Autodromo do Algarve from a bird’s eye view with the VIP tower in the middle and the pit area behind it, as well as opposite the huge main grandstand. How strong it goes up and down here is of course difficult to see in this photograph.

About the risk of misjudgments after the season opener

It is difficult to make predictions before the Portugal Grand Prix and after Losail. Nevertheless, we already heard some opinions after the first double race in Qatar, which surprised us. For example, the former MotoGP rider Alex Hofmann reported on the topic of Yamaha and Portugal. According to the German, who now works as a co-commentator, Monster Energy Yamaha can sit back and relax before the European kick-off. I beg your pardon, did he completely forget the results from the previous year? In order to fill the memory gap for him, we are now going back to 2020. The race at the Autodromo do Algarve was very special for a number of reasons. Below is the MotoGP result of the final race last year at the Grand Prix of Portugal.

In qualifying, Fabio Quartararo was fifth and his then Petronas SRT Yamaha team-mate Franco Morbidelli was P2 behind Oliveira and ahead of Miller. Maverick Viñales, on the other hand, already had a bit of trouble in Q2 and started together with Johann Zarco and Pol Espargaró from row 3 in the middle.

A completely different world in the Algarve
There are various reasons why we as Europeans felt much more comfortable in the Algarve and on or on the route near the coastal city of Portimão than in Qatar. We even visited WorldSBK test drives there at the end of January and were amazed at the warm climate with almost 20 degrees Celsius. We weren’t very enthusiastic about hotels and food, but the route is simply awesome. Walkable all around and very well visible in many places and the course is simply absolutely top-notch. That’s what many riders say, and you hardly heard any criticism after the MotoGP premiere last year. The mountain and valley railway demands everything from the pilot and there is hardly any rest apart from the long start-finish straight. However, with a top speed of around 350 km / h, the first corner comes very early. The weather forecast for the GP weekend in mid-April is exactly like our weather in January back then, and therefore it will be a completely different world in the Algarve.

Photograph from inside the main stand of us from 2019, the majority of the food stands were closed and therefore there were scenes that have been very frightening to the viewer since the pandemic. At the WorldSBK event there was undoubtedly a lot to complain about in terms of organization, but the races were sensationally exciting.

Losail’s findings are completely useless for the European races

Many drivers and team members had already emphasized this during the tests in Qatar. It also makes sense because the conditions there made the FP3 degenerate into a warm-up, for example. On both weekends in the afternoon heat on the edge of the desert there was no chance in any of the classes to qualify for Q2. Now the teams are faced with completely different tasks. With the expected temperatures, it is important to get the tires to work and to find the right mixture for the race. This was the strength of Suzuki last year with almost identical mixtures as they are in use today.

HRC Test and long-term substitute driver Stefan Bradl before the start of the GP of Portugal 2020. It was his best race of the season and after P8 in Le Mans the only top ten result, despite a total of 11 World Championship races. He had the advantage of already knowing the track from his WorldSBK 2017 and, along with the Aprilia riders, was the only one to test the MotoGP bike here before. We explained early on why we could expect him to be a replacement for Marquez at the next Grand Prix before he returns.

The advantages and disadvantages of various manufacturers in the previous year
Thanks to the early lifting of the lockdown in Austria, KTM benefited greatly from their test advantage in the first half of the season. From Misano, the performance curve for the oranges clearly showed a downward trend. At the Autodromo do Oliveira, however, not only the local Oliveira was strong, but also Pol Espargaró. Before that, however, Dani Pedrosa was allowed to test it on the KTM, which was obviously very helpful for the Austrian brand. Yamaha stumbled except for Morbido and otherwise Aprilia, Honda and Ducati were especially strong, but not Suzuki. Usually the bike from Hamamatsu worked great on almost every track, especially in the race. But apart from the first race in Jerez with a missing Alex Rins (injured) and a crashed Joan Mir, Portimão of all places brought the absolute low blow for the blue-silver, with only one point. The conditions this time are very similar to those in November, and we can therefore be particularly excited about the Portuguese GP.

Sketch of the track of the Autodromo do Algarve – since the completion on October 31, 2008, only 7 months after the start of construction, the WorldSBK has been a guest here annually. As a rule, the races here are always spectacular, which was also the case for the premiere of MotoGP.

To other rash predictions

At MotoGP, we loved how almost everyone called Miller and Bagnaia the top favorites in the run-up to the race. Although Yamaha clearly led in Losail’s winning statistics, many spoke of Ducati as favorites. The joke about circuit races is that there are also corners and that is where the races are usually decided. This happened on both MotoGP weekends in Qatar and a Yamaha won each time. The best Ducati rider was also a man whom we already counted as one of the top favorites for 2021 in winter. Below is the link to the article from that time.

Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) – in Losail the outstanding man and best Ducati rider, although a Yamaha won both times. With two second places, however, the man from Cannes traveled back to Europe as World Cup leader and now everyone has him on the bill. The man is a prime example of a model athlete. Modest and respectful, as well as carefully considered in his statements and humorous. Out of respect for his and Quartararo’s achievements, we in the editorial team speak almost only French at the moment, or at least we try to do it.

Be careful even if the expectations of Moto3 youngsters are too high
Pedro Acosta wears braces and looks more like a youth than a man without wanting to appreciate his achievements. We have already heard and read that some are calling him the upcoming MotoGP World Champion and that he has a glorious future. This may well be true, but there are a few facts to be opposed to. On the one hand, the fact that except for Jack Miller hardly anyone rose directly from Moto3 to the premier class. It took the Australian years after that before he asserted himself in MotoGP. That’s why Acosta will first continue its season as convincingly as it began in Losail. To do this, he still has to prove himself in Moto2. In this context, we remember the names of talented people such as Manuel Poggiali, the Öncü brothers and Lorenzo Dalla Porta, where, at least so far, their further careers have not worked out as desired. The latter still has the chance, but he is currently nineteenth in the World Cup in his second year and last year he was in P27 at the end of the season.

Luca Marini (Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati) in a fight with the Honda drivers Stefan Bradl and Alex Marquez. Their rather modest performance in Losail is no indication of their strength in the next race in Portugal.

Unless otherwise stated, this applies to all images (© MotoGP).