We analyze the performances of Alex Marquez, Miguel Oliveira, Jack Miller, Pol Espargaro, Joan Mir, Alex Rins and Raul Fernandez after the three days of Sepang
February 22, 2023
How did the seven MotoGP riders who changed brands compared to last season fare at Sepang? Here, one by one, what happened.
Here Ducati
Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP): After three years on the Honda saddle (one as a factory with Repsol colors and two with LCR Castrol) the two-time world champion got on the Ducati GP22 with which Bagnaia won the riders’ title in 2022. For the youngest of the Marquez brothers , the start has been promising: Luca Marini, the fastest of the Sepang tests, did less than half a second better than the Spaniard. The 1:58.385 set by number 73 was a second and a half better than Alex did in Q1 of the 2022 Malaysian GP.
“I’m quite at ease, I’m very positive and quite happy – he said at the end of the three days in Malaysia -. We lack some things to try to do something more”.
Who Honda
Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team): The arrival of the Majorcan in the Repsol Honda Team garage, where he finds Marc Marquez, is one of the most awaited moves in the MotoGP. The 2020 world champion has to adapt to a new driving style: the 1:58.784 clocked in Malaysia it put him just over a tenth off Marquez’s pace.
“We certainly are still a bit far away, but every day closer. Every day I feel better on the bike”. Mir confirmed that riding the RC213V is “completely different” compared to the Suzuki of 2022. In Portimao, he awaits significant news from Honda.
Alex Rins (LCR Honda Castrol): A copycat journey for him and Mir, from Suzuki to Honda. The simulation with which he tested a sprint race at Sepang saw him, on pace, about five tenths behind Marini, who did the same experiment.
Not bad, given that Rins has recently ridden the RC213V. The ideal set-up still seems far away and the timesheet sees him in 18th place.
For him, as for the rest of the squad, the Portimao tests in the first half of March are crucial.
Here Aprilia
Miguel Oliveira (RNF MotoGP Team): In the previous tests, in Valencia at the end of 2022, he had surprised everyone by finishing in fourth place. At Sepang, the Portuguese claimed that he didn’t have “the best feeling” with the new tyres, what is needed for a good time attack.
Overall though, the glass looks half full. The focus is mainly on riding style: “I have to get rid of some things I’ve done on another bike for four years. It’s not easy to do it in just three days, but I’m on the way.”
Raul Fernandez (RNF MotoGP Team): After doing very well as a rookie in Moto2 in 2021, Raul Fernandez moved up to the premier class with many expectations. But things went differently, riding the Tech3 team’s KTM. Now, about RS-GP dell’Aprilia 2022, the music seems to have changed. In Sepang Fernandez said he had fun for the first time since he left Moto2.
The 11th place in the test standings it looks promising: the 1:58.710 printed by the Iberian was less than five tenths from that of the Aprilia Racing standard bearer Aleix Espargaro.
“The test was very positive, I worked to try and understand everything clearly and I think we did a good job” said the number 25.
Who KTM
Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing): After five years in Ducati, in 2023 the Australian gets on the saddle of the KTM. His palmares counts 21 podiums in four seasons, including three victories. Will it be able to repeat itself on the RC16?
It’s too early to tell: “I ended up in a impasse in terms of set-up, playing a bit with the geometry”. Miller and his team in Malaysia improved on “used tyres”. He finished in sixteenth position with a 1:58.901, less than a tenth behind teammate Brad Binder.
KTM team manager, Francesco Guidotti, admitted that “expectations were quite high” and “something was missing”.
Paul Espargaro (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3): After two years in the Repsol Honda Team, Pol Espargaro immerses himself in the new GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 project.
Rediscover the evolution of the RC16 that he rode in the past, when it was KTM factory. His 1:58.797 is less than a second behind Marini, 13th. There is room for improvement for him too: “I feel that I need more laps, to understand some small things. But overall they are quite satisfied”.
Technique aside, in GASGAS he has found familiar faces: “I know most of the guys from the brand and from the team, I feel at ease with everyone. Personal and human relationships are very important”.
