Portuguese Grand Prix Qualifying Results | Zarco on pole, yellows cost Marquez
Qualifying, as always in MotoGP, was super-critical in Portugal, and with several big names in Q1 and wet-but-drying conditions it was action from start-to-finish.
Q1 saw crashes for Francesco Bagnaia, Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez. Bagnaia and Gardner had both tried slick tyres early in the session, and it had not paid off. Both Bagnaia and Fernandez required medical attention, and did not get out after their crashes, which for Bagnaia meant he did not set a time and will start tomorrow’s fifth race of the season in last place, providing he is fit.
Another rider to crash in Q1 was Enea Bastianini, who was seventh at the time of his crash, and eighth by the end. The World Championship leader will start 18th tomorrow.
By the end of the session, slicks were necessary to go fast, with Alex Marquez taking the most advantage to top the session. He was joined in advancing to Q2 by Luca Marini, whose height and weight finally became an advantage in 2022 as he was probably able to fire the slicks up in the damp conditions better than anyone else.
Jorge Martin also took slicks at the end, but he was not fast enough to make it into Q2.
Alex Marquez’ Q1 experience gave him an early advantage in Q2, although Joan Mir and Jack Miller were also up to speed quite quickly.
In the end, though, it was Johann Zarco who denied Mir and Miller with a 1’42.003 to take pole position - his first of the season.
Mir qualified second and, as the rider who finished second in 2021’s second Portimao race to Francesco Bagnaia, will be one of the favourites tomorrow.
The front row tomorrow will be completed by Aleix Espargaro, who will be hoping to bounce back to the podium tomorrow after a difficult race last time out in Texas.
Somehow, Jack Miller missed the front row, despite looking like he was going to take pole position as the chequered flag fell. He will start fourth tomorrow, ahead of Fabio Quartararo in fifth and Marco Bezzecchi, who impressed with sixth place.
Both Bezzechi and his Mooney VR46 Racing Team teammate Luca Marini were on the front row at one point, but Marini was bumped to row three in the end. The Italian will start eighth, between the Marquez brothers - Alex in seventh, and Marc in ninth.
The #93 was at one point looking like he was going to take pole position, but a crash for his teammate, Pol Espargaro, at the final corner brought out the yellow flags which saw Marquez’ provisional pole lap get cancelled.
Espargaro himself qualified 10th, while the two factory KTMs of Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder completed the Q2 order in 11th and 12th, respectively.
Full Portuguese MotoGP qualifying results are below.
2022 Grand Prix of Portugal | Autodromo Internacional do Algarve | Qualifying Results
| 2022 Grand Prix of Portugal | Autodromo Internacional do Algarve | Qualifying Results | Round 5 / 21 | |||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat. | MotoGP Team | MotoGP Bike | Timing |
| 1 | Johann Zarco | FRA | Pramac Racing | Ducati GP22 | 1'42.003 |
| 2 | Joan Mir | ESP | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1'42.198 |
| 3 | Aleix Espargaro | ESP | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia RS-GP | 1'42.235 |
| 4 | Jack Miller | AUS | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati GP22 | 1'42.503 |
| 5 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Energy Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 1'42.716 |
| 6 | Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | VR46 Racing | Ducati GP21 | 1'42.716 |
| 7 | Alex Marquez | ESP | LCR Honda | Honda RC213V | 1'42.903 |
| 8 | Luca Marini | ITA | VR46 Racing | Ducati GP21 | 1'43.179 |
| 9 | Marc Marquez | ESP | Repsol Honda Team | Honda RC213V | 1'43.575 |
| 10 | Pol Espargaro | ESP | Repsol Honda Team | Honda RC213V | 1'43.832 |
| 11 | Miguel Oliveira | POR | Red Bull KTM Racing | KTM RC16 | 1'44.066 |
| 12 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM Racing | KTM RC16 | 1'44.710 |
| 13 | Jorge Martin | ESP | Pramac Racing | Ducati GP22 | 1'47.936 |
| 14 | Maverick Vinales | ESP | Aprilia Racing | Aprila RS-GP | 1'49.332 |
| 15 | Fabio di Giannantonio | ITA | Gresini Racing | Ducati GP21 | 1'49.639 |
| 16 | Andrea Dovizioso | ITA | WithU RNF Racing Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 1'49.695 |
| 17 | Takaaki Nakagami | JPN | LCR Honda | Honda RC213V | 1'49.889 |
| 18 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Gresini Racing | Ducati GP21 | 1'50.618 |
| 19 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Monster Energy Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 1'50.702 |
| 20 | Remy Gardner | AUS | Tech3 KTM Racing | KTM RC16 | 1'50.953 |
| 21 | Lorenzo Savadori | ITA | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia RS-GP | 1'51.308 |
| 22 | Darryn Binder | RSA | WithU RNF Racing Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 1'51.639 |
| 23 | Alex Rins | ESP | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1'52.300 |
| 24 | Raul Fernandez | ESP | Tech3 KTM Racing | KTM RC16 | 1'53.603 |
| 25 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati GP22 | No time set |
Alex has been working in the motorcycle industry for as long as he has been at Visordown, which has been since March 2022 so we'll let you work it out from there. He's the new guy. He'd be fetching us all coffee 'round the clock if he wasn't based in the arse end of nowhere.
