MotoGP 2022 – Round Five – Portimao
Grande Prémio Tissot de Portugal
Fabio Quartararo – P1
“I got this win by pushing myself to the limit. To be honest, I pushed just as much in Argentina and Austin, but mainly here our bike feels good. The straight is not so long, and we have grip, which means that we can go ’hammer time‘. Today, I felt amazing from the Warm Up on. In the race, I made an amazing start. I wanted to ride aggressively from the beginning, because I know that if we are behind our rivals here, we struggle. And we did it! I’m super happy, because I managed to get that first victory of the season. It’s the most important thing for me to never give up, and it turns out that really was the most important.”
Johann Zarco – P2
“I am very happy, I knew we could fight for the podium and we did it. It was very important both for me and for the team to do well in order to regain confidence. We made great strides and hopefully we can continue like this.”
Aleix Espargaró – P3
“I am very happy! Fabio was unbeatable today. I lost a lot of time at the start both because of a less-than-perfect start and because of the rather hard battle with Alex Marquez. Then I was able to find my pace which, to be honest, was rather good, and in the end I even tried to attack Zarco. However, the risk was too high, so I settled for third place. We have once again demonstrated that we can battle with the best.”
Alex Rins – P4
“It was a good race for me, I finished quite a long way up considering my grid spot. These points are very important, and it’s great to have moved up the standings; I’m now in second place, on equal points with Fabio. Honestly, I believed in my potential today, even if it seemed tough from so far back. I knew I could have a good rhythm and a strong finish. The contrast between yesterday and today is massive, yesterday we didn’t feel much like celebrating but now we can be happy with the race. Now let’s go to Spain and Jerez!”
Miguel Oliveira – P5
“We feel like we could have challenged for more today but we had a couple of difficulties during the race. I wasn’t too happy with our compound choice of the front tire. So, to take top five on a day when I was not so comfortable on track: we’ll take it. It is also a good base to build a positive mindset for Jerez and good motivation. It was a pleasure to ride in front of the home crowd and all the fans. I was happy to give them something with this 5th position.”
Marc Marquez – P6
“It’s not the result we want or want to be fighting for but today we did not have the feeling. Already in Warm Up I was not feeling how I wanted, and we made a small change for the race which helped a bit but the speed of our rivals was more than we had. We were there fighting with Pol in the start of the race and then Alex in the second half, it was an all-Honda battle really. Within this battle we were able to come out on top which was a positive but it’s true this is not where we should be. We need to be faster, in Jerez it’s time to be faster and finish closer to the front.”
Álex Márquez – P7
“We did a really good job in warm-up, trying out some tyres and being ready for the race as it was the only session we had in the dry. Then in the race, I made a really good start and was there fighting with the top guys, it was good to be there and see the level was there. From mid-race to the end, I started to struggle with the problems we had from the start of the season. I’m happy with the performance of both, myself and the team. This was a really solid weekend. It’s a really good thing to start like this here in Europe. I said that the target was to enjoy myself on the bike and I did. Now, we need to draw conclusions, go to Jerez and keep the same level of motivation.”
Francesco Bagnaia – P8
“Our goal today was to finish eighth, and we did it, so we can be happy. It wasn’t easy, but my team and the Clinica Mobile did a great job, putting me in a position to race. I tried to stay calm at the start, but it wasn’t easy. Then, fortunately, I was able to find my pace and my feeling with the bike was incredible even though we had little time to test it in the dry. I’m satisfied with the result, and now I’ll try to rest and recover as much as possible ahead of Jerez.”
Pol Espargaro – P9
“We are not satisfied with how the race went; we did not have the speed today. It’s time to understand more why this situation is happening because during the pre-season we were strong. Jerez is a good place to turn this situation around and I am pleased we can go there straight away to keep working. Already there are some ideas to change the situation in Jerez so I hope the weather will be good there. We must keep working, we must work harder than our rivals to overcome these problems. Fortunately, we have amazing engineers in Japan and a great team here at the track to work with.”
