The Yamaha trait that might just tame the "stressful" Portimao

The fact Dorna Sports, the International Race Teams' Association and everyone else involved in ensuring MotoGP's running managed to get its full 14-race calendar completed in this coronavirus-hit year is a truly amazing feat near-impossible to offer enough gratitude for. That Dorna is capping off its maddest year at one of the world's wildest circuits is merely a very pleasing cherry on top.

MotoGP's first Portuguese Grand Prix since 2012 has taken the series from the butchered version of Estoril it last raced on to the rollercoaster Algarve International Circuit at Portimao.

It's undulating and fast layout has been a hit with the riders, despite the difficulties encountered in setting up a 300bhp MotoGP challenger to meet its demands. The circuit is a stark contrast to the technical-but-mostly-dull Ricardo Tormo track where MotoGP spent the previous two weeks - it's a bit like going from Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' to Motorhead's 'Ace of Spades' with your head buried in the speakers.

"Physically it's stressful and also psychologically it's stressful because [there are] many places where really you struggle with the bike," KTM's Pol Espargaro said after ending Friday eighth overall. "I mean, fast corners, super hard braking straight and with angle. It's quite stressful physically and also for the bike, it's demanding on set-up."

Espargaro, appearing in his KTM swansong, said he expected ahead of MotoGP's visit to the Algarve that an aggressive riding style would be needed to match this "aggressive track". But Friday revealed quite the opposite.

"I was really thinking before coming here that an aggressive style would fit this aggressive track," he added. "The more laps I was doing - especially I did a long run with race tyres, harder compounds and I was doing pretty fast [times] by the end - I was discovering the smoother I was, more corner speed, easier on the bike, less stressful, the faster the lap time was coming.

"As soon as I was pushing on brakes, really asking on the throttle, everything was really bad. Flowing corner speed on this track is really important because already the track is already super-demanding about a hard riding style. So, if you go over that limit, if you over-ride, for sure the lap time is not coming."

You don't have to be a motorcycle racing expert to know that a circuit where smoothness and precision is king is one which is perfectly suited to the Yamaha.

Valencia GP winner Franco Morbidelli is the leading Yamaha rider ahead of this Sunday's race as he aims to consolidate the runner-up spot he currently holds by four points from Suzuki's Alex Rins. Both Maverick Vinales on the factory Yamaha and Morbidelli's SRT team-mate Fabio Quartararo are within 17 points of him, and both are in desperate need of a strong end to the year as the rot has well and truly set in.

Neither have seen a podium since September, and both endured miserable outings at the Valencia double-header. After Friday in Portugal, the Vinales and Quartararo who threatened so much after their rides to 1-2s at the Jerez races had returned from the wilderness, the pair second and fourth on the combined times.

"Physically it's stressful and also psychologically it's stressful because [there are] many places where really you struggle with the bike" Pol Espargaro

"Finally, I can say I had fun," Quartararo offered at the start of his debrief. Vinales added: "The [last] time I felt like this was Misano, both races, so I think we have a good opportunity to ride the bike and enjoy."

Vinales' long run pace in the extended FP2 session (both practices were upped to 70 minutes owing to the lack of testing at the venue) was the most impressive of the field. Working with the hard compound (of which there is two versions, one of which being symmetric in design), Vinales reeled off a brace of 1m40.9s in his first run. In run two on a tyre with eight laps on it, he managed a trio of low 1m41s, before ticking off a trio of high 1m40s on his third run - the last of which, a 1m40.877s, coming on a tyre with 19 laps on it, which is just five shy of race distance.

The Algarve Circuit was resurfaced ahead of Formula 1's visit last month, but curiously the grip on offer - according to Vinales - isn't as brilliant as you'd expect. So often Vinales has noted the M1 works supremely well when there is grip on offer from a circuit. Yet, he found he had the traction he was missing at Valencia.

"Basically, the asphalt is totally different to Valencia, so I think the bike accepts it much better, especially the first touch [of the throttle] is more grippy and I can ride a bit better," he said. "We avoid a lot of problems, especially the lateral slide, traction. So, in this case we are quite comfortable. The grip is not very high but I have traction. It's something we need to understand and why we didn't have that traction in Valencia."

