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MotoGP Portuguese GP: Martin wins as Bagnaia and Marquez collide, Acosta third

Martin grabbed the holeshot off the line from third on the grid and led all 25 laps to secure his first grand prix victory of the season.

Behind Martin, drama unfolded as Ducati’s Enea Bastianini took second from Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales in a bizarre incident on the final lap.

Vinales slowed on the pit straight and allowed Bastianini to come through, before the sprint race winner ran off at Turn 1 and crashed on the dusty run-off area.

This released Pedro Acosta into third, after the Tech3 GasGas rookie battled through from seventh on the grid to secure his first MotoGP podium in just his second grand prix.

A lap prior to this moment, Marquez and Bagnaia collided at Turn 5 as the former attempted a move for fifth.

Gresini’s Marquez launched himself down the inside of Bagnaia into the Turn 5 right-hander, but ran slightly wide as he did so.

Cutting back to try to defend the line, the pair collided. Both were able to remount, but Bagnaia retired into the pits while Marquez finished 16th.

The incident will be reviewed by the stewards after the race.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

Pramac’s Martin, Vinales and Bastianini quickly emerged as the breakaway group in the grand prix as Bagnaia slotted into fourth on the opening lap.

Marquez, from eighth on the grid, came close to tagging Bagnaia at Turn 5 on the opening lap as they battled with KTM’s Jack Miller.

Both Bagnaia and Marquez were able to jump Miller, who eventually fell into the clutches of KTM team-mate Brad Binder and Tech3’s Acosta.

Acosta advanced to sixth ahead of Binder on lap seven of 25, before taking fifth from Marquez next time around.

The rookie then shadowed Bagnaia, whose pace couldn’t match the leaders, until lap 21 when he made a successful pass for fourth after several prior attempts.

Marquez, who looked like he’d dropped out of the battle for fourth in the closing stages, then rallied after Acosta moved ahead of Bagnaia and came close on lap 21 to overhauling the factory Ducati.

On lap 23, Marquez made another attempt on Bagnaia before it ended in disaster, promoting the factory KTM duo of Binder and Miller into the top five.

At the front of the field, Martin extended his lead to over a second at the halfway mark and kept it stable, despite late fastest lap efforts from Vinales and Bastianini.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

As Martin began his final lap, Bastianini eased past Vinales as the Aprilia suddenly slowed onto the pit straight. Bastianini was already well ahead when Vinales's incident promoted Acosta to third.

Aprilia says Vinales’ bike suffered a suspected gearbox issue, which caused him to slow onto the final lap before ultimately crashing.

Martin took the chequered flag 0.882s clear of Bastianini, with Acosta 4.480s behind in third.

Binder was five seconds clear of Miller at the finish, with Marco Bezzecchi sixth on his VR46 Ducati ahead of Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.

Home hero Miguel Oliveira was ninth on the Trackhouse Racing Aprilia, with Fabio Di Giannantonio 10th on the sister VR46 bike.

Augusto Fernandez was 11th on the sister Tech3 GasGas, with Honda’s Joan Mir, Yamaha’s Alex Rins, Takaaki Nakagami (LCR) and Johann Zarco (LCR) taking the final points.

Alex Marquez (Gresini) and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse) crashed out early on, while Franco Morbidelli (Pramac) was 18th after suffering a fall on lap one.

Martin now leads the championship by 18 points from Binder, with Bagnaia 23 adrift after his DNF.

MotoGP Portuguese GP - Race results:

   
1
 - 
5
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Retirement Points
1 Spain J. Martin Pramac Racing 89 Ducati 25

-

      25
2 Italy E. Bastianini Ducati Team 23 Ducati 25

+0.882

0.882

0.882     20
3 Spain P. Acosta Tech 3 31 KTM 25

+5.362

5.362

4.480     16
4 South Africa B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 33 KTM 25

+11.129

11.129

5.767     13
5 Australia J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 43 KTM 25

+16.437

16.437

5.308     11
6 Italy M. Bezzecchi Team VR46 72 Ducati 25

+19.403

19.403

2.966     10
7 France F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing 20 Yamaha 25

+20.130

20.130

0.727     9
8 Spain A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team 41 Aprilia 25

+21.549

21.549

1.419     8
9 Portugal M. Oliveira Trackhouse Racing Team 88 Aprilia 25

+23.929

23.929

2.380     7
10 Italy F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46 49 Ducati 25

+28.195

28.195

4.266     6
11 Spain A. Fernandez Tech 3 37 KTM 25

+28.244

28.244

0.049     5
12 Spain J. Mir Repsol Honda Team 36 Honda 25

+29.271

29.271

1.027     4
13 Spain A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing 42 Yamaha 25

+31.334

31.334

2.063     3
14 Japan T. Nakagami Team LCR 30 Honda 25

+34.932

34.932

3.598     2
15 France J. Zarco Team LCR 5 Honda 25

+38.267

38.267

3.335     1
16 Spain M. Marquez Gresini Racing 93 Ducati 25

+40.174

40.174

1.907      
17 Italy L. Marini Repsol Honda Team 10 Honda 25

+40.775

40.775

0.601      
18 Italy F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing 21 Ducati 25

+52.362

52.362

11.587      
dnf Spain M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team 12 Aprilia 24

 

    Retirement  
dnf Italy F. Bagnaia Ducati Team 1 Ducati 23

 

    Retirement  
dnf Spain A. Marquez Gresini Racing 73 Ducati 17

 

    Retirement  
dnf Spain R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team 25 Aprilia 3

 

    Retirement  
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