The first triumph for a rider officially supported by Sprint Filter came from Marc Marquez’s pole position on the Repsol Honda RCV213 in the team’s official colors.
The eight-time world champion, after two troubled years following the well-known incident in 2020 at Jerez de la Frontera, has returned to being the Champion we all know, setting a new record at the Portimao Circuit with a time of 1’37”.226.
In the Sprint race, dominated by Ducati’s reigning world champion Pecco Bagnaia, Marc Marquez finished third. The Honda does not seem to be on par with the other contenders for the title, but the Japanese technicians are working very hard to make it the reference point of the class once again.
Also in the Sprint race, an excellent second place went to another rider supported by Sprint Filter, Jorge Martin, riding the 2023 Ducati Desmosedici GP of the Prima Pramac Racing Team. Fifth and sixth were the two riders of the Aprilia Racing Team: Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro. French rider Johann Zarco, Jorge Martin’s teammate, finished eighth.
In Sunday’s race, dominated again by Pecco Bagnaia, Maverick Vinales kept up with the World Champion until five laps from the end, giving the impression of being one of the riders who could challenge Bagnaia for the final title.
Aprilia has shown that it has worked very well during the winter and can now keep up with Ducati. Johann Zarco finished an excellent fourth, while Aleix Espargaro on the Aprilia GP-23 finished ninth, and only eleventh was Johan Mir, Marc Marquez’s teammate. The latter made a serious braking error in the early stages, involving Miguel Oliveira on the Aprilia, who was forced to retire, and Jorge Martin.
Marquez has been diagnosed with a potential fracture of the first metacarpal of his right hand and will travel to Spain for further evaluation. He also received a double penalty for the long lap in the GP of Argentina.
