After four races overseas since the start of March in Qatar, MotoGP returns to its spiritual homeland of Europe for the first of 12 straight races on the continent and 13 in total.
The Algarve International Circuit near Portimao was brought onto the calendar in 2020 to help make up for the lack of travelling allowed due to the COVID pandemic, with home hero Miguel Oliveira storming to a dominant victory aboard his Tech3-run KTM. It marked the first race in the country since 2012, when the Portuguese GP was held at Estoril.
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The venue returned in 2021 for the Portuguese GP to replace the postponed races in the Americas and hosted the Algarve GP at the penultimate round of the calendar.
The first race was won by Fabio Quartararo on his way to the title, while the Frenchman registered his only DNF of the year at the Algarve track later in the year as Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia took victory.
Following his win at the Circuit of the Americas last time out, Gresini’s Enea Bastianini leads the standings by five points aboard his 2021-spec Ducati as Suzuki’s Alex Rins – who crashed out of second in last year’s Portuguese GP while fighting for the win – trails him.
Quartararo is fifth in the standings, while Marc Marquez sits 13th having made an incredible comeback from a terrible start at COTA which left him last to finish sixth having missed the previous two races through injury.
Portugal was the scene of Marquez’s heroic return from the arm injury which ruled him out of 2020 last season, with the Honda rider battling through the pain barrier to claim an emotional seventh.
Jack Miller, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
When is the 2022 MotoGP Portuguese Grand Prix?
The 2022 MotoGP Portuguese Grand Prix takes place from 22-24 April and is the fifth of 21 rounds on the calendar.
What time is practice and qualifying for the 2022 MotoGP Portuguese Grand Prix?
Friday:
FP1 – 9:55-10:40…
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