More from a press release issued by BK8 Gresini Racing:
Alex dances in Portimao, as he remains on top. Fermin in Q2.
- Free Practice 1 – PortugueseGP
1st – ALEX MARQUEZ #73 (1’39.145s)
10th – FERMIN ALDEGUER #54 (1’39.685s)
- Practice – PortugueseGP
1st – ALEX MARQUEZ #73 (1’37.974s) Q2
8th – FERMIN ALDEGUER #54 (1’38.382s) Q2
Alex Marquez: “I got here in Portugal in the right mood. I’m relax but still wit the right tension for a MotoGP weekend. We need to flow here riding wise and we managed to do so from the early laps. We’re good, the team is working well as always and today’s two sessions were positive.”
Fermin Aldeguer: “We hit our Q2 target with excellent feeling from the get-go. I was a little nervous yesterday thinking about this track – and with the chance of rain. But we adapted pretty well to the track and gelled with the bike. We’re probably even in a better place pace wise compared to the time attack, but we can improve the latter as well tomorrow.”
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More from a press release issued by Honda HRC Castrol:
Consistent through change – Mir on the pace in Portugal as Marini narrowly misses out.
Shifting weather throughout the day kept the Honda HRC Castrol team on their toes, but Joan Mir emerged as the fifth fastest rider while Luca Marini just missed the Q2 cut off as he recovered from an early fall.
A day of dark clouds commenced round 21 of the MotoGP World Championship, weather radars and upward glances were the order of the day. With the conditions ready to change at a moment’s notice, the Honda HRC Castrol squad were keen to get to work and capitalise on the best of the track conditions at each and every moment.
Continuing to brim with confidence after two podiums, Joan Mir made himself a key fixture in the top ten once more. Eighth in the morning, the 2020 MotoGP World Champion would improve his time by over a second in the afternoon to seal fifth overall on Friday. Comfortably into Q2, Mir was able to exploit his impressive feeling with the Honda RC213V and show the pace to fight for the front two rows of the grid. With the bike setup already able to contest the top five, Mir and his team will focus on minor improvements overnight as they target a strong qualifying to line up a competitive pair of races.
Seventh in the morning, a fall early in the afternoon left Marini with just a single bike when the first shootout of the weekend began. Making an impressive improvement after a brief sprinkling of rain, the #10 would be pushed out of the top ten in the final moments. Eleventh overall and just a tenth off Q2, Marini and his team already have some ideas on how to improve and fight for the top spots in Q1 on Saturday.
The 12-lap Sprint is schedule for 15:00 Local Time on Saturday, November 08 with reasonable conditions forecast.
Joan Mir: “A big smile today, in a positive spiral from the flyaways! Today we confirmed that we can be competitive here as well, I have a good feeling with the bike – especially with the front, and this makes my life on track a lot easier than it has been in the past. The bike is working well, of course there are things to improve but we really have a bike where we can compete now. This is really important, to arrive and know that we can be there and that we are in the area more or less straight away. Our feeling is similar to Sepang, we are close to the top guys and working in the correct way, let’s see what everyone can find tonight to be strong on Saturday too.”
Luca Marini: “Not our best day, my mistake with the crash and some bad luck. I was a bit wide and the temperature of the tyre dropped, it’s easy to happen here with the conditions we had. It’s a pity because we lost time, we couldn’t use that bike, but I stayed focused to push hard because you could see the weather coming in. For tomorrow we need to improve the braking in Turn 1 and 5, some fine tuning to increase my speed. Today we also tried a couple of new things to help out the engineers which is always good, we’ve made a lot of progress this year but we still have more to make.”
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More from a press release issued by Aprilia Racing:
Positive vibes for Aprilia Racing in Portimão.
The first day of practice at Autódromo Internacional do Algarve ended with positive feedback for Aprilia Racing. Marco Bezzecchi reaffirmed his outstanding feeling with the RS-GP25 and with the track, putting in a solid Friday. After his second-place time in FP1 – less than two tenths behind the top time – the Italian rider finished practice fourth, thereby clinching a spot in Q2.
