MotoGP Race And Practice Results

Despite enjoying the best of the conditions, the intermediate class were in no rush to make an impact on the combined standings and the time attack that closed the session wasn’t all that feisty either. Remy Gardner managed to surpass Friday’s benchmark in the final 5 minutes of FP3 and led the way by two tenths of a second, while Luca Marini’s FP2 time was enough to keep him second on the combined timesheets. Hector Garzo was one of the few early improvers and the Spaniard topped the session before dropping to third overall, with compatriot Marcos Ramirez up to fourth.

Although fifth on the combined standings, courtesy of his Friday time, Sam Lowes suffered a late crash at turn 13, which added to an already painful weekend for the British rider. Lorenzo Baldassarri also failed to go any faster but stayed sixth on the combined timsheets, followed by Aron Canet and Augusto Fernandez. Championship leader Enea Bastianini continues to perform well and briefly joined the top three before his final lap time got cancelled for a yellow flag infringement and the Italian dropped to ninth in the combined standings.

Xavi Vierge completed the top ten, while the remaining Q2 tickets were handed to Fabio Di Giannantonio, Jorge Navarro, Joe Roberts and Tetsuta Nagashima. Marco Bezzecchi will have to find his way out of Q1 later today, if he wants to cling onto his slim title chances, while Jorge Martin finished the session 22nd overall, having missed out on half the running on Friday. 

Results:

The lightweight class opened yet another fine morning in Portugal and it was a bittersweet one for Jaume Masia. The Spaniard was the early leader of the session and then found three tenths of a second more than his rivals in the final time attack to top the session but he also got sanctioned with a double long lap penalty for irresponsible riding in FP2. Friday leader Albert Arenas did not need to improve to secure a ticket to Q2 but the championship leader did improve to finish second overall. Compatriot Jeremy Alcoba continued to shine, this time from third position and as the final rider within half a second of Masia.

After missing out on some track time on Friday, Gabriel Rodrigo climbed all the way up to fourth, with Deniz Oncu joining the top five positions. Andrea Migno was sixth, with only a tenth of a second separating the rest of the top ten, beginning with Kaito Toba and closely followed by Sergio Garcia, Raul Fernandez and Celestino Vietti. Dennis Foggia in 11th position was seven tenths slower than his teammate but just like him, he too has a double long lap penalty to serve in Sunday’s race.

The remaining top 14 positions in the combined standings went to Ayumu Sasaki, Barry Baltus and Yuki Kunii, leaving championship hopefuls Ai Ogura and Tony Arbolino to fight it out in Q1 with the likes of John McPhee, Romano Fenati or Niccolo Antonelli.

Results:

The premier class got another hour to enjoy the wonders of the Algarve Circuit and nice warm asphalt welcomed them and opened the floodgates on times in the 1:39s. While KTM and Honda hogged the limelight early in the session, it was Yamaha and Ducati who fought for the lead by the final time attack. Ducati got the upper hand this time out and it was courtesy of Johann Zarco aboard the 2019 machine, the Frenchman one tenth of a second faster than Maverick Vinales. Aleix Espargaro was once more inside the top three, two tenths off top spot and ahead of Fabio Quartararo.

Brad Binder rounded out the top five, while Joan Mir found himself outside of the top 10 positions going into his last flying lap but the world champion used that final lap well and climbed into sixth. Andrea Dovizioso was in a similar situation as he claimed 7th place, ahead of Pol Espargaro. Jack Miller and Franco Morbidelli completed the top 10 positions, while Stefan Bradl missed out by two hundredths of a second. The Honda rider continued to have a good day in Portugal, as he spent significant time at the top of the timesheets before dropping outside the top 10 despite being less than half a second off top spot.

Takaaki Nakagami had an eventful afternoon, the LCR man going down at turn 4 in the final 30 minutes of the extended session and he was able to rejoin and improve his laptime but still got pushed down to 12th. Miguel Oliveira started the session at the top of the timesheets but the home favourite got demoted in the late battle for the top 10 and dropped back to 13th. Alex Rins will hope to improve on 17th position on the combined standings on Saturday morning, although the Spaniard was within only eight tenths of top spot. Turn 4 proved problematic for Valentino Rossi as well, the Italian rejoining the action after a late crash but only fast enough for 21st position.

Results:

The intermediate class enjoyed their first extended outing around the Algarve Circuit and while the likes of Augusto Fernandez and Remy Gardner spent the most time at the top of the timesheets, it was Marcos Ramirez who took the most advantage of the late time attack. The Spaniard finished the morning one hundredth of a second ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio and compatriot Luca Marini, who was also within a tenth of the lead.

After leading in the final 10 minutes of the session, Gardner dropped to fourth but only a tenth slower than the leader and with Marco Bezzecchi completing the top five. Fernandez was the early leader of proceedings and finished sixth, under three tenths behind, while Nicolo Bulega, Hector Garzi, Xavi Vierge and Jorge Martin made for a familiar rest of the top ten, covered by half a second.

Despite still looking a bit uncomfortable due to the crash suffered in Valencia, Sam Lowes kept close to the top positions, only dropping to 11th in the final time attack, but the British rider was only six tenths off top spot and marginally faster than rival Enea Bastianini, who ended the session 14th.

Results: