Bagnaia pips Quartararo after resuming Portimao battle during Warm-up
Francesco Bagnaia got the better of 2021 MotoGP Champion Fabio Quartararo after resuming their Portimao battle in morning Warm-up.
Bagnaia, who will start today’s Algarve MotoGP from pole, was one of the last riders to exit pit lane due to cold temperatures surrounding the Portimao circuit.
The same wasn’t to be said for team-mate Jack Miller who immediately headed out on-track and was quickest.
There was an early fall for LCR Honda rider Alex Marquez as he lost the front at turn seven.
Miller was then replaced at the top by Fabio Quartararo, however, the Yamaha rider was quickly super-seeded by Joan Mir who secured the first front row of his premier class career during Saturday’s qualifying.
Quartararo retook top spot as the session went into the final ten minutes, while Aleix Espargaro’s tough weekend got worse with a turn 13 crash.
Despite joining the action slightly late compared to his competition, Bagnaia quickly got up to speed by going P3 with five minutes remaining.
The Ducati rider looked on course to significantly better Quartararo’s time two laps later, but the Italian ran wide at turn 13.
But on his next effort, Bagnaia managed to get turn 13 right before taking over top spot from Quartararo.
Iker Lecuona set an impressive lap late on to pinch third away from Mir, while Takaaki Nakagami went fifth fastest with his final lap.
Alex Rins made it two Suzuki’s inside the top six, while Marquez, Miller, Pol Espargaro and Franco Morbidelli rounded out the top ten.
