Valentino Rossi thinks the Algarve International Circuit is “sweet” to ride, having sampled the venue on a Yamaha road bike in a test on Wednesday ahead of November’s maiden event.
The Portuguese Grand Prix will be the first MotoGP race weekend held in the country since 2012, when the premier class circus last visited the historic Estoril circuit after 12 consecutive years.
MotoGP organisers Dorna confirmed that Portimao would host the Covid-19 shortened ’20 season finale back in August, with most of the series’ race riders allowed to take part in a collective test on Wednesday with road bikes in order to sample the 4.6km layout.
Factory Yamaha pilot Rossi hailed the track as “great” following his day out with his Yamaha R1 superbike, adding that the circuit “look more difficult on TV”.
“It’s a great track, I like it a lot because it looks more difficult on the TV, but in reality it’s not so bad,” said Rossi.
“Today the conditions were perfect too; ideal for motorcycle racing and I enjoyed a lot because the track is tricky and technical, and you have three or four places which are quite scary because you have quite big jumps.
“In general though it is very sweet to ride, very enjoyable and I really like the circuit.”
Rossi says it will be “trickier” to tackle the Algarve International Circuit once he returns in November due to the significantly higher speeds afforded by the prototype MotoGP machines relative to the road-going bikes, insisting that it will be difficult “to stay on the ground.”
“For sure this track is trickier with MotoGP (compared to lower powered machinery) because the speeds are much higher, and certainly with the steep undulations around the track it’ll be very difficult to stay on the ground. “
Championship leader Fabio Quartararo elected not to make the trip to Portugal for the test, the Petronas SRT man instead deciding to focus on getting ready for his home event at Le Mans this weekend.
Tech 3 KTM’s Iker Lecuona and LCR Honda racer Cal Crutchlow also decided to skip any early running at Portimao, though both will join in the action for the French Grand Prix.
Aprilia’s factory riders Aleix Espargaro and Bradley Smith were the only currently active race riders allowed to try the circuit on their premier class steeds due to the concessions given to the Italian manufacturer.
Espargaro wasted no time in lowering the tracks two-wheeled lap record, the Spaniard posting a 1:40.170 to beat Jonathan Rea’s best time on a Kawasaki World Superbike machine by just over two-tenths.
Five of the six manufacturers’ test riders will continue to pound around Portimao on Thursday as the race contenders head off to Le Mans, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa gathering data for Yamaha and KTM respectively.
Also in action will be Suzuki’s Sylvain Guintoli, while Italian duo Lorenzo Salvadori and Michele Pirro will continue to fly the flag for Aprilia and Ducati.
Honda will not be present on Thursday due to test rider Stefan Bradl continuing to sub for the injured Marc Marquez.
