The MotoGP season enters its final phase this weekend at the 2025 Portuguese MotoGP begins the final European double-header of the year.
Practice is due to start this afternoon at 15:00 local time.
With the title wrapped up long ago and even second in the standings having been secured by Alex Marquez (who was fastest in FP1 this morning) in Malaysia, the main points battle now is for third place.
Marco Bezzecchi currently leads that battle from Francesco Bagnaia, but Pedro Acosta's recent form has propelled him into contention, too, and the Spanish rider is now only 31 points adrift of third.
Portimao has also been a strong track for Acosta in the past, with two Moto3 wins there in 2021, a Moto2 win 2023, and a podium in only his second MotoGP start last year. The Spaniard was ninth-fastest in FP1.
Bezzecchi, on the other hand, has only one podium at Portimao, that coming in the 2023 MotoGP race, but we know the Aprilia is strong at the Portuguese track, proven by Maverick Vinales' Sprint win here in 2024. Bezzecchi ended FP1 in second place.
Francesco Bagnaia is a two-time winner in Portimao, those coming in the second 2021 race and in 2023, when he also won the Sprint. The Italian, though, could only manage 17th in FP1 this morning.
Bagnaia, of course, has a new teammate for this weekend, as 2025 WorldSBK runner-up Nicolo Bulega joins the Ducati Lenovo Team in place of the injured Marc Marquez. Bulega tested at Jerez last week, and this weekend will mark his 100th grand prix start.
Bulega ended his first MotoGP session ahead of Bagnaia in 14th, and less than a second slower than Marquez.
Pecco Bagnaia explains his sluggish start to the Portuguese MotoGP weekend in FP1, in which he was bested by new team-mate Nicolo Bulega.
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After topping both sessions today at Portimao, Alex Marquez admitted that lap times "are coming quite easy for him" in Portugal.
Not that he thinks winning is a given in Portugal, the Spaniard also listing multiple riders among those he considers threats this weekend.
Full story here.
After weeks of speculation, former Toprak Razgatlioglu crew chief Phil Marron has been confirmed by KTM as joining Brad Binder for the 2026 MotoGP season.
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Alex Marquez sweeps Friday at the Portuguese Grand Prix.
Practice report ✍️
Chequered flag is out in Portimao and Alex Marquez sweeps Friday practice.
Bagnaia second, then Acosta and Bezzecchi.
Mir and Zarco make it two Hondas straight through to Q2 in fifth and sixth,
Di Giannantonio, Aldeguer, Espargaro, and Ogura complete the top-10.
Bulega 17th at the end of Practice. Probably his first time attack on a MotoGP bike got him 1.012s behind the benchmark of Marquez on a 1:38.986.
Quartararo's final lap isn't enough to get him in, he stays 13th.
Bagnaia, though, does improve late on and he goes second, 0.030s behind Marquez.
Bezzecchi improves to fourth as well.
Bagnaia briefly knocked out by Espargaro, but gets back in in P7 with his latest lap. That's knocked Marini out.
Mir flying through the first three sectors, but he loses a little to Marquez in the final sector and goes third, 0.209s behind Marquez.
Ogura now back into the top-10 in seventh, but he's pushed to eighth by Di Giannantonio who goes fifth.
Now here comes Quartararo - only P11 for him.
Marini behind went ninth and pushed out Morbidelli.
Morbidelli was briefly last about five minutes ago, but he's up to ninth now.
Now Binder goes 10th, and Quartararo - who is just leaving the pits now for his second time attack run - is pushed out of the Q2 spots.
Mir now goes up to fourth place, then Bagnaia and Marquez both improve - 7th for Bagnaia, Marquez goes top with a stunning final sector.
Marquez into the 1:37s, as well, with a 37.974.
Bezzecchi's first proper flyer puts him second on a 1:38.234, 0.172s behind Acosta.
Moment at turn five for Quartararo on his latest lap. No harm done but a lap lost - he's still 5th at the moment.
Di Giannantonio up to third, then Mir gets a provisional Q2 spot in ninth.
Quartararo up to fourth with his first time attack. Bezzecchi also out on-track now with softs front and rear.
On the next lap, Acosta holds his 0.3s from the first sector through the second split and is 0.4s up at sector three. He goes fastest by 0.210s at the end of the lap, we finally have a new session leader with 12 minutes remaining.
Acosta going again for a time attack. This time he's up by 0.3s in sector one, but loses out through the rest of the lap and ends up second on a 1:38.435 - only a half-tenth improvement.
Miller's crashed at turn five. Acosta at a similar time has backed out of it on his first time attack.
Miller has been able to walk away but it understandably angry.
Ogura also on a time attack, went 6th with his first lap. Was improving again on his second lap but now the rain flags are waving.
T1 heavy braking with @37_pedroacosta and Quartararo!🔥#PortugueseGP 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/NOaoDjTdTp
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) November 7, 2025
Fernandez one of the first riders to go for soft-soft for a first time attack, he goes seventh with his first attempt on a 1:38.8.
Some hard-compound fronts out there at the moment as well: Marquez, Bagnaia, Bezzecchi, Miller, and Savadori. Doesn't seem to be offering much at the moment - Bagnaia lapping in mid-1:39s with a soft rear, and Marquez in low-1:39s with a medium-compound rear.
Given what we said before about the potential lack of grip offered by the medium at the moment that's a pretty decent comparison from Marquez's perspective. Tyre age comparison is 10 laps on Marquez's medium and 12 on Bagnaia's soft.
Mir with a bit of a slide exiting the final corner with the medium rear as a kind of illustration of the lack of traction on offer from that.
There is some tyre info available now and there are some with soft and some with medium compound rear tyres.
Perhaps not to the extent as in Malaysia, but there does seem to be quite a difference in potential between the soft and medium rear, which could make Sunday's tyre choice tricky, although with track temperatures down at 23C now you'd imagine that is playing its part.
