Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira secured fourth place on the MotoGP grid for the Grand Prix of Portugal today, with Spanish rider Marc Márquez (Honda) taking pole position for the opening round of the World Speed Championship.
Making his debut with Aprilia’s satellite team RNF, Miguel Oliveira secured fourth on the grid for the weekend’s two races with a time of 1’37.521 after passing the first qualifying session (Q1).
In the final attempt, six-time premier class World Champion Marc Márquez set the fastest Q2 time of 1’37.226, breaking the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve record and taking his 64th career MotoGP pole position.
After struggling the previous day in the first free practice sessions, where he was outside the top 10, Márquez admitted he didn’t know what had happened.
“Today was better, we will start from pole position this afternoon [in the sprint race] and on Sunday [in the Grand Prix] and that is important. The race will be very difficult with the Ducati, who have a very high pace, but we started from the front, which is a big advantage,” he said.
Second on the grid is Italian World Champion Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati), 0.064s quicker than Márquez, with Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati), 0.228s quicker, completing the front row.
Today also sees the opening of the Sprint Race, a new feature for the 2023 MotoGP World Championship season, starting at 15:00 at Portimão, with the main race taking place on Sunday at 14:00.