2021 Portimao MotoGP FP4 Result: Quartararo In A League Of His Own

The sky got a few more patches of grey throughout the final practice session for the premier class but did not hinder the action, which mostly consisted of Fabio Quartararo showing off at the top of the timesheets. The Frenchman was the only one posting times in the high 1:39s and showed great rhythm on both the medium and hard rear tyre. Home favourite Miguel Oliveira was two tenths of a second slower and pretty consistent but not quite on par on pace with Quartararo. Championship leader Johann Zarco came close as well and displayed solid pace of his own.

Maverick Vinales did not threaten the lead of the session but put in a strong run on well used medium tyres on his way to fourth position, narrowly ahead of Pecco Bagnaia. Franco Morbidelli added another Yamaha to the mix in sixth spot, while Alex Marquez made a late jump into seventh. Jack Miller in eighth was three tenths down on the leader and fairly consistent on pace as well. We did not have to wait long for Marc Marquez’s first big save of the season, the Spaniard putting the knee to good use at turn 14, on his way to ninth place, while world champion Joan Mir rounded out the top ten, four tenths off top spot.

17 riders posted a time within a second of the leader, including Pol Espargaro, who limped away from a big highside at turn 15 and Luca Marini, who lost the front at turn 9 in a fast but luckily harmless crash. Takaaki Nakagami and Jorge Martin did not feature in this session, the Japanese rider still struggling with the aftermath of his crash on Friday, while the Spaniard is undergoing further checks at the hospital after his scary crash this morning.

Results: