The middle malcolm in the middle

Quartararo stormed to his second-successive race win in 2021 by 4.8 seconds at the Algarve International Circuit to open up a 15-point lead in the championship after three rounds. Quartararo made a similarly strong start to his 2020 campaign, but was a lowly 14th at the Algarve track last season after the Portuguese venue proved to be one of Yamaha's weakest. Admitting pre-season he was wary about the low-grip Algarve track causing the Yamaha to suffer its usual issues in those conditions, Quartararo was strong across the entire Portimao weekend. "Yes, I feel honestly like [I did in] 2019," Quartararo said. "The bike is working so well and I have the same [bike as Qatar]. "We didn't touch the bike. We arrived here, it's exactly the same bike as Qatar, [only] changing a few things. But we never asked ourselves 'should we try this'. And 2019 was like this and you can see the difference between Qatar and here, it's totally different tracks. "So that means the bike is … [Read more...] about Quartararo ‘feels like 2019’ after Portimao MotoGP win

The reigning world champion made slight contact with the returning Marquez at the Turn 11 Portimao right-hander on the opening lap of Sunday’s race as he made a move for third. The pair came to blows again a lap later at Turn 3 when Marquez clipped the rear of Mir, though both stayed mounted. This came a day after Mir was left unhappy by what he felt was “dangerous” tactics from the Honda rider in qualifying, marking the first bit of controversy between the reigning champion and the rider he dethroned. Mir, who went on to finish third, says he has to be “aggressive” starting so far back “if we want to fight for the championship”. Asked by Motorsport.com if the hard pass was a little bit of payback after qualifying, Mir said: “In the first lap it’s true we had the moment there [at Turn 11]. “I wanted to overtake and then he closed the line and then it was too late for me. Then we both touched. “It’s true that I felt a hit in the next lap and I didn’t know … [Read more...] about Mir forced into hard Marquez Portugal MotoGP overtake