2023 MotoGP pre-season Portimao Stats Smorgasbord

MotoGP 2023

Round One – Portimao

Pecco Bagnaia

“Finally, we are starting again, and I am really excited! The winter tests went well, and in some aspects, I like the Desmosedici GP 23 better than last year’s bike. There are all the conditions to be able to start this new season well: Portimão is a track that I like and where in general, I am fast. In any case, we have to stay focused because the competitiveness will definitely be very high. We will have to work at our best right from the start: this will be the first GP in which we will contest the sprint race, so we will have to get used to approaching the weekend in a different way. I’m ready and looking forward to getting on track to kick off the 2023 World Championship officially!”

MotoGP Facts and Stats

In the last ten years since 2013, Honda has won the opening race of the season only once, with Marc Marquez in 2014. However, they have won the riders’ title with Marquez six times, the Constructors’ six times and the teams’ Championship five times.

Portimao is one of the two tracks on the current calendar where there has been at least one MotoGP event but Honda don’t have any wins, podiums or poles as yet, along with Mandalika (which debuted last year).

Aleix Espargaro is scheduled to start his 218th premier class race. He will be tied with MotoGP Legends Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden in fourth on the list of riders with most premier class starts, behind MotoGP Legend Valentino Rossi (372), soon-to-be MotoGP Legend Andrea Dovizioso (248) and Alex Barros (245).

Alex Rins is scheduled to start his 100th premier class race in Portimao.

There are 13 GP World Champions on the grid this year, just one less than 2022 – which was the record for the full-time MotoGP entry list in the opening race. The class of 2023 have 24 World Championships between them, which is the same as 2022. The record is 32 Championships in 2018.

13 riders have won premier class races (one more than 2022) and they have 116 wins between them, five more than 2022. But with 59 MotoGP wins, Marc Marquez has more than the other riders combined (57).

All 22 riders have GP victories in at least one class, with a total of 326 Grand Prix victories.

The only rookie in MotoGP this year is a GP winner and a World Champion: Augusto Fernandez (seven wins and 2022 Moto2 World Champion).

The oldest rider is Aleix Espargaro, 33 years 239 days old on race day at the Portuguese GP. The youngest is Raul Fernandez, 22 years 154 days old on race day.

The average age of the grid is 27 years and four months (it was 26 years and seven months in 2022, which was the second-lowest average age on the entry list of the opening race of the season since the introduction of MotoGP in 2002, after Qatar 2008).

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“The first GP is always exciting because it‘s back to school for everyone. However, this time it‘s even more interesting because we have a new GP format. This will be the first time we get to do a Sprint, so that is something we look forward to. It‘s also the first time that we open the MotoGP season in Portugal. This is a good circuit for us, as shown by Fabio‘s two Portimao race wins in a row. We ended the test here almost two weeks ago on a positive note. It‘s important that we keep working in the right direction this weekend and set the right tone for the season. Like the fans, we can‘t wait any longer to watch some MotoGP racing!”

Grand Prix Racing in Portimao

This is the first time that the season opener has been held in Europe since 2006, when it was the Spanish GP at Jerez. From 2007 to 2022, the Qatar GP was the opened the calendar. This is the first time Portugal hosts the opening Grand Prix of the season.

This is the 18th time Portugal hosts a Grand Prix (including the 2021 Algarve GP). The first on Portuguese soil was in 2000, but the first two Portuguese Grands Prix were actually held in Spain: in Jarama in 1987 and Jerez in 1988. Following an eleven-year break, the event returned to the calendar in 2000 at Estoril, where it was held every year until 2012.

In 2020, MotoGP returned to the country at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao, when it became the 72nd circuit to hold a premier class Grand Prix and the 29th to hold a MotoGP race since the introduction of the class in 2002.

This will be the fifth time the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve has hosted, including the 2021 Algarve GP.

#1 Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) has two podiums: P2 in 2021/1 and a win in 2021/2 (from pole), securing Ducati its third Constructors crown. In 2022, he crashed in Q1 (Turn 3) and qualified last in 25th for his worst qualifying so far. He started 24th… but finished P8.

