The Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling road racing event that is part of the

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

World Championship.

History

The event was first held in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

at the

Jarama Jarama () is a river in central Spain. It flows north to south, and passes east of Madrid where the El Atazar Dam is built on a tributary, the Lozoya River. It flows into the river Tagus in Aranjuez. The Manzanares is a tributary of the Jarama ...

circuit in Spain. The reason for this was because the main Portuguese circuit at the time, the

Circuito do Estoril The Circuito do Estoril or Autódromo do Estoril (Estoril Circuit), officially known as Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva, is a motorsport race track on the Portuguese Riviera, outside of Lisbon, owned by state-run holding management company Pa ...

, was not yet ready to be used for motorcycle racing. However, Portugal still wanted to host a round in the championship that year and so opted to use the Jarama circuit until their own was ready for use. In

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, a second race was held at the new Jerez circuit which was also located in Spain. The original plan was to host the race in Portugal at the Estoril circuit, but Jerez was chosen instead. The race was also named 'EXPO '92', referring to the

expo An expo is a trade exposition. It may also refer to: Events and venues * World's fair, a large international public exposition * Singapore Expo, convention and exposition venue ** Expo Axis, one of the world's largest membrane roofs, constructe ...

of a similar name held at the Spanish city of

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

that year. This makes Portugal the only country to host multiple grands prix under Portuguese flag and name despite the locations of the venues not being located in the country itself. In

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, Grand Prix motorcycle racing returned to Portugal after the

Estoril Circuit The Circuito do Estoril or Autódromo do Estoril (Estoril Circuit), officially known as Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva, is a motorsport race track on the Portuguese Riviera, outside of Lisbon, owned by state-run holding management company Pa ...

was homologated for international motorcycle racing. This was the third time Portugal hosted a grand prix but only the first time a race was held in the country itself. Estoril continued to host the Portuguese round until

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, where it was confirmed for the final time after the owners of the Estoril circuit and the Portuguese government came to an agreement. In 2013 however the Portuguese round was dropped in favour of the

Circuit of the Americas Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a Grade 1 FIA-specification motor racing track and facilities located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Austin, Texas, in the United States. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand ...

in the United States. In the wake of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the Portuguese Grand Prix returned as the season finale on an altered calendar in the 2020 MotoGP World Championship. The venue chosen to host the round was the

Algarve International Circuit The Algarve International Circuit ( pt, Autódromo Internacional do Algarve), commonly referred to as Portimão Circuit, is a race circuit located in Portimão, Algarve region, Portugal. The development includes a karting track, off-road tra ...

, which has been a reserve circuit since 2017. The race was held with no spectators after a lack of

social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...

on the grandstands at the Formula 1 race held one month before. In

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, the originally one-off race was brought back as the third round of the season. The race was also held in 2022. On 2 August 2022, it was announced that Portuguese Grand Prix would be the season-opener event between 24–26 March.

Official names and sponsors

*1987: Gran Premio

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Marl ...

de Portugal (only in name, the race was held in Jarama, Spain) *2000–2004: Grande Premio

de Portugal *2005: betandwin.com Grande Prémio Portugal *2006–2009:

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Grande Prémio de Portugal *2010–2011:

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Grande Prémio de Portugal *2012: Grande Prémio de Portugal (no official sponsor) *2020: Grande Prémio MEO de Portugal *2021: Grande Prémio

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de Portugal *2022: Grande Prémio

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de Portugal

Formerly used circuits

File:Circuito Permanente del Jarama 1980.svg, Circuito del Jarama, used in 1987. File:Estoril track map.svg, The Autódromo do Estoril, used from 2000 to 2012.

Winners

Multiple winners (riders)

Multiple winners (manufacturers)

Multiple winners (countries)

By year

References

Recurring sporting events established in 1987 1987 establishments in Spain {{Motorcycle-racing-stub