Lorenzo Savadori, subbing for Jorge Martín, continued his work developing the RS-GP25, finishing practice in twenty-first place.
Also worth a mention was Trackhouse MotoGP Team rider Ai Ogura’s performance, who finished practice in the top ten, earning a spot in Q2 along with Bezzecchi.
Marco Bezzecchi: “The day went well because I had positive sensations already in the first session, which were then confirmed in the afternoon. We also managed to improve, especially in the session finale, despite the light rain. It was a good first day and I’m satisfied.”
Lorenzo Savadori: “Having two Aprilias in Q2 is extremely positive. We tested something interesting that seems to be working well, although it was a bit of a peculiar day because of the weather. I hadn’t raced here for several years and it’s great to be back, but we know that it is an extremely particular track, so it’s positive to see a track where we perform well.”
Paolo Bonora: “It was a positive day with Marco doing the fourth-place time which puts him straight through to Q2. We managed to send both Marco and Ogura straight to Q2 in the practice session, but there is still a lot of work to be done in order to be ready for both the sprint race and the long race. However, we know what areas we need to work on to improve. With Lorenzo, on the other hand, we are one hundred percent in line with the plan. We’re continuing to advance technical development solutions to improve the bike.”
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More from a press release issued by Monster Energy Yamaha:
Uphill Battle for Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP on Portimão Friday.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins kicked off the Grand Prix of Portugal weekend in somewhat mixed conditions. The teammates pushed to the limit at an overcast Autódromo Internacional do Algarve and ended the day in 13th and 18th place respectively in the classifications, putting them on tomorrow’s Q1 entry list.
The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team got straight to work on the Grand Prix of Portugal Friday. Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins used FP1 and most of the Practice to prepare for a tense shoot-out. They ended the afternoon session in 13th and 18th place respectively and will take part in tomorrow’s Q1.
Quartararo finished FP1 in P11 and was keen to push in the afternoon session. When the Practice got underway, the Frenchman showed he meant business by featuring inside the top 10 until the final 20 minutes. However, crucially, some light rain started to fall just when El Diablo was due to begin his time attack, making it more challenging to find the limit on his hot laps. Quartararo was 13th at the time and had to push. He set a 1’38.717s, which temporarily had him rank fourth, but with 6 minutes left, he was nudged outside the top 10. Though he responded by clocking a 1’38.598s on lap 21/23, he ended up in 13th place in the Practice timesheets, 0.624s from first.
Rins wrapped up FP1 in P16 and was keen to make further steps in the afternoon. The Spaniard worked diligently during the 60-minute Practice and showed his fondness of the Portimão track. He climbed up to 11th, but with 16 minutes to go, spots of rains started to fall, making track conditions more difficult to assess during the time attacks. The number-42 rider put in several more attempts, but he wasn’t able to get into the 1’38s. His 1’39.070s, set on lap 15/23, put him in 18th place in the Practice results, 1.096s from the top.
The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team will be back in action tomorrow for the Saturday MotoGP sessions: FP2 will be held from 10:10-10:40 GMT+0, followed by the qualifying sessions from 10:50-11:30, and the 12-lap Sprint, which starts at 15:00.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI – Team Director, Monster Energy Yamaha
“We faced more challenges than anticipated at the start of the Portimão weekend. Today’s results reflect the poor track conditions. Unfortunately, we had sudden rain in both session which didn’t help either. Compared to our rivals we tend to struggle more in low-grip conditions, making it a complicated first day. While Fabio still came close to a top-10 result and both riders gave their maximum effort, we remain too far from the front. The level of competition is extremely high, so we are focused on extracting every ounce of performance from our package. The team is committed to supporting the riders as they prepare for a highly competitive Q1 and Sprint. Looking ahead, the forecast for the coming days is sunnier, or at least should provide fully dry sessions, allowing us to work under more consistent conditions.”
Fabio Quartararo: “We are struggling quite a bit. This is a track where grip is very important. When everything is set up right, as a rider you can enjoy riding here like it’s a roller coaster. This is a track I really like, but today my feeling was not great on the bike, so we have to analyse it. We have to try to find a solution for tomorrow to improve our feeling a bit.”
