Five memorable MotoGP Portuguese Grand Prix
Portugal is home to some of the most dramatic MotoGP races in recent memory, so here are my five best races from these iconic undulating venues.
Shehryar Bin Shahid 21st March 2024
Share on:
The Algarve International Circuit and the previous Portuguese venue of Estoril are some of the most iconic venues in motorcycle racing history.
The current Portuguese venue of Algarve International Circuit is more familiar to the World Superbike fans as opposed to the MotoGP fans, who saw it for the first time in 2020. But the moment these 1000-cc beasts roared down the start-finish straight of the Algarve circuit in 2020, we knew that it would be an instant classic layout.
Both tracks are known for their dramatic elevation changes which adds an extra element to the spectacle of motorcycle racing, with the bikes popping wheelies all over the track (Less so these days due to the enhanced aerodynamics but we do see an occasional “Miller-airways” through turns 9 and 10 drop, which is cool.)
So without further ado, here are my five most memorable races from Portugal.
5- MotoGP 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix: Quartararo’s fiery performance, Bagnaia’s charge through the field and Marc Marquez makes a supreme comeback
The 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix was the venue where Marc Marquez made his return after a year’s sabbatical due to a right arm injury. The Spaniard’s last memory before his injury comprised of him scything through the field after rejoining the track after a mistake early on in the 2020 Jerez Grand Prix. The Spaniard made it to second place before a highside with two laps to go resulted in him breaking his right humerus and subsequently pulling out of the 2020 season completely.
Going into 2021, this would be the venue of return for the eight-time world champion, but how he would fare against the current grid, who were now released from the reign of terror that Marquez once exuded, was anyone’s guess.
But the Spaniard took little time to show everyone that despite being a bit rusty, he hadn’t lost any of his raw speed. He went second fastest in FP1 and then qualified in P6, just over two-tenths down from pole position.
On race day, it was Quartararo who looked like the man to beat on his Yamaha. The Frenchman qualified on pole, but a bad start saw him drop a few places, but that wouldn’t faze the Frenchman.
‘El Diablo’ exuded a confidence that was missing in 2020 and made some spectacular moves in succession to find himself back in P1, but it was not over yet!
Alex Rins on his Suzuki was also able to keep pace with the Yamaha rider, with both exchanging fastest laps almost every single lap before Alex Rins ended up dumping his Suzuki in the gravel in turn 5, leaving Quartararo with no pressure from behind.
Quartararo would go on to win his second race of the season and announce himself as the outright favorite for the 2021 crown. Meanwhile, 4.8 seconds down the field was Francesco Bagnaia who, after a disappointing fourth-row qualifying, was able to make it up in the race, where he picked off one rider after another to finish the race in second place after a last-lap pass on Joan Mir.
Coming back to Marquez. The Spaniard finished the race in an impressive seventh place after struggling to keep pace with the leading group up front. Remarkably, he finished the race as the top Honda in just his first race back after a year off.
4- MotoGP 2023 Portuguese Grand Prix: Marc Marquez instigates a lap three melee as Bagnaia dominates
Marc Marquez was the center of attention at the Portuguese Grand Prix agin two years down the line, when he surprised everyone with an unlikely pole position on a Honda, which, as we know by now, had no place fighting with the front runners. However, the Spaniard was able to wrestle his RC213v to a podium in the sprint race, behind Bagnaia and Martin.
On race day, the Spaniard was amped up and was looking to fight for victory. The race start saw Marquez lose positions to Jorge Martin and home hero Miguel Oliveira, but the Spaniard made an audacious move in turn 3 to retake the lead but got wide.
This left the home hero Miguel Oliveira as the race leader, ahead of Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin at the end of lap one.
On lap two, Bagnaia would make his move on the Portuguese man for the lead and crucially clear himself from the incident which was about to unfold a lap later.
On lap three, Marquez would mimic the same move from two laps earlier in turn three but this time he would collect both Martin and Oliveira, with Marquez and Oliveira ending up on the floor and Martin dropping down to tenth place.
