LCR Honda rider Somkiat Chantra was lucky to escape without consequences after accidentally pulling the biggest wheelie that MotoGP has seen in many years exiting the final corner during first practice for this weekend's Portuguese Grand Prix.
Chantra only just avoided backflipping his bike early on in the first session of the weekend at Portimao and admitted afterwards that the spectacular incident came as a result of getting things a little bit wrong and the compounding effects of that mistake.
BLIMEY! @somkiat35 was channelling his inner Max Biaggi there 🤯#PortugueseGP 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/D35m3Oc1hR
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) November 7, 2025
"I tried a different gear compared to the other riders," he explained afterwards, "and I thought that if I used sixth gear the power would be low. But in a MotoGP bike it's not low! And immediately when I went up the hill the bike started to wheelie really quick.
"I was surprised, and after my heart was shaking! Like, 'Oh, my life is safe!' I continued better after that, and I used the same gear as the other guys. But in the sixth gear, we don't have the [electronic] wheelie control. Only until fifth gear - but everyone else uses fifth gear there.
"Normally when you do a little wheelie it's OK, but this was already quite high and then the wind got in front of it and immediately the bike was very high!"
MotoGP made the comparison to Max Biaggi's celebration after winning the premier-class race at Brno in 1998.
Max Biaggi 🆚 @somkiat35
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) November 7, 2025
Massive moments, 27 years apart 🤯#PortugueseGP 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/Kv9Agy7ctI
Chantra's wheelie was something that fellow Honda rider Joan Mir said is very easy to do on a modern MotoGP machine, especially with Chantra being a premier-class rookie and given the way that the front wings on the bikes react once they rise above a certain elevation.
"Woah, unbelievable!" the 2020 world champion exclaimed when asked about Chantra's incident. "Because of the wings. You have downforce until you make a really big wheelie, and then it works the opposite way.
"But well, I think that it's the first time that Chantra rode with the MotoGP bike here, and if you ride with full throttle there then you make a backflip!"
While it's something that Mir knows to manage, he said you have to remain aware of it around the dramatic elevation changes of the Portimao circuit and adjust either your bike or your riding to manage it.
"Some people use the rear brake and keep it full," he explained, "some use less throttle, and other ones play more with the electronics. That's the three ways to do it, and in my case I use the rear brake."
