For its 21st and penultimate round, the world championship MotoGP is making its 7th trip to the Algarve International Autodrome in Portimão, Portugal, a track included in the calendar in 2020.
A suspenseful question arises, given the forced absence of the 2025 champion. Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team), of the 2024 champion George Martin (Aprilia Racing) and Maverick Vinales (Red Bull KTM Tech3), there are still at least five points of interest, two of which concern the French riders.
- First of all, Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) having secured its 2nd place in the championship, attention will turn to the duel between Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), separated by 5 points, for the final step of the podium. Despite the incredible rebound in Japan and the resurgence in Malaysia of the Ducati rider, the trend remains in favor of the Aprilia rider, even if we really don't know what to expect from number 63.
The "we" encompassing the Borgo Panigale factory itself… - Further down the rankings, battling for 6th place, is the internal clash between teammates. franc Morbidely (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) And Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), with almost the same number of points. Here, the difference in motorcycles may explain the occasional advantage of one or the other, but everything remains completely open for what is ultimately a rather honorary prize.
- Even more unusual is the battle for 8th place between the rookie Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) to the factory world champion rider fabio quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). Consistency versus flashes of brilliance, highly refined machine versus development bike, each does what they can with what they have, and here again the outcome is uncertain, the two men being separated by 4 points.
- At least as far as we are concerned, we will also be watching the battle for the honorary title of "best Honda rider", between Johann zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) And Luca marini (Honda HRC Castrol), while the official team has clearly placed the Frenchman at the center of its sights…
- Finally, how could one not be interested in the beginnings of Nicolo Bulega to replace Marc Marquez at Ducati Lenovo? By being the only one fighting against Toprak Razgatlioglu Throughout the season, the 26-year-old Italian has demonstrated considerable talent, but how far will he push the offensive dial during his adaptation phase?
- "Honestly, I don't have a specific goal. I just want to understand the motorcycle sector by sector and what I need to do differently compared to SBK."
Add to that the fact that the Portimão rollercoaster has the particularity of featuring heavy braking downhill, fast sections under load and blind accelerations, and you can easily understand that it will take a very clever person to find the answers to these questions before the final in Valencia!
So much for a quick overview of the situation, while on the list of registered, Marc Marquez, George Martin (Aprilia Racing) and Maverick Vinales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) are respectively replaced by Michele Pirro, Lorenzo Savadori and Pol Espargaro.
Download the official program here
To write this 21th chapter of the 2025 MotoGP season, it will be necessary to cover the track 12 times. 4592 meters in Saturday's Sprint and complete 25 laps on Sunday.
For Michelin, even though the 2025 round does not take place at the same time as usual, they have chosen to offer the same allocation as last year, as explained Piero Taramasso, Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheel Manager:
Piero Taramasso, Manager of Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheeled Competition
« We're approaching Portimão with great confidence and extra motivation. It's the penultimate round of the season, just before the Valencia finale, and even though the 2025 titles have already been decided, we're maintaining our full focus. Portimão is a spectacular, demanding circuit, much loved by the riders, but it presents a real technical challenge for the tires. It has everything: heavy braking downhill, fast corners, blind acceleration, and areas where traction is crucial. You need a tire capable of doing it all, and doing it for a long time, without compromise.
Last year, the tire allocation we offered performed perfectly, both in the Tissot Sprint and the feature race. The drivers were impressed by the confidence it provided during critical phases and by the consistent tire performance from the first to the last lap. Therefore, we have chosen to use the exact same tire combination for 2025. Even though the race takes place in the autumn this year, our analysis indicates that conditions should remain very similar to those observed in the spring. »
According to Brembo technicians, the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve falls into the category of circuits with medium braking demands. On a scale of 1 to 6, it has a difficulty rating of 3.
because, although it has 10 braking zones per lap for a total of 30,5 seconds spent braking, only 2 are classified as "High", 2 as "Medium" and 6 as "Low".
The most difficult turn The braking system of the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve is tested at Turn 1: the long 970-meter main straight preceding it allows MotoGP bikes to reach 334 km/h before having to slow down to 124 km/h in 4,4 seconds. This maneuver requires a braking distance of 268 meters, with a force of 6,7 kg applied to the brake lever.
Among the current MotoGP riders, the winners of previous editions are: fabio quartararo (2021/1, 2022), Francesco Bagnaia (2021/2, 2023), Miguel Oliveira (2020) et George Martin (2024)
The records are set in 1'37.266 by Marc Marquez since 2023 (See here), and 352,9 km/h for the local speed Miguel Oliveira since last year.
At the last edition in 2024, Jorge Martin won the GP in front of Enea Bastianini et Peter Acosta, while the Sprint podium was made up of Maverick Vinales, Marc Marquez et Jorge Martin.
Unusually, none of the 2024 winners, Maverick Viñales (Sprint) and Jorge Martin (GP), is not present on the grid!
For the 21st round of a 22-round season, the weekend looks mixed this Friday before the arrival of bright sunshine on Saturday and Sunday.
This morning in FP1We were able to observe an interesting session in which Alex Marquez, Marco Bezzecchi, Johann Zarco, Pol Espargaro, Franco Morbidelli, Luca Marini and Joan Mir appeared solid, while Jack Miller It was more of a bluff...
Congratulation to Nicholas Bulega which made our mouths water for its first few laps!
While we wait to learn more, as the 22 drivers prepare under a grey sky, with air temperatures of 20°C and track temperatures of 23°C, for this 60-minute pre-qualifying practice session, let's enjoy these few moments of live coverage thanks to the official website. MotoGP.com :
|
MotoGP™ Portimão, Portugal |
2024 |
2025 |
| FP1 | 1'40.484 Marc Marquez (See here) | 1'39.145 Alex Marquez (See here) |
| Practice | 1'38.057 Enea Bastianini (See here) | (See here) |
| FP2 | 1'38.720 Maverick Vinales (See here) | (See here) |
| Q1 | 1'38.060 Alex Marquez (See here) | (See here) |
| Q2 | 1'37.706 Enea Bastianini (See here) | (See here) |
| Sprint | Vinales, Marquez, Martin (See here) | (See here) |
| Warm up | 1'39.093 Jorge Martin (See here) | (See here) |
| Course | Martin, Bastianini, Acosta (See here) | (See here) |
| All time lap record | 1'37.226 Marc Marquez 2023 (See here) |