Maverick Viñales – P10
“Unfortunately, our race was conditioned by practice, beginning from FP3. Not being able to start farther forward keeps me from exploiting our pace, which is fast. When you have to battle to overtake, it sets off a whole series of problems: you lose time, the tyre temperature rises, I’m unable to ride clean, and everything becomes more complicated. This makes me angry, because in the right conditions I’m able to be fast, but Saturday is still our Achille’s heel.”
Andrea Dovizioso – P11
“At the end, we took some points. Relating to our speed, it was good, but overall, I’m not satisfied. On one hand, it’s interesting, because if you see my pace at the end of the race, it was quite good. The first half part of the race, when you have the grip, I’m not able to be faster and this is the point we need to work on. This is also the reason, why I’m not that fast in the practices and also why I lose a lot of time in the beginning of the race. When I was behind Maverick, he was starting to push and he was doing 1:40.5s. I couldn’t do lower than 1:40.7 and I did a mistake and went out of the track. At the end of the race, alone I was doing 1:40.2s. I don’t have the feeling and I don’t see how to use the bike at the beginning of the race. I think it’s good to have Jerez immediately and the test after the race, so we can work on that.”
Luca Marini – P12
“Overall a race that leaves me a bittersweet taste in the mouth, we finished in P12, but for the first time this season, I had a very good feeling in the final laps and could recover positions. It was a complicated Sunday, during the whole weekend we did not ride in dry conditions and at the start I have struggled to pick up the pace. I got a bad start, with the clutch I wasn’t perfect and many riders took advantage of it. In any case, there is something positive in this race that we need to bring to Jerez next week and even more in the post-race testing session.”
Franco Morbidelli – P13
“It was a tough race weekend because we needed time to improve our dry base setting. We had none before this morning. We had the chance to make a small adjustment from the Warm Up to the race. The bike felt a bit better than it did during Warm Up, but unfortunately we need to work more on these settings and have more experience with them, which we didn’t have this weekend. In the race I was braking early and not accelerating in the right way. I was slow.”
Remy Gardner – P14
“The race was the first time of the weekend we were able to ride in the dry, because this morning was still a bit humid. I did not get a good start and found myself last at the first corner but I managed to recover quickly. I started to have a decent pace but by that time the group ahead had made a gap already. It is a bit of a shame because I could have aimed for a Top 10.I feel positive about today. It is two points in the bag after a hectic weekend here in Portugal. It has been my best race so far this season, and I feel like if we would have had more dry time, I would have had more chances on my side but I am happy overall anyway.”
Marco Bezzecchi – P15
“A difficult race, we knew it because we have never ridden in dry conditions. In any case, we bring home a point, with a bit of luck, but we were hoping for a better pace. We need to gain experience, because in these conditions we had no references today. Let’s analyse the data well and make a step forward in Jerez.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P16
“I had a good start and I was in a good position on the first lap. I was stuck behind (Brad) Binder and Pol (Espargaro) and had good pace and confidence on the bike. But on that lap at turn 13, unfortunately I hit Binder’s rear tyre with my handlebar and I lost the front and had a crash. I was able to rejoin, and from that moment on I pushed as much as possible and my pace was pretty consistent – I managed a couple of 1’39s. It’s a shame we lost another good opportunity as we could have had a good race today. I’m really looking forward to the next race in Jerez as it’s one of my favourites, so let’s restart there. We definitely have good potential in Jerez.”
Darryn Binder – P17
“It was an ok race. Unfortunately, it has been a difficult weekend with all the rain and this morning we only had Warm Up as a dry session and I was really struggling in Warm Up. I was very slow. In the race, luckily I managed to find a bit of feeling. I went from doing 1:44s in Warm Up to doing 1:41s in the race, so I improved like three seconds. I managed to do all the race at a quite ok pace. Unfortunately, I really needed more dry laps on the big bike here to be able to make a step forward to stay with the other guys. I was with Di Giannantonio and we were catching Bezzecchi towards the end of the race, but when Di Giannantonio had a problem, I wasn’t able to close the gap to Bezzecchi on my own. I felt my references haven’t been good on my own. Overall, I made a good step forward from the Warm Up to the Race, but another session in the dry would have definitely helped.”
