While last fortnight’s Qatar opener highlighted the widening gulf between Yamaha and the frontrunners in MotoGP at the start of the 2024 MotoGP season, the Japanese manufacturer appeared to close the gap back in Portimao as both 2021 champion Quartararo and new recruit Alex Rins earned an automatic entry into Q2.
Quartararo ended up ninth quickest with a time that was just under half a second slower than pacesetter Enea Bastianini on the factory Ducati, while Rins was only a fraction of a second behind in 10th on the sister M1.
