Fabio Quartararo sealed the 2021 MotoGP world title last time out at Misano after championship rival Francesco Bagnaia crashed out while leading. It meant regardless of where the French rider finished he sealed a maiden world crown with two rounds to spare.
Marc Marquez won the Emilia Romagna GP, leading a Repsol Honda 1-2 from team-mate Pol Espargaro, as Enea Bastianini grabbed the final podium spot on his Avintia Ducati from Quartararo who celebrated his title triumph in fourth place.
While the riders’ championship is wrapped up, both the manufacturers’ and teams’ titles are yet to be decided.
Ducati leads the manufacturers’ standings by eight points from Yamaha, while the factory Yamaha team heads up the teams’ table by 13 points from the factory Ducati outfit.
MotoGP returns to Portimao having raced at the Portuguese circuit earlier this season in April, when Quartararo clinched victory ahead of Bagnaia and Mir, with all three currently the top three in the riders’ championship.
Pol Espargaro, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Why is it called the Algarve GP?
With races not allowed to be given the same race names in the same MotoGP world championship season, Portimao’s second race of the season has been called the Algarve GP, named after the region of Portugal the circuit is located in.
It takes inspiration from the other double-headers MotoGP put on both in 2020 and this year as part of the reshuffled calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this season Qatar hosted the first-ever Doha GP as the second leg of its back-to-back races, the Red Bull Ring hosted the Styrian GP as its second part of its double-header and Misano hosted the Emilia Romagna GP as the second part of its two races.
Why is MotoGP holding two races at Portimao?
As part of the COVID-19-hit campaign the 2021 MotoGP calendar has been tweaked due to various travel restrictions in place across the world. The Finnish, Japanese, Thai, Australian, Malaysian and Argentina MotoGP rounds have all been cancelled for 2021.
In order to bulk out the calendar, Losail, the Red Bull Ring, Misano and Portimao will all host two races.
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
2021 Algarve MotoGP session timings
MotoGP will run its standard schedule across the Algarve GP weekend, with two practice sessions on Friday that will run for 45 minutes each. On Saturday third practice will also run for 45 minutes, with the top 10 on the combined FP1-2-3 timesheet automatically entering into Q2 of qualifying. A final 30-minute FP4 session is held on Saturday afternoon ahead of qualifying.
Q1 of qualifying sees all riders who did not finish in the top 10 of the combined practice times take part, with the top two finishers progressing into Q2 alongside the top 10 who gained an automatic spot via their practice times.
Q2 is the pole position shootout which decides the order of the front four rows, with the rest of the grid organised on Q1 times, for the Algarve GP on Sunday.
Moto2 and Moto3 are also in action during the Algarve GP.
Friday 5th November 2021
Free Practice 1: 9:55am-10:40am GMT (9:55am-10:40am local)
Free Practice 2: 2:10pm-2:55pm GMT (2:10pm-2:55pm local)
Saturday 6th November 2021
Free Practice 3: 9:55am-10:40am GMT (9:55am-10:40am local)
Free Practice 4: 1:30pm-2:00pm GMT (1:30pm-2:00pm local)
Qualifying: 2:10pm-2:50pm GMT (2:10pm-2:50pm local)
Sunday 7th November 2021
Warm Up: 9:30am-9:50am GMT (9:30am-09:50am local)
Race: 1:00pm GMT (1:00pm local)
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
How can I watch the Algarve MotoGP?
- Channel: BT Sport 2
- Channel numbers: Sky – 414 (BT Sport 2)
- Channel numbers: Virgin Media – 528 (BT Sport 2)
BT Sport’s live coverage of Sunday’s action starts with the warm-up sessions at 9:00am GMT, taken from the world feed, before switching to its own broadcast at 10:30am GMT for the pre-race show ahead of the Moto3 race.
The build-up to the MotoGP race starts from 12:30pm, or when the Moto3 race finishes, ahead of lights out at 1:00pm. The Moto2 Algarve GP will take place after the MotoGP race at 2:30pm.
Can I stream the Algarve MotoGP?
Viewers in the United Kingdom can also stream the Algarve GP by purchasing a video pass from MotoGP.com. A one-off video pass, for the remainder of the 2021 MotoGP season, costs £16.89.
The video pass gives access to every live session, qualifying and race, plus world feed content and the chance to watch previous races.
Weather forecast for the Algarve MotoGP at Portimao
Portimao is set for settled and sunny conditions throughout the entire race weekend. Highs of 18 degrees Celsius are forecast on race day, which is two degrees warmer than the Emilia Romagna GP last time out.
shares
comments