MotoGP practice pace hints at continued Marquez family dominance in Portugal

Four years ago at the Portuguese Grand Prix, an emotional Marc Marquez made his first start since that fateful 2020 Spanish Grand Prix where he badly broke his right arm and changed the trajectory of his career.

On that day, the then-Honda rider managed to beat his younger brother Alex Marquez, also on a Honda but with the humerus in his right arm positioned correctly. In many ways, that race summed up Alex Marquez’s career to that point: he had his own successes, but stepping out of the shadow of his older brother seemed almost impossible, even when he was not at 100% fitness.

As MotoGP embarks into uncharted territory this weekend with its very first 21st round of a season, Alex Marquez is nothing like the rider he was at the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix. The Gresini rider, for starters, is a MotoGP race winner - three times over, in fact. He’s also just secured second in the standings.

And in his older brother’s absence, he has stepped into the role of leading Ducati rider that - really - Pecco Bagnaia was supposed to be doing from the start of the season on the factory Ducati. After sealing his runner-up championship spot in the sprint at Malaysia, Alex Marquez, unchained and unencumbered by pressure, romped to his third grand prix victory of the season on Sunday at Sepang.

That momentum doesn’t appear to have wavered, either, as the Gresini rider swept both practice sessions on Friday at the Portuguese Grand Prix.

Since Marc Marquez was ruled out with a shoulder injury in Indonesia, the nature of the races has been very unpredictable. On Friday at Portimao, Alex Marquez was run very close in Practice, with Bagnaia, KTM’s Pedro Acosta and Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi all in very close attention, while Honda is hovering about menacingly too.

But it’s in the long-running pace that Alex Marquez has turned heads, with Bagnaia noting: “At the moment Alex Marquez is superior, he's faster. We're in a group that ranges from 2nd to 6th… for now.”

Lap times “coming really easily” for Alex Marquez

Portimao hasn’t been the best of tracks for Alex Marquez over the years. A fourth at the Algarve Grand Prix in 2021 on the LCR Honda remains the highlight, while his best on a Ducati was fifth in 2023.

However, the Ducati has always gone well at Portimao, with the GP24 winning in Jorge Martin’s hands at the venue last season.

Often referred to by commentators as the rollercoaster, Portimao’s undulating layout is one of the harder circuits to find a good set-up for. So, having an already dialled-in 2024 bike - which just so happened to be the winning bike from over a year ago - is a huge advantage. And it’s one which Alex Marquez has grabbed with both hands.

For much of the day, he held a significant advantage over the rest of the field in the final sector, which features the long, right-handers to end the lap. That was eventually whittled away, with LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco fastest through this split in Practice.

Marquez branded “everyone” a threat in qualifying on Saturday. At present, the best ideal lap time belongs to Pedro Acosta on a 1m37.934s - 0.004s faster than the predicted best for Marquez based on the sector data.

But his rivals really needed to work hard across Friday to get him as close as they did. Pecco Bagnaia, for example, explained that he used the wrong front tyre in FP1, which led to him being bested by stand-in team-mate Nicolo Bulega. He then found grip on track to be “strange” in the afternoon, which is reflected in his stop-start long run.

“This afternoon, with the soft tyre on the front straight away, we didn't do a time attack, but rather a run with the soft/soft tyres and a full tank to try to get some feedback from the bike and the tyres,” he told Sky Sports Italy.

“And it went better straight away; I felt good, and we managed to do a good job. Even with the hard tyre on the front, I felt pretty good, even though the time was short. In the end, the time attack went well: the first one, not so much because there were still a few drops [of rain], and I wasn't able to do a great job, while the second one went quite well without having to push too hard. So the situation is positive right now, and we need to keep going like this.”

Marquez, meanwhile, said this when asked if it was a perfect day for him: “More or less, yeah. You always have some things to improve, but it was a very good feeling from this morning, with a very good flow. I had a really great feeling, but the opponents are not far, so we have to keep going and improving…the lap times are coming really easily.”

Indeed, his race running was impressive. Working on the medium rear while the majority of the top 10 was on the sprint-option soft, Marquez’s average pace over a six-lap representative run was 1m39.005s. Nobody was quicker than that.

Bagnaia looks close, but he only did three laps on the soft rear that could be considered representative. Certainly, the factory Ducati rider is looking solid. But where he shapes into the picture in the battle for the podium remains unclear.

