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 South Africa’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).