#5 Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) took pole in 2022, making him the French rider with second most poles in the class ahead of Christian Sarron and behind Quartararo. He finished second for his second podium of that season, and his only one so far at the track.

#10 Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) has finished P12 in his three MotoGP races here so far but topped the first two tests of 2023 pre-season and finished fourth overall in the test at Portimao.

#12 Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) has never finished better than P10 in Portimao.

#20 Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) has won twice in MotoGP at Portimao: 2021/1 and 2022. On both occasions, he went on to take the lead of the Championship.

#21 Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) took third at the 2020 Portuguese GP.

#23 Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) qualified 18th last year after crashing in Q1, his worst qualifying of the season. He crashed out of 10th at Turn 8 and lost the Championship lead to Quartararo.

#25 Raul Fernandez (Cryptodata RNF MotoGP Team) missed the MotoGP race last year after hurting his right hand in a crash in Q1. However, he has 1 x Moto2 and 1 x Moto3 wins here, the latter his maiden win.

#30 Takaaki Nakgami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) was top Honda in 2020 in fifth, his best result at the track.

#33 Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) crashed and failed to score in 2020 but won the battle for Rookie of the Year ahead of Alex Marquez. He crashed out last year from P11 at T11. It was his single DNF of the year, and he, Aleix Espargaro and Luca Marini were the riders with least DNFs in 2022: one each.

#36 Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) qualified second last year, his best qualifying in the premier class. This is his third and most recent front row start along with Styria 2020 (following Zarco’s penalty) and Algarve 2021 in third. He was knocked out from third at Turn 1 by Miller.

#37 Augusto Fernandez (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3) has never finished better than P5 (Moto2) here.

#41 Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) finished third last year for his second podium of the season following his maiden win in Argentina. It was the first of four successive podiums until the Italian GP.

#42 Alex Rins (LCR Honda Castrol) qualified second in 2021/1, equalling his best qualifying in MotoGP from Valencia 2018 and Europe 2020. He was second behind Quartararo when he crashed out at Turn 5 with seven laps to go. In 2022, he started from 23rd but was already 10th on Lap 1, ultimately finishing P4 to move up to second in the Championship but tied on points with leader Quartararo

#43 Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) has two MotoGP podiums in Portimao: P2 in 2020 and P3 in 2021/2. He has always qualified within the top four.

#44 Pol Espargaro (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3) finished P4 in 2020 in his last race with KTM and most recent on the RC16. It was his best result until his second place at the 2021 Emilia-Romagna GP (with Honda).

#49 Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP) has never finished better than P11 (Moto2) here.

#72 Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) finished 15th for his first race in MotoGP at Portimao last year and was one of the two rookies who scored points along with Remy Gardner (P14).

#73 Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) qualified seventh in 2022 (despite a crash at the end of Q2) for his best qualifying result since he stepped up to MotoGP in 2020.

#88 Miguel Oliveira (Cryptodata RNF MotoGP Team) qualified on pole in 2020, becoming the first Portuguese rider to do so in the premier class. He led every lap, set the fastest lap and took his second MotoGP win, becoming the first Portuguese rider to win on home soil. Last year, he finished fifth as top KTM, which is the only other time he has scored points at the track in MotoGP.

#89 Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) crashed at Turn 7 in FP3 in 2021, breaking bones in his hands, left leg and right ankle. He missed the race as well as the following three GPs. He finished seventh at the 2021 Algarve GP, the only time he has scored in MotoGP here as last year he crashed out.

#93 Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) made his (first) comeback at the 2021 Portuguese GP, 265 days after the 2020 Andalucian GP and suffering his right arm injury first sustained at the Spanish GP. He managed to join Q2 via Q1 and qualified sixth as top Honda. He finished seventh. He missed the 2021 Algarve GP after an injury in training prior to the event and was replaced by Stefan Bradl. In 2022, he finished P6. Portimao is one of the two tracks where he has raced and not yet finished on the podium in MotoGP, along with Mandalika.

