Persistence Pays Off for Quartararo at 2025 MotoGP Portugal
Team ENEOS demonstrated a defensive riding masterclass at Autódromo Internacional do Algarve as Fabio Quartararo’s persistence was rewarded with a P6 finish at the Grand Prix of Portugal. Alex Rins couldn’t find the feeling he was hoping for but finished the Race in P13.
Beginning his quest from P3, El Diablo quickly slotted into fourth position during the opening lap but Francesco Bagnaia passed him going into Turn 1 on the second lap. Unable to stay with the Italian, Brad Binder was on the Frenchman’s heels and Quartararo managed to hold him and other riders off until lap 11 where he defended P5 once again. He rode the limit until running slightly wide in Turn 5 on lap 14, which resulted in Quartararo riding P6 the remainder of the race, finishing 18.442sec from the winner.
“I pushed from the first lap until the end, keeping in mind not to burn through tires,” Quartararo said. “But I wasn’t exactly managing them either. We gave it our all considering what we had to work with.”
Rins started from P17 and completed the first lap in P15, then began a quest to hunt down a pack of riders battling for P11. However, the Spaniard had trouble closing the gap and while he was able to climb up to P13, it didn’t lead to any further progress. The second half of the race left Rins with substantial gaps between himself and the riders ahead and behind him. He managed to finish the race 30.372sec from first, saying, “It was a really difficult Race, hard to overtake but I tried my best starting from P17.”
Following the Portugal round, Quartararo remains ninth in the overall standings with 198 points and Rins holds 19th with 66 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP is sixth in the team championship with 264 points, and Yamaha is fifth in the manufacturer championship with 237 points.