2023-11-21 15:37:14
It seems like yesterday when the Motorcycle World Championship started its 2023 campaign at the Portimao Circuit, in the month of March. Eight months later, after the dispute of 19 grand prizes, The Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia will host the last round of the championship this weekenda scenario that will crown the 2023 MotoGP world champion, the only one of the three titles that has yet to be decided.
Cheste’s grand final will resolve the duel #PeccoVSMartín that we have been enjoying during this second half of the season, a battle in which the Italian will start with an advantage starting on Friday. The one from Turin left the last Qatar event with a comfortable 21-point mattress which will allow him to manage the two races scheduled in Valencia with more peace of mind, giving him the luxury of finishing behind his Spanish rival without jeopardizing the revalidation of the title that he already won in 2022.
In fact, Bagnaia could celebrate the crown on Saturday, in the Sprint Race, if he manages to score four more points than Jorge; that is, if Bagnaia won the short race, Martín would be forced to be second if he wants to delay the title fight to Sunday. Any other result (3rd, 4th, 5th…) for the Madrid native would be insufficient. And if Martín did not score points in the Sprint Race for any reason, it would be better for Pecco to finish sixth to wear the number 1 again next year.
Last year, Martín achieved a third place here in a race that Alex Rins ended up winning in what was Suzuki’s great farewell to MotoGP; That same Sunday, Pecco Bagnaia did not go further than ninth place. A year earlier, in 2021, the Ducati Lenovo Team rider won here after a nice fight with Jorge Martín, whom he beat by four tenths.
Apart from the fight for the title, The Valencia Grand Prix will also have a very special flavor for Marc Márquez; The one from Cervera will end here a long and fruitful relationship of 11 consecutive seasons with the Repsol Honda Team, leaving behind six world titles before starting a new adventure with Gresini Racing starting next November 28, the date on which Marc will test the Ducati for the first time on this same stage in Valencia.
In Moto2 there is little to decide. Pedro Acosta has been champion since the Malaysia event, and Tony Arbolino’s runner-up position is also more than consolidated. The only interesting fight in the intermediate class will be in third place overall, where Jake Dixon (3rd 194p.) will start with a certain advantage over the winner of the last three races, Fermín Aldeguer (4º 187p.) and the Valencian Aron Canet (5th 175p.), who will compete with Pons Racing for the last time before his change to Fantic Racing.
The Moto3 situation is similar; Jaume Masiá took his first Moto3 title three days ago in Losail, and now it is Ayumu Sasaki (2nd 243p.) who will have to defend the runner-up position in Cheste against the momentum of the Colombian David Alonso, who with 225 points is the only one who could make this end of the season bitter for the Japanese.
The weather forecast for the Valencia Grand Prix weekend is unbeatable if we take into account that we are at the threshold of the month of December; in principle they are planned three days of sun, more or less clear skies and maximum temperatures that will be around 18º Cwith minimums of 5º C during the early hours that will complicate the morning free practice sessions of the weekend.
The Valencia Grand Prix can be seen through DAZN, Motogp.com Videopass and also openly through Spanish Televisionwhich will offer all free practice sessions and races through its Teledeporte and La 1 channels. The race times will be a little later than usual to avoid coinciding with the Formula 1 World Championship event in Yas Marina: Saturday, The MotoGP Sprint Race will be held at 3:00 p.m.and on Sunday the races will be held at 12:00 (Moto3), 13:15 (Moto2) y 15:00 (MotoGP).
Read also: Aleix Espargaró: “I find it difficult to run in Valencia”
Valencia GP 2023 schedules
Friday, November 24
09:00 – 09:35 Moto3 FP1
09:50 – 10:30 Moto2 FP1
10:45 – 11:30 MotoGP FP1
13:15 – 13:50 Moto3 FP2
14:05 – 14:45 Moto2 FP2
15:00 – 16:00 MotoGP Practice
Saturday, November 25
08:40 – 09:10 Moto3 FP3
09:25 – 09:55 Moto2 FP3
10:10 – 10:40 MotoGP FP2
10:50 – 11:05 MotoGP Q1
11:15 – 11:30 MotoGP Q2
12:50 – 13:05 Moto3 Q1
13:15 – 13:30 Moto3 Q2
13:45 – 14:00 Moto2 Q1
14:10 – 14:25 Moto2 Q2
15:00 MotoGP Sprint Race (13 laps)
Sunday, November 26
10:40 – 10:50 MotoGP Warm Up
12:00 Moto3 Race
13:15 Moto2 Race
15:00 MotoGP Race
#free #live #television