MotoGP Portugal. Algarve can decide team and constructor titles
On the other hand, Ducati leads the constructors’ championship 12 points ahead of Yamaha, who have felt some lack of consistency from the rest of the Japanese manufacturer’s riders, including Italian Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha) who is looking to say goodbye after 26 years of career with one last title conquered.
The fight for the status of the best rookie of the year is also open, whose classification is led by the Italian Enea Bastianini (Ducati), who has five points more than the Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati).
In the lower categories, the titles are yet to be awarded, with Australian Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) leading Moto2 with 18 points ahead of Spaniard Raúl Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo).
Wayne Gardner’s son, former 500cc world champion, achieved a first career victory precisely in Portimão in 2020 and is the favorite after the shocking fall suffered by his Madrid teammate in the previous round, when he was leading.
For Gardner, the easiest thing will be to win and wait for the Spaniard to finish below second, on a track where he also made his debut to win, at the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix, in April of this year.
In Moto3, Spaniard Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was a surprise of the year, arriving in the Algarve with 234 points, 21 more than Italian Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing), his only opponent in the title race.
The two fought hard for victory on the first run of the championship on the Algarve track, with an advantage at the time for Acosta, who beat Foggia by 0.051 seconds.
In case of victory at the AIA, Acosta becomes the first rookie lower class champion since Italian Loris Capirossi in 1990, who was only born in 2004.
The Algarve Grand Prix is the 17th penultimate race of the World season, which ends on November 14, in Valencia.