MOTOGP FRIDAY REPORT AT PORTIMAO
FP1
FP1 at Portimão ended with Alex Márquez on top. The 2025 runner-up started the weekend strong, hoping to finish his best MotoGP season in style. The track stayed dry even though rain looked likely, with dark clouds gathering over the Algarve hills.
Márquez was fast from the start and finished the session 0.233s ahead of Marco Bezzecchi, who jumped to second with a late lap. Jack Miller placed third and even showed off his usual jump over the crest at Turn 8. Johann Zarco was fourth, followed by Pol Espargaró, who had the weekend’s first crash at Turn 2 but walked away unhurt.
Five different bike manufacturers filled the top five, all within four-tenths of a second, hinting that the afternoon Practice would be unpredictable.
Franco Morbidelli took sixth. Luca Marini managed seventh, just ahead of teammate and Sepang podium finisher Joan Mir. Pedro Acosta was ninth, and Fermin Aldeguer completed the top ten.
Rookie Nicolo Bulega impressed in 14th. He rode one of the highest lap counts and set his best time on his final lap. He finished less than a second from the top time and over two-tenths faster than teammate Francesco Bagnaia, who struggled and ended FP1 in 17th. Raul Fernández crashed late at Turn 1 and went to the medical center for checks.
FP2
In the first 30 minutes of FP2, Alex Márquez was again leading the session by a couple of tenths, with Pedro Acosta close behind. Johann Zarco made it three different manufacturers in the top three. Pol Espargaró, still replacing Maverick Viñales, kept showing strong speed and was fourth ahead of Francesco Bagnaia.
With about 20 minutes left, rain flags came out as light drops began to fall around the Portimão circuit. At that moment, rookie Ai Ogura moved up to sixth, pushing Alex Rins out of the top 10. Then Yamaha got more bad news when Jack Miller crashed at Turn 5.
Despite the rain, Acosta kept pushing. He improved his time and got closer to Márquez but stayed second… until he set a 1:38.062. That lap put him first, more than two-tenths ahead of Márquez.
A wave of improvements followed. Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Joan Mir, and Fabio Quartararo all improved and entered the top 10. But then Márquez struck back and set the first 1:37 of the weekend, retaking P1 with eight minutes to go.
With under five minutes left, Quartararo, who had recently been P4, was suddenly out of the top 10 again. His next lap wasn’t enough. Luca Marini set a personal best and moved into ninth, pushing Bagnaia down to 10th and at risk of missing Q2. That risk became real when Pol Espargaró set another strong lap, dropping Bagnaia to 11th.
Bagnaia reacted immediately, jumping to seventh and knocking Marini out of the top 10. Quartararo tried again but couldn’t find the time he needed. Bagnaia improved once more and got within half a tenth of Márquez.
Behind the top three, Bezzecchi set a last strong lap to finish fourth. Mir ended the day in fifth. Zarco put a second Honda in the top six. Di Giannantonio, Rookie of the Year Fermin Aldeguer, Pol Espargaró, and Ai Ogura completed the automatic Q2 spots. For Ogura, this was his fourth Friday Q2 entry of the season.
The gaps are tiny: only 0.088s separate the top three, and just half a second covers the top 11. Q1 will be full of fast riders, and the Sprint on Saturday is set up to be close and chaotic. The weekend at Portimão is shaping up beautifully for fans of tight racing.
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