Jack Miller – DNF
“Portugal – that’s one I’ll want to forget pretty fast. There’s no beating around the bush for me and there’s not much more to say other than I’m in the wrong 100 per cent today. I know what I did. It was a racing incident, I feel terrible about it, and it was just one of those things.
“Until I crashed into Joan (Mir), the race was going well for me. I’d conserved the tyres for the first 16 laps and then started to push to close down the guys in front. Johann (Zarco) had passed Mir and I realised I needed to set up a pass, and I tried for three laps in a row to get close enough. But as I went to pass… look, you all saw what happened. Fortunately we’re both OK physically after that.
“I don’t know if I collected one of the damp patches on the inside but I locked the front and t-boned him. I went deep on the brakes and Joan went deep, I released and he released, and I was just in a shit part of the track to stop the bike, and got caught out. I’d felt like I’d been able to manage my speed there the whole race, sector one I’d had no real qualms with the whole race and the bike was working fantastic.
“That Suzuki is definitely harder to pass than it used to be… it was either Turn 1 or Turn 13 to get past, but Turn 13, Joan was really able to fire it in there and hold the line, so the first corner was the best option. It’s never nice crashing out of a race that way when you’re in a good position, that’s always shitty, and taking a rival out makes it even worse. I’m extremely sorry to the whole Suzuki team and to Joan. Joan took what had happened as best as you can in that situation… it’s a shitty deal either way but he took it as best as he could.
“I felt really confident in my pace and grip I had, and it felt like second was in play for me today and getting past Johann. Fabio (Quartararo), no way I was catching him, not me or anyone else. But second was there to be had… there’s no point saying that now, of course. I managed my tyres really well in the beginning of the race, and the last eight laps I was able to push. I was well set up, and then I made the mistake.
“Despite the way today ended up, I do like it here in Portimao. It’s so different to anywhere else we go because of the elevation, it’s pretty refreshing actually because a lot of the tracks we go to now are pretty similar. This place is so left-field with all the hills that you can’t compare it to anything else, it’s a total one-off and it throws a lot at you. It’s enjoyable, definitely not the easiest but it’s a good challenge.
“I know it’s round five but the season always feels like it starts, maybe I should say starts again, when we get back to Europe. I feel like we have a strong base for the next races, coming from what we had in Austin and using that base setting here. I’m happy with how my bike’s working. I can’t fault it at all.
“Despite how it ended, I have to look for positives. We were in a good position, points were solid and I’d felt solid all weekend, and the pace was there towards the end. Thankfully we only have to wait a couple of days to Jerez and I can make amends for today. I know there’s some good tracks for me coming up with there and Le Mans where I won at both last year. Wouldn’t mind a repeat of that for the next two races, that’s for sure…”
Brad Binder – DNF
“It was nice to wake-up to sunshine and have a dry track to race on. Warm-up went reasonably well and I noticed a few things with the set-up but we didn’t really have time to work on it. I was battling in the race and fighting to get the bike stopped when I was behind people but started to find my groove. I was pushing-on but unfortunately got sucked into one of the corners too much and tucked the front. Sorry to the team for messing-up. This happens. We’ll move on, and Jerez is normally a great track for us.”
Lorenzo Savadori – DNF
“We continued our development work in the race too. Putting in the miles was fundamental for us and, except for the crash in the finale, we managed to do just that. We have a lot of new parts to test which still need to be fine-tuned and that’s what we’re here for. In any case, I’m happy about Aleix’s podium. It means a lot to the entire team and it pushes us to always give our all to grow the RS-GP.”
Joan Mir – DNF
“It was really hard to push in this race, I was struggling to attack. After my good start I was just trying to get the best position possible, and I sort of went into defence mode. What happened with Jack was obviously frustrating, but mistakes can happen in racing and I’ve also made similar mistakes in the past. It was a racing incident and nothing deliberate. It’s a shame not to score any points here, but we’ll move onto Jerez now and try to find the best settings to give me a good chance of fighting.”
