MotoGP LIVE Portimao FP1: 70 minutes for a first hierarchy dominated by Miguel Oliveira!

In the absence of any Grand Prix already contested on the Algarve Autodrome track, near Portimão, in Portugal, the most interesting reference is constituted by the best time achieved by Aleix Espargaró in 1'40.170 on his RS-GP during tests held at the beginning of October in order to familiarize themselves with the route in question.

A time that Johann zarco himself considers it interesting and intends to take advantage of it to save time (see here).

Today's two sessions are extended from 45 to 70 minutes to be able to get your bearings on an atypical route due to its differences in altitude: The maximum slope is 12% on the descents and 6% on the ascents, while the transverse slope is 8% at certain points.

Despite recent tests at the beginning of October on the track with nine right turns and six left turns, as well as a straight line of almost a kilometer, Michelin  also play it safe while bringing 4 types of front tires and 4 types of rear tires, instead of the usual 3. The allocation includes a soft, a medium and a hard front with a symmetrical design, plus a second hard in an asymmetrical version with a harder right side. For the rear, Michelin offers an asymmetrical soft, medium and hard with a reinforced right side due to the greater number of curves in this direction. A second hard, in a symmetrical version, is also available.

Due to longer sessions on Friday, Michelin makes 2 more sets available to drivers, i.e. a maximum of 12 front and 14 rear tires.

Brembo does not anticipate any difficulties and even judges the Portuguese circuit as the easiest in terms of braking.

La weather forecasts is also optimistic and promises us a beautiful sunny weekend, although a little windy near the Atlantic Ocean for this 16th Portuguese Grand Prix. This is confirmed this morning with an immaculate sky and temperatures of 20° in the air and 21° on the asphalt resurfaced this year for Formula 1.

Finally, in addition to the first hierarchy which will emerge in 70 minutes, we will follow the duel between Suzuki and Ducati, strictly tied on points for the constructor's title: only the best driver of each brand will score points on Sunday. If it is about Joan mir ou alex rins, this will give Hamamatsu the triple crown for the centenary of the Japanese firm!

Thanks to the official website MotoGP.com, here is a few minutes of live images in this article : that cannot be refused!



Start of the session: 11:10 a.m. French time.
End of session: 12:20 a.m.

When the red lights go out... Franco Morbidelli preserves the tradition by setting off first on the track in front Valentino Rossi.

Almost all the tires seem to be out, especially as we recall, Michelin provides two kinds of hard front tire and two kinds of hard rear tire which are not shown in this table.

Joan mir wrote history by registering 1'44.794, the first official times for a MotoGP in Portimão! He then improved in 1'43.169 before losing to the local Miguel Oliveira in 1'42.497.

Alex Rins accelerates the pace 1'41.991 during his fourth flying lap, still almost two seconds behind the best time ofAleix Espargaró during testing, when Miguel Oliveira took back command in 1'41.703 visibly at ease on his national route.

Jack Miller takes command in 1'41.584 during his seventh flying lap, while most of the drivers enter their boxes after this first run, which allows us to observe a first hierarchy composed of Jack Miller, Miguel Oliveira, Alex Marquez, Alex Rins, Aleix Espargaró, Franco Morbidelli, Maverick Vinales, Johann Zarco, Joan Mir, Stefan Bradl, Fabio Quartararo, Cal Crutchlow, Lorenzo Savadori, Pol Espargaró, Brad Binder, Andrea Dovizioso, Francesco Bagnaia , Takaaki Nakagami, Danilo Petrucci, Valentino Rossi, Tito Rabat and Mika Kallio, replacingIker Lecuona.

On resumption, Takaaki Nakagami abandons his ninth position in favor of third place before conceding it to Maverick Vinales. The Yamaha rider also clocked 1'41.427 and took command two laps later, equipped like most fast riders with a soft tire at the front and a hard one at the rear.

fabio quartararo, who still holds the track record in Moto3, then moved up to 5th position, when Johann zarco does the same in the 9th.

Interesting clarification provided by Sylvain Guintoli : Do not trust the announced top speeds, the sensor is located in the braking zone. It is therefore more of an indication of who brakes later rather than who goes fastest…

This does not prevent the pilots from treating themselves to great sensations…

The track has been open for 35 minutes now, exactly halfway through the session, and this is the moment when Joan Mir returns to his box even though he had lit the first three sectors in red... Confidence is essential in the Suzuki team!

Miguel Oliveira took the opportunity to shine in front of his absent public by imposing his KTM in 1'41.258.

The top 10 is then made up of Miguel Oliveira, Maverick Vinales, Jack Miller, Joan Mir, Pol Espargaró, Fabio Quartararo, Johann Zarco, Takaaki Nakagami, Alex Marquez and Franco Morbidelli.

Stefan bradl, the MotoGP convict who has just returned from his test in Jerez, creates a surprise by setting a 1'41.235 at the top of the rankings!

Aleix Espargaro, current track record holder in 1'40.170, is not to be outdone and jumps from 14th to 5th place before positioning himself provisional third.

fabio quartararo increases the pace to 1'40.877, now less than a second from the Aprilia rider's record.

Johann zarco changed the springs on his fork. The characteristic difficulty of this route is the strong contrast between the heavy braking at the end of the long straight which requires fairly hard springs to guarantee stability, and the rest of the track where the sequences follow one another without major load transfers, which requires rather flexible springs…

8 minutes before the checkered flag, most of the drivers are in their box. At the moment, no one uses a soft rear…

The last minutes do not bring any improvement among the top 10, until Andrea Dovizioso is in third place, with a hard tire at the rear.

This then triggers a burst of improvements, starting with that of Maverick Vinales in 1'40.162, new circuit record!

Aleix I will espargaro confirms its good performance on the track by taking second position, just in front Miguel Oliveira.

Lorenzo Savadori, the only rider to use a soft rear tire took the opportunity to place the second Aprilia in the top 3.

In extremis, Miguel Oliveira made one last attempt and concluded this first session with the absolute best time, in 1'40.122!

See you at 15 p.m. for the second session, also 70 minutes!

FP1 classification of the MotoGP Portuguese Grand Prix at the Algarve International Autodrome in Portimão:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com