MotoGP pre-season testing ended with Ducati looking dominant, Aprilia looking strong and Yamaha having rescued its winter at the last moment.
But the biggest talking point from Portimao concerned some parts that might not even appear in the grands prix for a while.
Aprilia and Yamaha took MotoGP’s aero development war up a notch with the latest wings they added to their bikes at the weekend, showing how ineffective the rulemakers’ attempts to limit aero have been so far.
Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer debate all the implications of the MotoGP wing explosion, as the thrill of a period of great innovation clashes with fears over costs and the quality of racing, not to mention the aesthetic drawbacks.
Wings aside, there was plenty to delve into from the final two days of testing, with both Yamaha and Honda ditching much of what they’d been working on and finding themselves in better shape as a result – though for Honda that was still not a great situation.
Epic pace and confidence from defending champion Pecco Bagnaia, arm trouble for Aleix Espargaro and how bad things look for the small number of struggling riders (and maybe one manufacturer too) are among the other topics analysed.
Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen on Spotify
