Starting grid for the Portuguese MotoGP: How the race will begin

23 Mar 2024

crash.net

Portuguese MotoGP, Portimao - Full Qualifying ResultsPosRiderNatTeamTime/DiffLapMax1Enea BastianiniITADucati Lenovo (GP24)1'37.706s5/7343k2Maverick ViñalesSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP24)+0.082s7/7342k3Jorge MartinSPAPramac Ducati (GP24)+0.106s6/8344k4Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo (GP24)+0.216s8/8344k5Jack MillerAUSRed Bull KTM (RC16)+0.326s3/8344k6Marco BezzecchiITAVR46 Ducati (GP23)+0.366s7/8342k7Pedro AcostaSPARed Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16)*+0.432s3/4340k8Marc MarquezSPAGresini Ducati (GP23)+0.441s4/4344k9Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.616s7/8342k10Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM (RC16)+0.706s5/6343k11Alex RinsSPAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.796s6/7339k12Alex MarquezSPAGresini Ducati (GP23)No Time-- Qualifying 1: 13Aleix EspargaroSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP24)1'38.279s6/7342k14Fabio Di GiannantonioITAVR46 Ducati (GP23)1'38.309s5/6340k15Miguel OliveiraPORTrackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24)1'38.385s5/7341k16Raul FernandezSPATrackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP23)1'38.448s6/8341k17Franco MorbidelliITAPramac Ducati (GP24)1'38.454s7/8338k18Augusto FernandezSPARed Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16)1'38.934s6/7338k19Johann ZarcoFRALCR Honda (RC213V)1'39.004s3/8340k20Joan MirSPARepsol Honda (RC213V)1'39.025s6/8335k21Takaaki NakagamiJPNLCR Honda (RC213V)1'39.058s7/7336k22Luca MariniITARepsol Honda (RC213V)1'39.451s7/7340k

*Rookie.

Official Portimao MotoGP records
Best lap: Marc Marquez 1m 37.226s (2023)
Fastest race lap: Aleix Espargaro 1m 38.872s (2023)

Enea Bastianini claims his first pole position as a factory Ducati rider at the 2024 Portimao MotoGP and will be joined on the front row by Aprilia's Maverick Vinales and Pramac's Jorge Martin.

Martin had lost a flying lap after exceeding track limits on the exit of the final corner on his first run. The title runner-up made amends during his second run but couldn’t contain Friday leader Bastianini.

Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia will start at the head of row two in fourth, with Jack Miller the top KTM in fifth and Marco Bezzecchi the only rider to use the hard front tyre on his way to a competitive sixth for VR46 Ducati.

The 2023 pole qualifier Marc Marquez - fast all weekend and chasing his first front row for Gresini - suffered a nightmare start to qualifying when he lost the front on the out-lap as he peeled into the ultra-fast final corner at just under 200km/h.

The eight-time world champion sprang to his feet without harm, but his number one bike and one set of new tyres were out of action. Marquez returned for the final run to salvage eighth place, just behind rookie Pedro Acosta.

Marquez wasn’t the only rider on the ground early on with Brad Binder falling from his Red Bull KTM, at a much slower speed. Binder was left in tenth.

Yamaha had surprised with both its riders directly through to Qualifying 2 on Friday afternoon. Fabio Quartararo went on to claim ninth on the grid and team-mate Alex Rins eleventh.

Alex Marquez and Acosta topped the Qualifying 1 session to reach Q2 while Aleix Espargaro, Fabio di Giannantonio and home hero Miguel Oliveira missed out.

Alex Marquez wasn’t credited with a flying lap in Q2.

After challenging the Yamahas in Qatar, all four Hondas will start at the back of the grid in this weekend’s races, starting with the Saturday afternoon Sprint.