gap and I guess everybody needs to keep working harder to understand how to close that gap.

“But we know we didn’t make the right decisions over the winter and I think we can regain some of that performance quicker than you would do ordinarily. So everything's not all lost.”

Mercedes won eight constructors’ titles in a row from 2014 until Red Bull dethroned them last year.

Hamilton, who made his F1 debut with McLaren in 2007, has won six of his titles with Mercedes.