The high side left Oliveira bruised with Marquez attaining a hand injury but after crashing out their home hero, Marquez was received with boos from the enraged Portuguese crowd once he reached back to his motorhome.
Meanwhile, in the race, Bagnaia was able to clear off at the front ahead of Maverick Vinales who benefitted from the crashes ahead and finished in P2.
It was not the most exciting race post lap three, but it sure was a memorable one!
3- MotoGP 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix: Miguel Oliveira dominates the inaugural Portuguese Grand Prix!
2020 was a year of complete chaos. With MotoGP unable to venture outside of Europe, the Algarve circuit was introduced to the MotoGP calendar, thus allowing Portugal to make an emphatic comeback to the race calendar.
Right from the first practice, the riders were in love with the Portimao circuit, but none more so than the local man himself, Miguel Oliveira. The Portuguese rider was in fine form from the get-go and put his KTM on pole.
And once the race started, no one would show him the wheel. The Portuguese man would become the inaugural race winner on a Portuguese circuit, but unfortunately, with no Portuguese fans to celebrate with.
Behind Miguel Oliveira, a last-lap showdown for second place would be decided between SRT Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli and Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller, with the latter coming out on top.
This race would also be the retirement race for both Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow.
Dovizioso would make a comeback with SRT Yamaha a year later, only to retire for good at the midpoint of 2021 at the San Marino Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Cal Crutchlow assumed his role as Yamaha’s test rider in 2021.
2- MotoGP 2008 Portuguese Grand Prix: Jorge Lorenzo wins his first ever MotoGP race
The 2008 Portuguese Grand Prix, at Estoril was a memorable one, as it marked the arrival of Jorge Lorenzo in the premier class.
The Spaniard qualified on the pole and kept the lead for just one lap before being passed by Valentino Rossi on lap two. Dani Pedrosa, on his Repsol Honda, kept himself in close proximity in third before deciding to make his move on Jorge Lorenzo for second place on lap 11.
Lorenzo would respond two laps later with a move on Dani Pedrosa into turn one before taking the lead from Rossi on turn 9–10 chicane on the very same lap.
Since then, Jorge Lorenzo remained unchallenged, and he would cross the finish line to take his first win in MotoGP, ahead of Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi in third. With this win, the young rookie Jorge Lorenzo would take over the championship lead as well.
1- MotoGP 2006 Portuguese Grand Prix: Elias pips Rossi to the finish line, as Pedrosa takes out championship leader Nicky Hayden!
Rule number one of racing: Never tangle with your teammate – especially if he is fighting for the world championship.
And that is exactly the sin, Repsol Honda’s rookie rider Dani Pedrosa committed when he crashed out teammate and championship leader Nicky Hayden on lap five of the penultimate round. This left the American furious, as he was already under increasing pressure from his chief championship rival Valentino Rossi, who was gaining ground in every race. and by crashing, he had practically given Rossi the title on a silver platter.
With zero points in the race, it was advantage Rossi in the standings. But it wouldn’t be too easy for the Italian in the race, as he would face an onslaught of attacks from a certain Spaniard named Toni Elias on the Fortuna Honda.
Elias started from a lowly 11th position on the grid but would soon make his way up to fight with the lead group of Rossi, Edwards, and Roberts Jr.
Rossi and Elias would squabble for the lead multiple times until Elias pipped Rossi right at the finish line to take his first and only MotoGP win.
Despite a great boost for Rossi in the championship, with him taking the lead in the standings from Hayden and taking home a 12-point buffer, those five points that he lost to Elias at the finish line would ultimately come to haunt him in the final round.
With Rossi crashing and remounting to finish in 12th place at the championship finale, Hayden would go on to win the 2006 crown with a third-place finish at Valencia. Rossi would lose the title by only five points!
Years later, Toni Elias spoke about his relationship with Rossi and he had this to say:
“When I meet Valentino in Austin, I see that he still resents me and has never forgiven me.”
“It’s terrible, we could be friends, but it’s just not possible. He’s so ambitious, he’ll never forgive me for that.”
“Until recently, I considered Valentino the best rider ever, but right now Marc Márquez is the best!”
