Riders reflect on opening day of practice at Portimao

2021 MotoGP – Round 17
Portimao Friday Report

Fabio Quartararo was pretty dominant over Friday’s two practice sessions at Portimao overnight. Right on his heels on both sessions was the Ducati pairing of Pecco Bagnaia and Jack Miller.

Suzuki’s Joan Mir slotted into fourth. It was a positive day at the office for the Spaniard and the number 36 heads into Saturday just a couple of tenths down on Quartararo.

Fifth place Pol Espargaro leads the Honda charge, with Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) moving up from P13 in FP1 to take sixth overall and in FP2, readying for his charge at the title of top Independent Team rider on Sunday…

Alex Marquez enjoyed his Friday on the rollercoaster and took seventh, the Spaniard heading compatriot Aleix Esaprgaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and LCR Honda teammate Nakagami in P8 and P9, respectively. The final provisional place in Q2 goes to Rins as it stands, but the top 15 riders are split by less than a second so far…

MotoGP Rider Quotes

Fabio Quartararo – P1

“I enjoyed today’s sessions a lot, because the last two race weekends were more about stress and not making any mistakes than about enjoyment. Now I’m enjoying riding so much again. Even in the time-attack it’s been a while since I was able to get that feeling of being on the limit. I was really enjoying it. It’s nice to battle for first in the timesheets with Pecco. Sunday is the most important, but it’s nice to see the two most competitive riders of the second half of the season fighting. For today, we had planned to try the medium and the hard tyres, but because of the wind it was quite difficult to adapt myself properly, so we need to do it tomorrow instead. Other than that, we wanted to try a few things on the bike, but to be honest the most important thing was to be back after Misano and check my riding, and I think it was quite okay. The triple crown is not just in my hands, so instead my target this weekend is to fight for the race victory and then we will see what happens, also concerning the Team and Constructor’s Title. We need to at least try to win to secure the triple crown.”

Francesco Bagnaia – P2

“I had a lot of fun today, and I’m satisfied with this first day at Portimão. The pace is always fast on this track, but we could have a very consistent pace right from the start. Although the wind picked up in the afternoon, which disturbed us a little, we still set a good time, and over the next two days, it looks like the weather will improve. Anyway, we’re in good shape and tomorrow, we’ll try to make a few more steps forward, but in general, we don’t have any significant changes to make to the bike. I’m confident and ready to have a good qualifying session”.

Jack Miller – P3

“I’m thrilled to be back here at Portimão: it was a positive Friday for us, and I hope we can continue like this until Sunday. The bike is working well, and I felt comfortable right from the start. This morning we tried the medium tyre while in the afternoon, we lapped on the hard tyre, then we mounted the soft in the final minutes and tried a time attack. Unfortunately, compared to the morning, I struggled a bit more in FP2 because of the wind, but it seems that tomorrow and Sunday, the conditions will be better. The main focus for Saturday will be to continue to work on the race pace and try to stay in the top ten in FP3 to aim for a good grid position for the race.”

Joan Mir – P4

“It was a positive day for us; we’re working well and I felt competitive straight away so that made our work a bit easier today. Apart from the big moment in FP1, everything has been running smoothly. We focused on a few small details, including the electronics and we’re following the steps to try and build a strong weekend. So far, I’m happy.”

Pol Espargaro – P5

“The conditions today weren’t amazing, there wasn’t a lot of grip and I was struggling honestly. Today we worked on the setting of the bike to make the most of the situation and to be competitive, I think it shows how far we have come since the start of the year. It’s an amazing step when you compare now to the first time we came. Even if I’m not happy with my feeling, we are able to set quite good times and finish in a position that isn’t too bad. There’s still more work to do, especially with the harder tyres, and getting straight into Q2 won’t be easy but we have potential.”

Johann Zarco – P6

“I feel good on this track. I like it a lot, and I can have fun despite it being difficult. Everyone is really quick and it will not be easy. We have, however, had a good first day, and we are confident about tomorrow.”

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Álex Márquez – P7

“It was a really good day for us. We’ve already ridden here at Portimao at the start of 2021 and that was a good race for us. Today, we started with good pace in the morning, we were constantly in the top five to seven which is really good. We have to keep going like this now, it’s only Friday and there’s still many things to do. Tomorrow we need to be positive and the key will be getting into Q2 in the morning. We’ll try to make another step tomorrow, but I’m really happy with the team who did a great job today.”

Aleix Espargaro – P8

“Today things didn’t go badly. I’m eighth in spite of still not having the best sensations and that is positive. We clearly need to improve. I’m still struggling too much, especially when trying to stay consistent over several laps. The track didn’t have much grip this morning, but it improved gradually. I think it will continue to do so and that should help us. I’m have faith in what the technicians will be able to propose for me tomorrow. I’m sure we’ll be faster.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P9

“It was a good day. FP1 was quite difficult conditions as there was a little bit of dust, but in FP2 conditions were getting better and we were able to improve the lap time and the feeling on the bike. We still need to find the best balance of the bike, but the general feeling is quite good, so we’ll keep working hard to improve. Let’s see how we do in qualifying.”

