Cal Crutchlow finished day one of the Portuguese Grand Prix in 14th position as the MotoGP class got to grips with Portimao circuit for the first time. The LCR Honda CASTROL rider – who is making his final GP appearance for Lucio Cecchinello’s outfit this weekend – reacquainted himself with the Algarve-based layout, which he last competed at over a decade ago. Both free practice sessions took place in dry, sunny conditions and both proved to be hugely competitive with the riders closely bunched throughout. Crutchlow managed the 6th fastest time in FP1 and, although he ended the day outside the top 10 after some small mistakes on his flying laps in FP2, remains optimistic of improving on Saturday.
Cal Crutchlow – 14th (1’39.966)
“It’s nice to be back on the Portimao track. It’s a really difficult track to get right, there are so many different lines and braking points and you have to be clever, as such, to put a good lap together here because there are a lot of corners and sequences of corners. I think we did ok today, I’m disappointed with the final position because I made some mistakes on my lap which were completely my own fault, but after 11 years since I rode here, it’s good to get the memory back of riding a good circuit.”
Results FP2:
| Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap |
| 1 | Johann ZARCO | Esponsorama Racing | 1’39.417 |
| 2 | Maverick VIÑALES | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’39.536 |
| 3 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’39.645 |
| 4 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’39.692 |
| 5 | Brad BINDER | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’39.697 |
| 6 | Joan MIR | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’39.732 |
| 7 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | 1’39.741 |
| 8 | Pol ESPARGARO | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’39.783 |
| 9 | Jack MILLER | Pramac Racing | 1’39.820 |
| 10 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’39.888 |
| 11 | Stefan BRADL | Repsol Honda Team | 1’39.909 |
| 12 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | 1’39.939 |
| 13 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’39.946 |
| 14 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | LCR Honda CASTROL | 1’39.966 |
| 15 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Pramac Racing | 1’39.977 |
| 16 | Lorenzo SAVADORI | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’40.085 |
| 17 | Alex RINS | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’40.213 |
| 18 | Alex MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | 1’40.338 |
| 19 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati Team | 1’40.547 |
| 20 | Tito RABAT | Esponsorama Racing | 1’41.256 |
| 21 | Valentino ROSSI | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’41.279 |
| 22 | Mika KALLIO | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’41.826 |
Source: motogp.com, lcr.mc