Jorge Martín – DNF
“I’m very disappointed because I had a very good pace, I was fast and I could have really done well. I’m sorry because we have a lot of potential and we’re not able to express it. We will try again in a few days in Jerez.”
Enea Bastianini – DNF
“We started on the right foot and we were having a good race. Unfortunately I lost three laps behind Espargaró and once I got past him, knowing I had lost a lot of time, I maybe pushed a bit too hard and crashed. It could have been a great comeback and we had the potential to do well. The bike on the dry was behaving very well and the goal now is to rest for a few days and be ready for Jerez.”
Fabio Di Giannantonio – DNF
“Too bad for that problem at the end of the race. I had settled into a good rhythm in the last six/seven laps and I may have caught Bezzecchi for what would have been my first championship point. I was improving lap after lap and understanding the bike a lot better. We’re still far but we’re working hard and we will get there.”
Team Managers
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director
“We are extremely happy with this first victory of the season, which the team fully deserves after the last few difficult GPs. Fabio was in another league today. This was a circuit where we had to exploit the advantage that this track gives us, gathering as many points as possible. In Warm Up, he already showed how fast he was, and we started thinking that anything was possible. Fabio made the best scenario happen, and he did it in his own way. It’s nice to see Fabio back in the lead of the championship standings. Franky had a difficult day at the office. All the wet practice sessions leading up to today didn‘t allow him to work more on the bike for a dry race. We are already thinking about the next GP in one week‘s time.”
Livio Suppo – Suzuki Ecstar Team Manager
“Like yesterday, it’s mixed feelings for us. Of course, we’re really sorry for what happened to Joan, it was a racing incident, but it was a pity because he was doing a great job at the front. Alex did unbelievably well, and even though he got fourth partly due to the crash involving Joan, he did a lot of hard work and gave a solid performance to work his way up the results. It gives us a good feeling heading into Jerez, and hopefully the weather will also be on our side there!”
Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Team Manager
“A little bit of a shame. We had two days with rain with Miguel always on top but then straight to a dry race with only warm-up to prepare. Anyway, we go home with a 5th position, which is not the worst result but we had a podium in the back of our mind today. The fight is very tight and there were six manufacturers in the top six places. Brad didn’t get the best start and wasn’t in the best condition for overtaking. There was a lot of traffic and he lost the front when he was coming back. Generally, the bike handled well considering the 20 minutes of dry track time we had. I’m pleased that Remy also took some points and it was unfortunate that Raul was out due to injury. Now we look ahead to Jerez and, of course, the post-race test which will be crucial. We hope to have all four of our KTM riders in the saddle there.”
Hervé Poncharal – Tech3 KTM Factory Racing Team Manager
“Very happy to finally be back in the points with Remy Gardner. It has been a difficult weekend for the entire MotoGP class in tough weather conditions. If we forget about the Q1 crash which was understandable, Remy had a great weekend here in Portugal and did what we expect from a rookie: do as many laps as possible, continue to push, keep the never-give up attitude, and try to learn as much as he can as the race weekends go on.His start to the race was not great, but he kept his focus and overtook a few riders to find himself quickly in front of all the other rookies. Of course, some riders did not finish the race and it made us finish in the points with P14, our best result so far this season in MotoGP. Remy is the best rookie of the weekend, and this was our target. Marco Bezzecchi started from the second row, but Remy was able to catch him, overtake him and create a six-second gap with him, which is something that we can be proud of. We could be a happier team if we had had our two riders on the grid but unfortunately Raul Fernandez hurt his right hand and was unfit to race today. I am sure that he would have been with Remy and we might have scored points with our two riders. Hopefully he took the opportunity to continue his learning-curve while watching the race from the garage. It looks like he will be able to race at his home Grand Prix next week in Jerez, so we hope that he will be back with us. Thank you to the riders and the team for their efforts this weekend.”
