MotoGP™: Quartararo on top again in Portugal and new records for Michelin

The Grande Prémio Tissot de Portugal, round five of the 2022 MotoGPTM World Championship, was dominated by Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) who claimed his first win of the season. The defending champ finished clear of Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), while six different bikemakers filled the top six places, confirming the versatility of MICHELIN’s Power Slick range.  

In addition to establishing a new race-lap record for Portimao, Quatararo took advantage of the grip and consistency of his medium-compound Michelin Power Slicks to shave almost seven seconds off the previous best race-duration time for Portimao as he secured his ninth MotoGPTM victory.

The Frenchman leapt from fifth on the grid to complete the first of the afternoon’s 25 laps in second place behind Joan Mir (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR), before taking control fourth time around. Feeling increasingly confident in his tires, he then put in a sequence of quick laps (including the fastest of the afternoon - 1m39.435s - on Lap 10) to go more than three seconds clear at the halfway point.

He went on to take the checkered flag 5.4s ahead of pole-sitter Zarco, while third-placed Espargaro was chased over the line by Alex Rins (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR) who staged a memorable fight-back from 23rd at the start. Miguel Oliveira (5th, Red Bull KTM Racing Factory) and Marc Marquez (6th, Repsol Honda Team) made it six different bikemakers in the top six places for the first time this year.

All the weekend’s free practice sessions took place in wet, cold weather which saw the riders place their trust in the grip delivered by the MICHELIN Power Rain range. The conditions were then mixed for the first qualifying run but improved for Q2 which was almost entirely dry. The first chance the field got to lap around a totally clear track and make their tire selections for the race was Warm-up. Aided by the data collected at Portimao in 2021, they all opted for medium MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear, with the exception of Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) and Aleix Marquez (LCR Honda) who chose the hard rear.

Quartararo’s first win of the season has promoted him to the top of the provisional championship standings on 69 points, level with Rins. Espargaro (66) is third.

Next round: Gran Premio Red Bull de España, Jerez, Spain (April 29-May 1).