Quartararo's focus for the weekend was largely to have some fun. But Friday was a busy day, with the Frenchman testing a whole host of set-up changes - as well as the carbon swingarm he'd previously discarded. Quartararo noted at Valencia he threw set-up change after set-up change to his Yamaha and found no difference. But he never got stuck in the purgatory he had in Spain on Friday in Portugal, and his long runs were not bad - if in need of improving by a few tenths to match Vinales.

"[I'm] impressed about my lap time at the end (a 1m39.692s) because, I would not say I was lost, but we made many changes," the SRT rider said. "We tried a different gearbox, carbon swingarm, rear shock settings, front, many changes today but finally the last three laps were positive. So, I'm happy."

He added: "I saw many riders going with new tyres, and finally we just go with one new tyre extra for the front and the soft. So, actually we work really well with old tyres, but the third run of FP2 was difficult because I try with different gearbox [ratios], different swingarm and the feeling was not great. But the pace was not bad, so I think we can make a step. So, really happy about this day and I want to go in this direction."

Espargaro, whose new-tyre pace on the hard rear was a decent at mid-high 1m40s, warned of the threat Morbidelli poses, noting: "I have the feeling Yamahas are going to be good, or maybe just Morbidelli. Today he was very fast on the race pace."

Morbidelli admits he struggled initially, his pace in FP2 reflecting that as he went from a 1m42.168s on lap two of his first run to a 1m40.698s in the final tour on the hard rear tyre. His third run featured three laps in the low 1m40s bracket on fresh hard rubber, ranging from a 1m40.79s to a 1m40.499s. Like he showed last week at Valencia, and at the Teruel round, Morbidelli's early race pace can be devastating. However, he doesn't necessarily think the Algarve is best suited to the Yamaha.

"Initially I struggled in this track, because with so many dives and rises it was difficult to get the right rhythm and the feeling," Morbidelli said after ending Friday 10th overall. "But this afternoon we were able to improve a little bit the bike and I was immediately feeling better.

"I don't know if this track suits the Yamaha, but I know my feeling is quite good and I know we made an improvement today, so I hope to be able to make a step tomorrow in order to maintain my level. We will need to improve tomorrow just in order to stay in the same situation where we are right now."

With the track offering more grip all the time and the field growing accustomed to the layout, times tumbled in FP2 with the top 18 from pacesetter Johann Zarco's Avintia Ducati down to Honda's Alex Marquez covered by under a second. Zarco's race pace was inconsistent, while the likes of third-placed Aleix Espargaro will undoubtedly slip down the order as the weekend wears on and the likes of Takaaki Nakagami, Miguel Oliveira and Rins show their true pace.

"Initially I struggled, because with so many dives and rises it was difficult to get the right rhythm and the feeling. But this afternoon we were able to improve a little bit and I was immediately feeling better" Franco Morbidelli

Both Suzuki riders have their cards close to their chests at the moment on an important weekend for the marque, with its first constructors' title in the modern era close at hand. New world champion Joan Mir was sixth overall, his focus unchanged by his recent title win. But he didn't put in a proper long run in FP2, while team-mate Rins slightly aggravated the shoulder he injured at the start of the season when he crashed in FP2.

Joint on points with Suzuki in the constrictors' table is Ducati, but its strong showing in practice - with Zarco top, Andrea Dovizioso seventh and Jack Miller ninth - was not backed up by a race run you can call strong. In fact, Dovizioso ahead of his Ducati swansong believes "we have to change the set-up a lot" because the tyre "doesn't work so well" for him currently: hardly a new complaint from the Italian.

Better lap times are expected on Saturday as the grip continues to improve, which should benefit the trio of Yamahas contesting runner-up spot. Tyre wear remains the unknown factor, and this is an area where the Yamaha has typically stumbled.

But it seems more than most, Vinales and Quartararo need the Algarve Circuit to continue its love-in with their machines to go into the winter with some pressure removed. Both have plenty of work ahead if they are to dig themselves out of the pit they've found themselves in when they become team-mates at the works Yamaha squad in 2021...