#Portugal

23rd March 2024

Moto2: Gonzalez On Pole In Portimão!

An all Spanish front row locked in for the Portuguese Grand Prix tomorrow. Manual Gonzalez (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2) with a stunning lap took his first ever pole position in Moto2.

Championship contenders for 2024 Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp) 2nd and Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) in 3rd complete the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s race.

AS IT HAPPENED

Qualifying 1

Former teammates Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) and Ai Ogura (MT Helmets – MSI) both the big surprise names in this Q1 session. Chantra went straight to the top of the standings on his Kalex as the Moto2 riders were all out on track on their first run’s.

First time attacks posted in the session and the top 4 at this point heading to Q2 were Zonta Van Den Goorbergh (RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP), Chantra, Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) and Darryn Binder (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP).

5mins left of the session remained and Ogura was out on a flying lap as the rest were in the pits making changes. The number #73 bike blasted his way up to the front with an impressive 1:42.259. Ayumu Sasaki (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) last season’s Moto3 championship protagonist, moved up into 4th only to be pipped by another Moto3 rookie Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) with just 2 minutes left of the Q2 session.

It's all changing with 1 minute to go! 🔄

Great lap by Diogo Moreira as @somkiat35 moves into P1 🔝#PortugueseGP 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/JKqpqNfmJ4

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 23, 2024

Chantra was the next rider to light up all of the sectors red and moved into provisional pole with just 90 seconds left of the session.

The top 4 heading through to Q2 were Chantra, Ogura, Moreira and Agius.

Qualifying 2

One of the top guns in Moto2 and Ducati’s latest signing Aldeguer sat atop of the timings after the first run of flying laps. Albert Arenas (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2) was in 2nd and Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) sat in 3rd with 7 minutes left of the session.

Aldeguer extended his advantage at the top on the following lap now +0.312s ahead of Arenas at the top.

Boooom 💣@Aldeguer54 goes three tenths clear of @AlbertArenas75 🔥#PortugueseGP 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/XgHT6Ov46t

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 23, 2024

As we moved into the final phase of the session Manuel Gonzalez (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2) moved up into 2nd with both Gresini riders 2nd and 3rd as only a few minutes of the session remained.

This didn’t last long as the Boscoscuro of Alonso Lopez joined Aldeguer at the top now in 2nd.

Aron Canet on his last flying lap moved up into provisional pole only to be beaten at the end of Q2 by Gonzalez. What a lap from Gonzalez and a fantastic first ever pole position for the Gresini Racing rider.

Just 2 tenths of a second split Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team) in 5th to Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in 14th place. A great qualifying session in Moto2 and one that Gonzalez won’t forget for some time. A new all time lap record set with a 1:41.514.

"Is it effective? Yes it is!" 💥

Manuel Gonzalez continues his domination of the weekend 💪#Moto2 #PortugueseGP | Live on TNT Sports and Discovery+ pic.twitter.com/zOfQOesdNf

— MotoGP on TNT Sports (@motogpontnt) March 23, 2024

Qualifying Classification

Official Starting Grid

25th April 2022

First win of the year for El Diablo!

Qualifying:

Unpleasant wet conditions for Saturday qualifying in Portugal saw Johann Zarco (Ducati) take pole position from Joan Mir (Suzuki) in 2nd and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) in 3^rd. However, a pleasant surprise saw Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati) finish on the second row and teammate Luca Marini in the middle of the third row.

The wet weather wasn’t as welcoming for others though – Enea Bastianini and Francesco Bagnaia crashed out, resulting in both riders receiving injuries.

The Home-Hero Miguel Oliveira (KTM) could only manage 11^th on the grid. What could he do in the race though?

The wet conditions always manage to shake things up. Would the weather continue into Sunday?

Race:

Sunday: raceday and the black clouds still loomed large above the beautiful Portugal track but, with only 20 minutes of practice in the drier conditions, how would the racers fair?

Mir got a fantastic start from 2^nd taking the lead straight away from Quartararo and Jack Miller (Ducati). But an even better start was from the other Suzuki in 23^rd place – Rins propelled himself into 11^th and soon took 10^th place before the first lap was even complete. Up 13 places from lights out!

Mir got away. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Lap 2 saw Zarco pass Miller for 3^rd place and the fastest lap quickly went to the best Yamaha rider – Quartararo, who was in 2^nd place, but was hunting down first-place man Mir.

Close racing. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

The two World Champions were out in the lead and by lap 4, Fabio had passed Joan, whilst taking fastest lap again. He continued to keep pushing and put in fastest lap after fastest lap, gaining a lead over Mir and Zarco.