Alex Rins: “This is a demanding track, and if you make a mistake, like when we missed corner 1 in the Practice, the whole lap is cancelled. Today, we struggled with a mix of problems, maybe because of the low grip and the mixed conditions. Today’s weather out on track was not ideal for us. But we need to stay positive. Let’s see if tomorrow we can do better, especially for the Sprint with more grip on track.”
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More from a press release issued by Ducati Lenovo Team:
Francesco Bagnaia and the Ducati Lenovo Team second in Portimão Practice. Nicolò Bulega seventeenth on his MotoGP debut.
The Ducati Lenovo Team enjoyed a positive penultimate Friday of the 2025 MotoGP season at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão. Francesco Bagnaia finished Practice in second place, while Nicolò Bulega was seventeenth on his first-ever day in MotoGP.
Bagnaia started the afternoon session well, taking fourth place in the opening minutes. After briefly dropping to the lower end of the top ten, Pecco made his way back to second courtesy of an excellent time attack, ending up only 30 milliseconds shy of today’s quickest time. Bulega, this year’s WorldSBK runner-up with Ducati, showed encouraging signs aboard the Desmosedici GP as he finished seventeenth, one second off the top.
The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action tomorrow morning at 10:10 local time (GMT) for Free Practice 2, followed by Q1 at 10:50 and Q2 at 11:15. The twenty-first Sprint of the season will be contested over 12 laps from 15:00.
Francesco Bagnaia: “This morning we made a mistake with the front-tyre choice. I was having a bit of a difficult time because the bike tended to go wide at some corners and I couldn’t make it stop and flow into the corner. Things went better this afternoon: we started with the soft option to get some feedback from the bike, and then I enjoyed the hard front tyre as well. In the last time attack we managed to set a good lap time without pushing too hard. All in all, I’d say the situation is positive at the moment.”
Nicolo Bulega: “Today went quite well. I didn’t give too much importance to the classification: what really mattered was completing as many laps as possible and understanding the many differences compared to the bike I’m used to. Tyres are different, there are the ride-height devices to manage, and the Desmosedici GP is really a powerful machine. The positive thing, ironically enough, is that my riding wasn’t the best — but I guess that’s quite normal. There’s a lot to process and absorb, but I’ll sleep on it and start tomorrow with one more day of experience.”
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More from a press release issued by Red Bull KTM Tech3:
The penultimate round of a thrilling 2025 MotoGP™ campaign has kicked off on Friday at the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Portugal. Enea Bastianini and Pol Espargaro were representing the Red Bull KTM Tech3 squad, with the latter filling in for Maverick Viñales for the 5th time this season. The number 44 did us good once again, as he directly reached Q2 for the third time this season with a 9th place in Practice, while Enea Bastianini will have to go through Q1 on Saturday, after finishing 19th.
As Maverick Viñales continues to recover, Pol Espargaro was once again a man on a mission arriving to Portimao, with some unfinished business between the Spaniard and the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, the track where he was seriously injured during the opening round of the 2023 season. Time has flown by since then, and Espargaro was ready to face this new challenge and step once again into Viñales’ boots. And he did brilliantly so, as Polyccio grabbed his direct Q2 ticket after taking the 9th place of a rain-disrupted Practice session on Friday afternoon. After a positive FP1 at the end of which we saw him take the 5th time this morning, the Spaniard managed to make it to the coveted top 10 on Friday afternoon, thanks to a very late improvement in 1’38.424, one that saw him remain in 9th at the final checkered flag. Solid job from the Spaniard, who will give his best to place his RC16 on the front rows on Saturday.
Fridays have not been Enea Bastianini’s favorites this season, with the Italian having often struggled to quickly adapt his RC16 to new tracks. One of the key points of the day was the new swing arm, brought to Enea for the first time this morning. The Italian was finally able to benefit from it, and small improvements were already noticed by the Italian, although he will need to get his head around it. In Free Practice 1, Enea was just 1.2 seconds off early pace setter, Alex Marquez. In the afternoon, track conditions were a bit tricky, with the rain joining the party, and the best Enea could give was a 1’39.130, placing him in 19th of the timesheets. He will have to face Q1 on Saturday morning at 10:50 local time, shortly after Free Practice 2 kicking off MotoGP™ action at 10:10. Then, there will be the penultimate Tissot Sprint of the season, at 15:00 for 12 laps.