Wilco Zeelenberg- WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Manager
“So, the first European round is done. Andrea finished 11th, he had some issues during the race and was following Maverick (Viñales) and he lost the front a couple of times. He had to come back which he did really well. We’re happy with that results, yet still not pleased with the distance from the winner which is basically the same like in Austin. This is not acceptable so we need to work on it. For Darryn, his first lap was already two seconds quicker than in the morning’s Warm Up. For him, of course, with those two rainy days, he didn’t have a real rhythm in the dry, as he had only the Warm Up. In the race, he really improved a lot but unfortunately it was not enough to get points. He fought well with the boys and I think he learned a lot. We have to now look to Jerez, which he has already rode on. I hope he is able to step up the game there.”
Pablo Nieto – Mooney VR46 Racing Team Manager
“Overall a good race, with both riders in the Top15 after a very good qualifying. Points are always important and we can only be satisfied, but we continue to work to express our real potential in these European races. We can fight to get both of them into the Top10.”
Portimao MotoGP Race Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Fabio Quartararo | Yamaha | 41m39.6110 |
| 2 | Johann Zarco | Ducati | +5.409 |
| 3 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | +6.068 |
| 4 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | +9.633 |
| 5 | Miguel Oliveira | KTM | +13.573 |
| 6 | Marc Marquez | Honda | +16.163 |
| 7 | Alex Marquez | Honda | +16.183 |
| 8 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati | +16.511 |
| 9 | Pol Espargaro | Honda | +16.769 |
| 10 | Maverick Viñales | Aprilia | +18.063 |
| 11 | Andrea Dovizioso | Yamaha | +29.029 |
| 12 | Luca Marini | Ducati | +29.249 |
| 13 | Franco Morbidelli | Yamaha | +33.354 |
| 14 | Remy Gardner | KTM | +40.205 |
| 15 | Marco Bezzecchi | Ducati | +46.052 |
| 16 | Takaaki Nakagami | Honda | +49.569 |
| 17 | Darryn Binder | Yamaha | +50.303 |
| Not Classified | |||
| DNF | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Ducati | +21 Laps |
| DNF | Enea Bastianini | Ducati | +9 Laps |
| DNF | Joan Mir | Suzuki | +18 Laps |
| DNF | Jack Miller | Ducati | +18 Laps |
| DNF | Lorenzo Savadori | Aprilia | +24 Laps |
| DNF | Brad Binder | KTM | +17 Laps |
| DNF | Jorge Martin | Ducati | +4 Laps |
MotoGP Championship Points Standings
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Points |
| 1 | Fabio Quartararo | Yamaha | 69 |
| 2 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 69 |
| 3 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 66 |
| 4 | Enea Bastianini | Ducati | 61 |
| 5 | Johann Zarco | Ducati | 51 |
| 6 | Joan Mir | Suzuki | 46 |
| 7 | Brad Binder | KTM | 42 |
| 8 | Miguel Oliveira | KTM | 39 |
| 9 | Jack Miller | Ducati | 31 |
| 10 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati | 31 |
| 11 | Marc Marquez | Honda | 31 |
| 12 | Pol Espargaro | Honda | 30 |
| 13 | Jorge Martin | Ducati | 28 |
| 14 | Maverick Viñales | Aprilia | 25 |
| 15 | Franco Morbidelli | Yamaha | 17 |
| 16 | Luca Marini | Ducati | 14 |
| 17 | Alex Marquez | Honda | 13 |
| 18 | Takaaki Nakagami | Honda | 12 |
| 19 | Marco Bezzecchi | Ducati | 8 |
| 20 | Andrea Dovizioso | Yamaha | 8 |
| 21 | Darryn Binder | Yamaha | 6 |
| 22 | Remy Gardner | KTM | 3 |
| 23 | Raul Fernandez | KTM | 0 |
| 24 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Ducati | 0 |
| 25 | Lorenzo Savadori | Aprilia | 0 |
| 26 | Stefan Bradl | Honda | 0 |
