Portimao MotoGP Test – Focus on KTM / GASGAS

MotoGP 2023 – Portimao Test
Focus on KTM / GASGAS

Two days of intense testing work brought the 2023 MotoGP pre-season to a conclusion for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 overnight in Portugal.

The two-day session allowed the Red Bull KTM works squad to drill through solutions and options to be ready for the 21-race championship (and brand new Sprint format) as well as look towards optimum settings for the Grande Premio de Portugal at the same fast and technical circuit at the end of March.

Brad Binder and Jack Miller were given a second opportunity to give their feedback on the potential of the RC16s around the 15 corner and 4.5 km layout in southern Portugal. The climate was steady and ideal for testing duties, even if the undulations of the track and diversity of the curves means it is a unique setting for bike behaviour and competitiveness.

Binder sat in P6 at one stage and ended the second day with ninth on the combined time-sheets, just half-a-second from P1 and close to the lap record. The South African was searching for rear grip but noted an improvement on Sunday.

Brad Binder

“We made a good step forward today. We had to re-think things last night because I wasn’t that happy with what we were doing: the team did a great job to make me more comfortable on the bike and I could push a bit harder. We are closer to where we need to be. The time attack went better than I expected. There is definitely a step we can still make before the race but I think we are more or less ready to go into the season.”

Miller, who is still trying to unlock the full possibilities of the race bike in what was just his third outing, was continually making gains. The Australian was just nine-tenths of a second from the peak of the overall classification.

Jack Miller

“We’re getting there. We cut almost another second today and got closer to the top rider who was six-tenths under the lap-record! I’m just trying to understand the bike and try different things to get comfortable. We are improving every day and it is taking some time but we’re getting to a decent spot before the first race. Our [engine] maps need a little polishing but I think we can be quietly confident.”

Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager

“This test was the first time we tried the 2023 spec of the bike and we had some unexpected issues but also some progress. We perhaps don’t have enough time now to fix everything but we hope to give the riders a better package asap. Jack is gaining confidence and speed run-by-run and Brad was a bit surprised by this test but turned it around today. We know where we need to improve and thanks to the whole team for another big effort. Let’s get the season underway now.”

Sebastian Risse – Red Bull KTM Technical Manager MotoGP

“I would say we had a difficult start to the test and had to work through a lot on the first day. The main topic for some riders was rear grip, and looking at the lap-times overall, it was clear that the track today was in better shape and this helped us but we also improved our cause. We made a step and now we just have to see how much we can transfer this on the race weekend. I think we can be happy with the evolution we made these two days and we have the baseline. Now that we have had this test everybody should be up to pace right away at the GP and I think there is still some room to work there.”

In the GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 garage Pol Espargaro sits 18th quickest, one-second away from lap record pace while rookie Augusto Fernandez is less than 1.7 seconds away from the top time & starting to get into the MotoGP groove. The crew – in their distinctive red livery for the first time – continued to shape the base configuration of the GASGAS RC16 but then also look to the Grande Premio de Portugal two weeks later.

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After a rather difficult Saturday and an evening spent finding solutions to yesterday’s issues, Pol Espargaro seemed to find himself more comfortable on Sunday. He eventually managed to go under the bar of the 1’40 with a fast lap in 1’39.526 on lap 18 thanks to a change of bike’s setting.  In the afternoon, he focused on different areas, including getting the fast laps in. Lap after lap, he progressed through the lap times until reaching 1’38.974 within the final laps of the day. He closes the day eighteenth in the standings, 1.006 seconds from the fastest of day 2.

Pol Espargaro – P18

“Today was much better than yesterday so it feels good. We are just one second away from today’s fastest man, which is not bad on this track. Of course, we would like to be higher in the standings, but we tried many things these two days. We worked on the race pace quite a lot and there are some positive things, but we are missing something, especially on this track on which our grip is not the best in the rear. We had a very productive day today, so I am happy. Let’s go racing!”

His rookie team-mate Augusto Fernandez continued his progression on the Portuguese layout with the main goal to develop the learnings from Saturday and prepare for his first ever MotoGP race at the opening round of the 2023 season in two weeks. With just seven laps on Sunday morning, he had already improved from his best lap of Saturday by 0.435 seconds. Seven laps later, the Spaniard went under the 1’40 bar, in 1’39.907, a very encouraging step for the rookie.

In a similar fashion to his team-mate, Augusto also dedicated his day to fast laps and race preparation, integrating a race simulation at the end of the morning. The outcome was positive, highlighted by Augusto’s fastest lap set with his final lap. In the afternoon, he worked on time-attacks and eventually gained a few hundredths of seconds to set his fastest lap of the weekend in 1’39.667. After sixty-four laps, he sits in twenty-first in the standings, 0.693 seconds away from his teammate.

Augusto Fernandez – P21

“We had a good morning and made good progress with the bike. We did a race simulation and I am happy because I had a good race pace and felt good physically. I was able to understand more things about the bike, such as tyre management and how to ride it in race conditions. In Moto2, I was always very good towards the last part of the races, so it is good that I am also able to replicate this to the MotoGP class. In the afternoon, we worked on a time-attack and I think that we still have a lot of work to do to understand how to get the maximum of new soft tyres.”

Nicolas Goyon – GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 Team Manager

“We just finished the pre-season with the final test in Portimao before we all finally start the championship here in two weeks. I would like to thank both our riders Pol Espargaro and Augusto Fernandez for their hard work over the past two days. All together, they did around 150 laps each, which is a lot of time on the track that allowed us to gather important data and information for the GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 engineers.

Pol focused on trying to finaliwe a setup that suits him for the race in two weeks, but it has not been easy for him. He tried many options and it looks like towards the end of the day some positive came out of it as he registered his fastest lap of the weekend.

Our rookie Augusto worked hard and the day was highlighted by a race simulation with a total of twenty-two laps and twenty fast laps. What is very interesting is that he set his fastest lap at the very last lap of his simulation. It is promising because it shows that he has understood how to manage both his physical condition and his tyres.

Overall, we are satisfied with the work we did here in Portimao with both our riders. It was also the first time that our red GASGAS RC16 went on track and we were all really proud of our 2023 livery. We have two weeks to analyse the data, but we feel ready to race! Thank you to the whole team for their hard work, and we will be back in two weeks for the season opener!”

Sebastian Risse – GASGAS Technical Manager MotoGP

“At the previous test we went through the homologation parts and this weekend was about hardware and set-up and I believe we have the base setting for the riders. I think we made a step forward. Augusto is still adapting to the bike and the class and he is developing. I think he is doing a great job to try and understand what he needs to do to perform. We could also align on some technical specifications so very soon he can try this and compare to the other guys who have learned from it. With Pol we did some set-up and development work and it wasn’t easy but he worked his way forward.”

KTM and GASGAS now have a few precious days back at the race workshop in Munderfing to condense the rest of the data accumulated in Portugal.

The clock starts clicking even louder to the launch of 2023 MotoGP and the 21-round calendar. The paddock will form-up again in Portimao on the last weekend of the month where the Grande Premio de Portugal will not only drop the flag on the series but also introduce the brand-new Sprint format to the 75-year-old world championship.

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