Pol Espargaro: “Fabio Quartararo is one of those guys who keeps pushing even if there is someone behind him, and this is why he is one of the best riders, because he is confident. I tried to follow him, I tried to push as much as I could. It was really tough to make a good lap time today, so I am happy that we managed to make one which has qualified us directly into Q2. Psychologically, it has been so important for myself to reach the pit box back on my bike after my small crash this morning, and it gave me the confidence I needed for the remainder of the day, because obviously, the last time we crashed here was bad. Anyway, it was a good day for us, let’s try to qualify well tomorrow!”
Enea Bastianini: “Today has been more or less like the other Fridays, unfortunately. Track conditions were difficult, because it was quite dark in Practice, and it was not easy to understand which parts of the track were dry. I also think that our strategy was not great because I just had one lap with the new tires, so we need to improve this for tomorrow. For the first time, we tried the new swing arm, in both sessions. We have improved a bit, but we need to adjust a few things, because after checking the data, we are losing in some strange points of the track, where I am usually good at like T3, so we have to look into this!”
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More from a press release issued by CASTROL Honda LCR:
Positive start for Johann Zarco in Portugal.
- Returning to Portuguese soil after more than a year, Frenchman Johann Zarco and his crew enjoyed a positive and strong start to the weekend.
- From his first run in the morning, Zarco felt fast and confident, consistently placing inside the top four on the timesheets.
- Although weather conditions changed throughout the day, he maintained good feeling and consistency.
- He ended the day in 6th position, less than three-tenths off the fastest time, securing a direct spot in Q2 ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying.
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More from a press release issued by IDEMITSU Honda LCR:
Somkiat Chantra completes hectic Friday in Portugal.
- Somkiat Chantra was one of the highlights in Portimão on Friday after a massive wheelie in the morning session, which drew the attention of all the cameras.
- In the afternoon, the Thai rider reported feeling good on the bike after testing different setups.
- The Portimão track is one of the most demanding of the season, and Chantra and his crew are determined to maximize their potential and deliver the best possible performance in qualifying and the Sprint.
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More from a press release issued by Prima Pramac Yamaha:
Challenging start to the Portuguese GP for the Prima Pramac Yamaha.
The first day of the Portuguese GP proved to be demanding for the Prima Pramac Yamaha, as changing weather conditions affected both Practice sessions. Despite a positive start in the morning, the afternoon rain complicated the work on track, preventing the riders from fully expressing their potential.
The Portuguese Grand Prix got underway with mixed feelings for the Prima Pramac Yamaha team. Jack Miller displayed promising speed in the morning session, while local star Miguel Oliveira thrilled the home fans around Portimão.
Despite their efforts, the afternoon rain shuffled the order, leaving the two riders in 16th and 22nd place ahead of tomorrow‘s Q1.
GINO BORSOI – Team Director, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP
“Jack started well, setting his best time on the new tyre when the track offered good grip. The afternoon rain created some confusion and reduced grip significantly. Between the two sessions, we worked a lot to help Miguel make a step forward, and tomorrow we‘ll try an important change to give him better support. Unfortunately, Jack couldn‘t make it directly into Q2, but we have some ideas to try”.
Jack Miller: “The day started well, with the new tyre I felt comfortable and my pace was good. In the afternoon, the weather conditions became challenging and difficult to read. I couldn‘t find the same feeling, and I also had a small crash at Turn 5 due to the incoming rain. After that, I managed to put together a decent lap, but it wasn‘t enough to get directly into Q2”.
Miguel Oliveira: “The tricky weather conditions made our day complicated. We worked on the bike setup to find the feeling we were looking for, but unfortunately, the changes we tried didn‘t give us the results we hoped for. Tomorrow we‘ll face an uphill Saturday, but we‘ll keep pushing to turn things around”.