Most successful racers at Portimao

Portimao Winners:

• Fabio Quartararo 2 x MotoGP
• Francesco Bagnaia 1 x MotoGP
• Miguel Oliveira 1 x MotoGP
• Raul Fernandez 2 : 1 x Moto2, 1 x Moto3
• Pedro Acosta 2 x Moto3
• Remy Gardner 2 x Moto2
• Joe Roberts 1 x Moto2
• Sergio Garcia 1 x Moto3

Races at Portimao:

Factories at Portimao:
Best Results

• Most wins: Yamaha 2 – Ducati 1 – KTM 1
• Yamaha: victory for Fabio Quartararo, 2021 & 2022 Portuguese GPs, 2021 from pole
• Ducati: victory for Francesco Bagnaia, 2021 Algarve GP, from pole
• KTM: victory for Miguel Oliveira, 2020 Portuguese GP, from pole
• Aprilia: third for Aleix Espargaro, 2022 Portuguese GP
• Honda: fourth for Alex Marquez, 2021 Algarve GP
• Honda is the only current manufacturer to have no MotoGP podiums in Portimao…. yet.

Eight riders have MotoGP podiums at Portimao:

• Francesco Bagnaia (2)
• Jack Miller (2)
• Joan Mir (2)
• Fabio Quartararo (2)
• Miguel Oliveira (1)
• Franco Morbidelli (1)
• Johann Zarco (1)
• Aleix Espargaro (1)

Marc Marquez

“The start of another season is here, and you always get this excitement and feeling before you go racing again. We’ve had a busy off season where we have been gathering a lot of data and aiming for the future. Now we must start and focus on the opening races and remember that racing and testing are very different. This year we have the new challenge of the Sprint on Saturday, a short and intense race that I am sure will bring the fans a lot of excitement. I’m really looking forward to getting back on the Honda RC213V for the 11th season with the Repsol Honda Team.”

MotoGP Sprint

777 points will be available to score this season in the premier class: 525 on Sunday and 252 on Saturday. That means it’s 32.4% (almost 1/3) of points up for grabs in MotoGP Sprints.

MotoGP Sprints wins, podiums, starts (for riders, manufacturers, teams, nationalities…) belong to a new set of statistics. So things like streaks (wins, podiums, points scoring…) are also separated. As an example, back-to-back GP wins means that the rider has won two successive GP races.

Sunday’s race winner is the Grand Prix winner, whatever their result in the MotoGP Sprint.

In terms of stats, there is one rider who takes pole position: the fastest rider in Q2. If for some reason (penalty, unfit, etc) they cannot start, pole position is still added to their statistics.

What Happens If…

518 – If Marc Marquez wins the GP race, it will be 518 days since his last GP win at the 2021 Emilia-Romagna GP.

41 – If at least one Ducati qualifies in the top three, it will be the 41st successive race for the Bologna factory (since the 2020 Valencia GP).

27 – With Jorge Martin third at the 2022 Valencia GP, Ducati is on a streak of 26 MotoGP Grand Prix races in a row with at least one rider on the podium. If they have another, Ducati will extend their record to 27.

9 – If Johann Zarco, Alex Marquez, Pol Espargaro, Raul Fernandez, Luca Marini, Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Takaaki Nakagami or rookie Augusto Fernandez win, it will be their first premier class victory.

5 – If a rider other than Oliveira (2020), Quartararo (2021/1), Bagnaia (2021/2) or Zarco (2022) qualifies on pole, they will be the fifth different polesitter in five premier class Grands Prix at Portimao.

3 – If Quartararo wins the Portuguese GP, this will become the first track where he has won more than twice in GP racing. Over the last three at Portimao since the 2021 Portuguese GP, he alternated between winning the race or failing to score. Last year he won.

3 – If Miller or Maverick Viñales win the GP race, they will become the first rider to win on a bike from three different manufacturers since start of the MotoGP era in 2002.

2 – Having won the last race of 2022, if he wins in Portugal, Alex Rins can become the second rider to take back-to-back premier class wins on bikes from two manufacturers after Valentino Rossi, who won the final race of 2003 with Honda and the opening race of 2004 with Yamaha.

1 – If one of the four Hondas takes a podium, it will be the factory’s first MotoGP rostrum at the track.

Portimao MotoGP Schedule
AEDT

2023 MotoGP Calendar

MotoGP 2023 Rider Entry List

Official statistics compiled by Dr. Thomas Morsellino