For Marquez, he is looking for consistency with rear grip going into Saturday and some tweaks to his GP24 to better handle Portimao’s bumps. But, already pointing in the right direction, it’s hard to look past him continuing the Marquez domination of 2025.

The battle for third in the standings stays tight

While it’s hard to hook headlines on, the battle for third in the 2025 standings is the main storyline of the final two rounds. Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi leads it by five points and can secure the position this weekend if things go his way, and he leaves Portugal with more than 37 points between himself and fourth.

For Bagnaia, overturning that five-point deficit is more a blood-stemming exercise than anything else, as he looks to end 2025 in the least disappointing way possible.

Pedro Acosta doesn’t consider himself much of a factor, with a 31-point gap separating him from Bezzecchi. While a top three in the standings would be something KTM would gladly celebrate, there is a feeling that the only thing on Acosta’s mind is trying to desperately end his victory drought.

He’s been good-natured about it, but watching Alex Marquez, Raul Fernandez, and especially Fermin Aldeguer all achieve something he is yet to - and very likely feels he deserves - will weigh heavily on him as a contract cycle approaches.

Many have viewed Portugal as the time for him to step up. He was rapid at the circuit in 2024, scoring a podium in the second event of his rookie season. It’s a circuit he has excelled at, and the RC16 has at least shown podium pace in the races since the summer break.

Pace-wise on Friday, Acosta was in the mix on soft tyres, averaging 1m39.086s in a seven-lap stint. That’s encouraging, but in the heat of a battle, the KTM’s tyre preservation remains a key uncertainty.

“We made a really good job, a good pace,” he said on Friday. “It’s true that we are struggling a bit with the tyre life again. It’s the main issue we have to work on tomorrow. For sure, it’s a matter of time [that this issue will be resolved]. It’s true that it’s been many races since people have been able to go home, and that’s not the easiest way to analyse these things. It’s a matter of time till we improve.”

Of the trio battling for third, Bezzecchi looks arguably the strongest heading into the rest of the weekend. After the disappointment of Malaysia, with Aprilia admitting that it simply found a good base set-up too late, the Italian brand is expected to correct course in Portugal.

It won the sprint at Portimao last season and was on course for a grand prix podium before a technical issue took Maverick Vinales out of the race. Bezzecchi put in some encouraging time attack efforts in Practice, which he will need to maintain as qualifying has often let him down when his pace has been strong.

Completing 11 laps on a soft rear tyre that had 17 on it by the time he was done with it, Bezzecchi’s average pace worked out at 1m39.245s. On paper, that’s not as standout as Marquez, Bagnaia or Acosta. But that longevity for the Aprilia is encouraging.

“I feel happy,” Bezzecchi said. “Already from this morning, I felt a good feeling, and the bike was working well. And this afternoon, we were able to improve at the end of the session. Still, maybe in the last sector I am missing something.”

Bulega impresses as he makes his MotoGP debut with Ducati

The big story of Friday at the Portuguese Grand Prix was the debut of World Superbike star Nicolo Bulega, who steps in for the final two rounds to replace the injured Marc Marquez at the factory Ducati team.

The Italian has had a long and winding road to make a MotoGP debut that, just a few years ago, seemed unlikely. The former VR46 Academy member never quite lived up to the promise set out by his pre-GP career.

He very quickly outgrew the Moto3 class, which hindered results, while a step to Moto2 never led to much. But a move to the World Superbike paddock has rejuvenated Bulega, with a World Supersport title earning him a factory Ducati in the main Superbike class.

Now, he is set to spearhead the development of the 2027 Desmosedici with a view to a race seat somewhere on the grid for Ducati. The Portuguese and Valencia Grands Prix, then, are very much an opportunity for Bulega to strengthen those race seat hopes.

And he was genuinely impressive. He stole headlines in FP1 by besting team-mate Bagnaia in 14th with a 1m40.073s, which put him just over two tenths clear of the double world champion. In PR, he was 17th, but improved his lap time by well over a second to a 1m38.986s.

“I did quite well, but I don't look at the standings,” he said. “I was just interested in staying on the bike and understanding as many things as possible. There are so many differences; the tyres are perhaps the most difficult. Returning to this paddock, on the one hand, made me very happy, but on the other, I was worried because I had bad memories of leaving. Being back in these colours is a whole different story. I've grown over the years; I'm more aware of some things, and I feel like I've matured in others.”

Ducati will be keeping pressure off his shoulders. But there is a very real possibility of Bulega scoring points this weekend.