Diogo Moreira: “I’m calm. Winning the World Cup is an added gift.”

In an interview after his victory at the Portuguese Grand Prix, Diogo Moreira spoke about the concentration he worked on throughout the weekend, the moments he is experiencing in the category, the pressure on the championship and the future of MotoGP.

The Brazilian started from pole position and won at Portimao after a beautiful battle with Colin Bager. Diogo said he had no concerns about the title or González’s position at any point in the race. His focus was just living in the moment and winning on stage.

“I just wanted to win this race. Yeah, I said that from the first day here this weekend and I think that was my main goal for the weekend. So I’m very happy with the mentality that I had all weekend.”

After the race, the gap between Moreira and Manu Gonzalez had widened to 24 points. Diogo needs to finish the final stage in at least 14th place to become champion in Valencia. The Brazilian stressed the importance of continuing the same behavior throughout the season.

“This year has been fun and I’ve learned a lot. So I have to enjoy this moment, because very few people get to experience this moment in their lives. I have to continue to enjoy it as much as I can, including the last race of the year.”

Moreira opined on the difficulty of the final stages of the season, but stressed the need to maintain consistency.

“I think it’s going to be a very complicated weekend and it’s going to be difficult to stay focused, but we have to carry on like the rest of the season and have a normal weekend. So I’m not thinking about the title and I’m just going to try to win one more race this year.”

At Portimao, Diogo lost the lead of the race on the opening lap, but regained the lead with a few laps remaining. The Brazilian said that although the early stages of the race were more difficult, his strategy was crucial to securing victory.

“I knew that at the end of the race I had the potential to perform much better than at the start. So I think my strategy was to stay at the back and always try to be in the front group and make the difference on the last lap. I think that was the main key in this race.”

For Valencia, he said the driver needs to maintain a routine but use the free days to distract himself from the overall title fight.

“I’m going to continue with the same routine and the same training. Now I’ll have two free days at home, so I’m going to try to disconnect from the world a little bit and just relax, calm down and have fun.”

Diogo also stressed that he feels no pressure to win the World Cup.

“There’s no pressure. I think I’ve already done my job this year and brought back a lot of points. So I’m very calm about everything. I think if we win the World Cup it will be a special gift.”

The pilot, who is only 21 years old, has a very mature attitude. The Brazilian, who is preparing to compete in MotoGP, says this season has helped him mature.

“I gained a lot this year. In 2025, mentally I can work differently than before. Also, as I said before, I consider myself to have done my job this year and winning the title is an added gift. So I think it made me more relaxed.”

Regarding the future of MotoGP, Moreira said he believes that with good riders this stage is guaranteed.

“I think we have a lot of good riders, so I think the future of MotoGP is coming. Certainly, Moto3 riders go to Moto2, and riders from Moto2 to MotoGP always do that. I think that’s what’s so beautiful about this championship. We’ve been working toward this goal since we were little, so I think if we work in the right way, we are the future.”

Diogo will return to the track this Sunday morning (16th) at 8:15am Brasilia time for the final stage of the season, the race that will decide the Moto2 champion. The Brazilian has a chance to win the title and needs to finish at least 14th. It will be broadcast on ESPN4 and Disney+.