Alex Rins – P10

“This is a good track for me and our bike works well here – this morning I was fast and also this afternoon, especially with the soft rear I felt really good. In the last laps of the day I was missing something, and I couldn’t reach the target of being a bit faster. However, I still made it into the Top 10 and we know where we can improve so we will keep pushing.”

Jorge Martín – P11

“On the first run, I was a bit worried, but I then managed to gain confidence and so the feeling improved lap by lap. In FP2, we managed to put out a good lap. We only just didn’t make it to the top ten for now. We need to take a small step forwards to get ahead.”

Franco Morbidelli – P12

“It was a decent day. We were decently fast with the harder tyres. But unfortunately, when we put on the soft tyres, we didn’t do a proper time attack. But anyway, I was pushing more, and the feeling wasn’t what I was expecting, so we need to work a little bit on that to improve the performance with new tyres and with soft tyres. But overall, it was a decent day.”

Danilo Petrucci – P13

“It was a good day. Since this morning I have a good feeling with the bike and I’m having fun, which is just the most important thing. I enjoy riding the bike around this circuit. We made a few steps that have been working. I’m happy about that. For sure, we are still not in the top 10, so we still need to improve some areas. In general, I’m happy and I think tomorrow we can have a decent Qualifying.”

Maverick Vinales – P14

“I’m rather satisfied with the work we did today. We can’t forget that our primary goal is still to get to know the RS-GP as well as we can and to gather information for next season. I felt fairly good in terms of pace, whereas I’m struggling on the flying lap. The bike moves around a lot, which causes me to make mistakes, making it difficult to be consistent. For tomorrow, we’ll try to find more stability and I’m sure that we’ll make another step forward, partly because, despite not finding the best feeling, I was still close to the top 10.”

Luca Marini – P15

“This morning, in FP1, I had a good feeling with the bike, but in the afternoon with the wind, I struggled to keep the pace and in the last run I had very little confidence with the rear tyre. Anyway, we are confident for tomorrow, we are close to the Top 10, which is our goal, and we are not going to make any changes to the bike. We have shown that we can be fast in these conditions.”

Enea Bastianini – P16

“I was expecting a bit more, we are having more problems than expected and I still can’t ride like I want to. In the afternoon with the wind, it made the bike move a lot and I couldn’t put in a good lap. From tomorrow we will keep working to improve, especially in the second and fourth sector, which is where I lose more time. Normally, the corner entry is my strong point, but here I have to ‘fight’ with the bike to get it. Tomorrow will be a new day and we will try to get a good result.”

Stefan Bradl – P18

“I am content with today, we did a good job overall and we were able to start focusing on some smaller details. Our times are there more or less, with the riders who have been racing all year so this shows our level well. I put in a soft tyre at the end of FP2 but it didn’t help us too much. We keep on working, it’s great to see the Honda going so well here with Pol, Alex and Taka all challenging at the front.”

Iker Lecuona – P20

“In general, it would have been a good day for us. I had a great feeling on the bike in FP1. I was riding alone, worked on myself and on the bike to improve and feel more confident and it worked out. In FP2, we kept the same direction and I felt ok again. My pace was very consistent and we are not very far. On my fast lap I did some mistakes and nearly crashed in the last corner, so it was a little bit crazy. But I want to keep this way, I think we did a very good job today. Now we just focus on tomorrow.”

Valentino Rossi – P21

“It was a difficult day and I struggled more than I expected to. In the race here in April I made a good step with the hard tyre, but today it has been a bit too cold for it and the track doesn’t have enough grip. I hope that the conditions will be better tomorrow and that the grip improves as well, so that we can use the hard tyre. For me, this is the tyre that I can be fastest on because it gives me better stability with the rear. FP3 is always very important because you need to try to stay inside the top-ten, because if you don’t then you have to do Q1. We have another practice to try to improve the feeling of the bike with the tyres, so we will see.”

Andrea Dovizioso – P2

“The first day here in Portimao wasn’t easy and I didn’t feel too good today, but the track is nice – albeit a little strange. I’m still not feeling 100% with the bike and I think there are a few reasons, for example I’m not smooth enough and in some areas of the track I am not fast enough. It means that when you want to push to gain some time, you make a mistake. We will see tomorrow what the conditions are like and what we can do in FP3 and Qualifying. We have room to improve.”

MotoGP Friday Combined Times

Moto2

Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) finished top of the pile on Day 1 but only just. Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) was just 0.002 off the Spaniard’s 1:43.246 by the end of play, with the Brit continuing his Misano momentum.

World Championship leader Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was third quickest and quick all day, but the Australian suffered some late drama at the final corner when he crashed with Marcos Ramirez (American Racing).

Moto2 Friday Combined Times

Moto3

Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) ousted compatriot and title contender Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) from top spot in FP2. Fenati’s 1:48.026 saw him beat Foggia by just 0.015s, as Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) claimed P3 at the end of play on Friday.

Moto3 Friday Combined Times

MotoGP Championship Standings

Constructor Standings

Team Standings

2021 Grande Prémio Brembo do Algarve

2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar

Moto2 Championship Standings

Moto3 Championship Standings