Lap 5 – Rins continued to improve on positions and was soon up to 8^th place.

Sector 4, lap 6 saw Jorge Martin lose the front of his Ducati, ending his race early.

The two Repsol Honda riders battled for 9^th and 10^th with 19 laps to go, resulting in Marquez winning the position from P. Espargaro. Meanwhile the brothers of both riders fought further up for 5^th place. It was A. Espargaro that won this one over A. Marquez (Honda). However, he soon had to defend his new place from Rins, who had managed to also pass A. Marquez.

Lap 10 – the current championship leader, Bastianini broke up the two Repsol Hondas, taking 10^th from P. Espargaro, but going into sector 2 he crashed out of the race.

Crashing out. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Black clouds continued to loom large above but with only 11 laps until the end, they didn’t look like they would disrupt the proceedings.

Back at the front of the ‘rollercoaster’ track, Quartararo continued his pace and took another fastest lap, putting further distance between himself and Mir, who was under pressure by Zarco.

With 14 laps left, Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) crashed out but managed to rejoin, after clipping the back of Brad Binder’s KTM, who later crashed out himself on lap 18.

Fabio was controlling the race from the front with a 3.269 second gap ahead of Mir. But Zarco had other plans and soon passed Mir for 2^nd place. The Ducati-man couldn’t make the pass stick though and the Suzuki was straight back in front.

The next lap (lap 9), Zarco tried again. He had learnt from his mistake on the previous lap and managed to remain in front, claiming 2^nd place. This resulted in Mir then being under pressure by another Ducati, in the form of Miller who was close behind.

But more surprises were due: disaster struck as seconds later Miller tried to pass Mir for the last podium position, into turn 1, only to take both himself and the Suzuki out of the race, hurling them into the gravel.

The crash from 3^rd and 4^th meant that Quartararo then lead Zarco, A. Espargaro and Rins, who remember had unbelievably come from 23^rd place!

With 6 laps to go, Bagnaia was also up to 9^th place, fighting his shoulder injury against the relentless undulating track.

Two laps until the chequered flag and the Marquez brothers were fighting eachother for 6^th. Marc managed to get the place from Alex but Alex took it back on the straight, leading into the last lap.

Last lap – Quartararo took his first victory this year and his first victory since August last year (at Silverstone) 5.776 seconds ahead of Zarco and A. Espargaro. Marc managed to take 6^th back from Alex over the line as Bagnaia also stole 8^th spot from P. Espargaro.

Home-Hero, Oliveira finished a respectable 5th.

Happy faces. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Top ten race finishers:

1st	F. Quartararo
2nd	J. Zarco
3rd	A. Espargaro
4th	A. Rins
5th	M. Oliveira
6th	M. Marquez
7th	A. Marquez
8th	F. Bagnaia
9th	P. Espargaro
10th	M. Vinales

Quartararo is now the fourth different winner of the season, with 5 races already complete, would we see a 5^th? Could it be the seemingly illusive first win for the other French rider – Johann Zarco?

Top four Championship:

1st	F. Quartararo	69 Points
2nd	A. Rins	69 Points
3rd	A. Espargaro	66 Points
4th	E. Bastianini	61 Points

Two men are now equal on points for the championship lead and the others are very close behind. It is still anyone’s to take.

With only 1 week to wait, who will be victorious in round 6 of the 2022 season?

Featured image: That winning feeling. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

7th November 2021

Pecco Conquers at Portugal

Qualifying:

Returning to Portugal for the second time this year it was Francesco Bagnaia’s (Ducati) turn to take pole and with it a new lap record – 1:38.725 also claiming his fifth pole in a row. Teammate Jack Miller took 2^nd on the grid from last years champion Joan Mir (Suzuki) in 3^rd – taking his first front-row start in 2021.

This year’s newly crowned champion however was down in 7^th on the grid.

Race:

Clear weather conditions meant that the track was perfect for the race ahead.

Missing from this weekends race though was last weeks winner Marc Marquez (Honda), who unfortunately suffered from concussion during a training session mid week. Brad Binder rode in his place.

Starting from pole position, Bagnaia got a slightly poor start but it didn’t stop him from going into first place from turn one. Leading from Mir and Miller. Joan took an early 2^nd place from Jack, knowing full-well he needed to get a good start to his race.

Lap one, sector 2 saw an early finish for Danilo Petrucci (KTM) as he crashed out, ending his penultimate race before retiring from Moto GP.

The Portimao track is an undulating track with plenty of ups, downs and tight corners, meaning that mistakes are easy to do. There were a few riders that went wide by the end of lap 2, but one rider that seemed to be reveling on the circuit was home-boy Miguel Oliveira (KTM), who had a great start and was up into 10^th, taking 7 places with 23 laps till the end.

