MotoGP Portimao: Francesco Bagnaia dominates to take comfortable victory

Francesco Bagnaia dominated the Algarve Grand Prix at Portimao to secure his third victory of the season.

The Italian, who started from pole for the fifth consecutive race, led all but one corner of the race and was left unchallenged. Bagnaia’s victory came a lap early due to the red flags being waved following an incident involving Iker Lecuona and Miguel Oliveira – the latter being stretchered to the medical centre and then transferred to the hospital for a “regular medical inspection.”

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Bagnaia’s victory secured Ducati’s second consecutive Constructors Title, with teammate Jack Miller completing the podium in third, and Pramac Racing’s Johann Zarco finishing in fifth. 2021 champion Fabio Quartararo crashed out of seventh at turn five with only five laps remaining. It’s the Frenchman’s first DNF of the season, but it turned out to be a costly one for Yamaha.

Joan Mir crossed the line in second, albeit 2.478s adrift of Bagnaia, to secure his best result since the Grand Prix of Styria back in August. It’s the 2020 champion’s seventh podium of the season and brings an end to a three-race run outside of the top five.

Alex Marquez sealed his best result of the year in fourth after an entertaining battle with Miller. The LCR Honda rider was glued to the back wheel of Miller’s Ducati as the red flags were waved on the penultimate lap. A potential podium opportunity taken away from the Spaniard.

Pol Espargaro continued his strong run of form in sixth, ahead of Jorge Martin and Alex Rins.Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder completed the top 10 in Portugal. Danilo Petrucci’s race ended before the end of lap one, whilst Aleix Espargaro crashed out at turn one on lap eight.

The 2021 season finale takes place at Valencia this weekend (November 12-14. The Spanish circuit will host Valentino Rossi’s final race as a MotoGP rider.