MotoGP: Enea Bastianini beats Maverick Vinales and Jorge Martin to claim Portugal Grand Prix pole

Enea Bastianini claimed pole position for the Portuguese Grand Prix by less than a tenth of a second from Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales.

The Ducati rider is fighting for his seat in 2025 but showed all of his spirit when battling at the Iconic Portimao circuit to clinch top spot with a time of 1:37.706.

"After a long time without pole position this is special today," Bastianini told TNT Sports. "I'm happy because from yesterday we have improved.

"It is only the first step because we have the Sprint Race but we are happy."

It is only the second pole position of his career, but it was under threat from Vinales with the chequered flag waving.

The Aprilia man lost time in the final sector and had to settle for second, splitting the Ducati’s and relegating Jorge Martin to third.

Francesco Bagnaia set the early pace in Q2 but finished fourth ahead of Jack Miller and Marco Bezzecchi.

Ducati’s Pedro Acosta, who topped FP2 and came through Q1, took seventh, with Marc Marquez recovering from another crash in Portugal to salvage eighth.

Fabio Quartararo will start in ninth ahead of Brad Binder, who also crashed on his first flying lap.

Yamaha’s Alex Rins finished the session 11th, with Alex Marquez 12th after not setting a time.

In Q1, it was Alex Marquez and Acosta who progressed, as Aleix Espargaro and Fabio Di Giannantonio missed out by little over two tenths of a second.

Behind, Trackhouse’s Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez finished fifth and sixth, ahead of Franco Morbidelli and Augusto Fernandez, with the bottom four riders all from the Honda stable.

- - -

TNT Sports presents the premium live sports rights previously carried by BT Sport including the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, MotoGP, Cricket, UFC, Boxing and WWE. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination. You can also watch TNT Sports through BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.