Cal Crutchlow will start his final race as an LCR Honda CASTROL rider from the second row of the grid after a superb display in qualifying for the Portuguese Grand Prix. The Briton had to battle his way through the Q1 session, but produced a typically gutsy performance and was unfortunate not to secure a front row spot for his LCR swansong. Crutchlow missed out on automatic progress to the qualifying shootout as he finished 11th in FP3, leaving him 14th in the combined times. But the 35-year-old made his experience at the Portimao circuit count in Q1 as he topped the timesheets and improved again in Q2 to claim fourth spot for Sunday’s showpiece, finishing as the top Honda rider.
Cal Crutchlow – 4th (1’39.156)
“It was a good day today for the qualifying, we need to improve the bike setting over the race pace and the race distance and also to choose the tyres for tomorrow’s race. It seems there could be a big mix in the tyre choice, so we’ll see how that goes. But I’m pleased with my qualifying because I put it on the line to try and get a good grid position for my last race.”
Q1 & Q2 combined:
| Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap |
| 1 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’38.892 |
| 2 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’38.936 |
| 3 | Jack MILLER | Pramac Racing | 1’39.038 |
| 4 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | LCR Honda CASTROL | 1’39.156 |
| 5 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’39.199 |
| 6 | Stefan BRADL | Repsol Honda Team | 1’39.204 |
| 7 | Johann ZARCO | Esponsorama Racing | 1’39.238 |
| 8 | Maverick VIÑALES | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’39.260 |
| 9 | Pol ESPARGARO | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’39.284 |
| 10 | Alex RINS | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’39.467 |
| 11 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | 1’39.531 |
| 12 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | 1’39.587 |
| 13 | Brad BINDER | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’39.390 |
| 14 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’39.762 |
| 15 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Pramac Racing | 1’40.019 |
| 16 | Alex MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | 1’40.049 |
| 17 | Valentino ROSSI | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’40.058 |
| 18 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati Team | 1’40.091 |
| 19 | Lorenzo SAVADORI | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’40.174 |
| 20 | Joan MIR | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’40.290 |
| 21 | Tito RABAT | Esponsorama Racing | 1’40.427 |
| 22 | Mika KALLIO | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’41.753 |
Source: motogp.com, lcr.mc