Down-hill on the track. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

All eyes were on Bagnaia though, who was out in front. He had gained fastest lap and had already started to gap from Mir. Bad luck surely couldn’t strike twice for the Italian? Having crashed from the lead last time out in Italy.

Newly crowned Moto GP champion Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) soon took fastest lap in 6^th place. While in front of him Alex Marquez (Honda) and Jorge Martin (Ducati) scrapped for their positions.

Pecco responded to Fabio, gaining fastest lap and soon took two fastest laps in a row. The Italian was not going to give up this win. Meanwhile, A. Marquez also didn’t give up on his surprising 4^th place fight with Martin and soon held firm with it, with Miller next in his sights. Marquez had chosen to have a medium front Michelin tyre and a hard rear, while all 3 riders in-front of him had opted for both medium. Would his tyre choice be a deciding factor later on in the race?

Lap 7, saw Iker Lecuona (KTM) fall foul to the track as he went wide, leaving his comfortable 8^th place and rejoining the race down in 12^th. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) was not so fortunate and also made a mistake, which caused him to crash out of the race on turn 1.

Meanwhile, at the front Bagnaia was metronomic and had managed to gap a slightly larger lead from Mir with a 0.663 second lead and Mir having a 0.944 second lead over Miller – who still had Marquez close behind.

In a race of his own. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Lap 12 saw Marquez pass Miller for 3^rd. Was Marquez finally getting to grips with his Honda? He was certainly having an impressive race. Whilst Quartararo and Martin battled for 5^th position, Quartararo hit a bump on turn 13 and almost crashed, leaving him to wait a little longer before he could make another move.

Still in the lead and looking strong, Bagnaia was 1.501 seconds ahead of the Suzuki in 2^nd and only half-way through the race could he keep this pace up? Not only was Bagnaia’s Ducati looking in good form, so were the other 3 Ducati’s. Miller remained in 4^th from Johann Zarco (5th) and Jorge Martin (6^th). Keeping Fabio behind in 7^th.

Bagnaia could indeed keep his pace up and was in complete control and was remaining consistent. With 11 laps until the end he had broke away from Mir and had a gap of 2.410 seconds. Mir was ahead of Marquez by 1.195 seconds. The front leaders were in their own race away from the rest of the pack.

But, Quartararo needed to make up spaces and soon found a way past the Ducati blockade, passing Zarco on lap 19. The two Frenchmen had a mini battle with Zarco being the victor and with that he also passed his teammate to take 5^th place with 6 laps to go. Fabio followed suit and also passed Martin but on lap 21 of 25 (turn 5) he made his first major mistake of the season and crashed, creating his first DNF of 2021. After which, Martin also lost another place to Pol Espargaro (Honda).

Whilst all that was happening behind him, Miller was hunting down Marquez. Miller passed but Marquez passed straight back. On lap 22 Miller managed another pass and that time kept hold of it. Marquez was not going to let him have it that easy though and remained glued to the rear of the Ducati.

However, the race was quickly drawn to an end with marshals waving red flags. With only 2 laps until the checkered flag, Iker Lecuona tried to overtake Miguel Oliveira but ended up taking them both out. Both riders have been confirmed to be okay. As the race was more than three-quarters of the way through there was to be no restart and the results were as they were the lap prior:

Top ten race results:

1^st	F. Bagnaia
2^nd	J. Mir
3^rd	J. Miller
4^th	A. Marquez
5^th	J. Zarco
6^th	P. Espargaro
7^th	J. Martin
8^th	A. Rins
9^th	E. Bastianini
10^th	B. Binder

A. Marquez gained his best finish this year and with it the top independent racer this time out. Also worth noting was top Yamaha finisher Valentino Rossi who finished in 13^th place, completing his penultimate race this year.

Congratulations all round. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Bagnaia took his 3^rd top spot on the podium for 2021, claiming that he “enjoyed every single session this weekend”, Miller took his 4^th podium of 2021 having looked confident and in great form all weekend.

Championship standings:

1^st	F. Quartararo	267
2^nd	F. Bagnaia	227
3^rd	J. Mir	195
4^th	J. Miller	165

Ducati also claimed the Constructors Championship this weekend and Zarco took Best Independent Rider of 2021.

The race may not have been the biggest of spectacles and may have seemed a little subdued but these races need to happen to make the truly special races stand out. One thing is for sure though audiences are witnessing history with Ducati coming back to their previous winning ways, new championship contenders coming forward and with only one race to wrap up the 2021 season – Valencia is sure to be a show-stopper.