MotoGP Portimao: Jorge Martin wins as Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez collide

Jorge Martin bagged his first Grand Prix victory in a chaotic race at Portimao which saw Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez collide.

Martin took the lead on the opening lap and was unchallenged from the remainder of proceedings, with Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini unable to get close enough to mount a challenge.

Vinales held second place until the start of the final lap, when he appeared to have a problem with his Aprilia over the line. Bastianini went by with ease, with Vinales going off track at turn one and crashing on the green.

An update from Aprilia after the race said that they believe it was a gearbox issue that ended the Spaniard’s race, with further analysis taking place by the team.

As a result of the drama for Vinales, Pedro Acosta claimed his maiden podium in just his second Grand Prix. Much like in the season opener at Qatar, Acosta quickly made progress and wasn’t shy in putting moves on Marc Marquez and Bagnaia.

Once Acosta was ahead of Bagnaia, he pulled away with ease and left the two-time MotoGP champion to deal with Marquez. The latter attempted a move at turn five on lap 23, but Bagnaia attempted to go back down the inside as Marquez ran slightly wide.

The pair collided and went down, with Marquez re-joining and crossing the line in 16^th. The incident is currently under investigation.

Red Bull KTM duo Brad Binder and Jack Miller benefited from the collision to come home in fourth and fifth respectively, ahead of Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Quartararo. Aleix Espargaro, Miguel Oliveira and Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the top 10.

Augusto Fernandez finished 11^th ahead of leading Honda rider Joan Mir, whilst Alex Rins, Takaaki Nakagami and Johann Zarco claimed the final points on offer. Luca Marini finished 17^th behind Marc Marquez.

Franco Morbidelli went down on the opening lap, whilst Alex Marquez crashed at turn five on lap two. Both riders were able to re-join the race, but Marquez returned to pit-lane at the end of lap 17.

Morbidelli finished 18^th but gained valuable track time onboard his Prima Pramac Racing Ducati having missed the entirety of pre-season testing.

Raul Fernandez crashed out of the race at turn eight on the third lap.

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Maverick Vinales claimed his first victory as an Aprilia rider this afternoon after winning in the Sprint race in Portimao.

Vinales made a positive start and was able to stay with the leading group, battling hard with Marc Marquez in the early stages. Pecco Bagnaia was leading the race when he ran on at turn one on lap nine, allowing Vinales through.

The Spaniard had to dig deep and keep Jorge Martin at bay, but did so successfully to cross the line with a 1.039s lead. The gap had increased thanks to a tough move from Marc Marquez on Martin on the final lap, with the former claiming his best result as a Ducati rider.

It’s the first time Vinales has finished first in a race since his victory at the 2021 season opener in Qatar, when he was still a Yamaha rider. Whilst he’s still to win a GP race with Aprilia, Vinales has now taken the chequered flag first onboard Suzuki, Yamaha and Aprilia machinery.

Marquez fought his way through from eight on the grid to take second. It was very much the Marquez of old, with some entertaining, tough moves on his rivals, as well as a close call midway through proceedings. Martin had to settle for third after being nudged wide by Marquez on the final lap.

Bagnaia came home in fourth after his mistake whilst leading, with Jack Miller, who led the opening laps, completing the top five. Polesitter Enea Bastianini was sixth, whilst Pedro Acosta recovered to seventh after dropping to 11^th on the opening lap.

Aleix Espargaro was eighth on the second of the factory Aprilia RS-GPs, whilst Fabio Quartararo and Raul Fernandez completed the top 10. Marco Bezzecchi was unable to match his qualifying performance in 11^th, whilst Miguel Oliveira was 12^th.

Alex Marquez was next in 13^th ahead of top Honda rider Joan Mir, with Augusto Fernandez and Franco Morbidelli crossing the line in 15^th and 16^th respectively. Takaaki Nakagami (17^th) and Luca Marini (18^th) were the final finishers.

Alex Rins crashed out of ninth spot at the beginning of the third lap, whilst Johann Zarco went down at turn five on lap four.  Brad Binder crashed at turn 13, moments after Fabio Di Giannantonio went down at turn 11.

Heading into tomorrow’s Grand Prix race at Portimao Bagnaia’s lead has been cut to two points by Martin. Binder remains third, eight points adrift, whilst Marc Marquez has reduced the gap to 10 points.

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Enea Bastianini pipped Maverick Vinales to secure his first pole position as a factory Ducati rider at Portimao.

Bastianini recorded a best lap-time of 1:37.706, with Vinales crossing the line 0.082s slower on the final flying lap of the Q2 session. It’s Bastianini’s first MotoGP podium since the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. Jorge Martin, who had a lap cancelled due to exceeding track limits, completes the front row.

Reigning champion Pecco Bagnaia was fourth, whilst Jack Miller leads the KTM charge in fifth. Marco Bezzecchi is enjoying a much more positive weekend so far in Portugal and will start the two races from sixth on the grid.

Pedro Acosta continued to shine onboard the Tech3 Racing GASGAS machine, qualifying in seventh spot. The reigning Moto2 champion has looked impressive all weekend and made it through Q1 earlier in the day.

Marquez’s session got off to the worst possible start when he went down at the fast turn 15 on his first flying lap. The Spaniard endured a rough landing as he flew through the gravel trap, but was straight back to his feet and jumped on a scooter back to the paddock.

He was left with two laps towards the end of the session to try and make an impact, crossing the line with a 1:38147 on his second effort. That was good enough for eighth on the grid.

Fabio Quartararo completes the third row for Yamaha, whilst Brad Binder had to settle for 10^th after crashing at turn five on his first flying lap of Q2. Alex Rins was 11^th on the second Yamaha, whilst Alex Marquez failed to set a lap-time after making it through from Q1.

Aleix Espargaro was the best of the rest in Q1 and will start the sprint and GP races from 13^th on the grid. Fabio Di Giannantonio and hometown hero Miguel Oliveira will join him on the fifth row.

Raul Fernandez qualified in 16^th position ahead of Franco Morbidelli and Augusto Fernandez, whilst the final four spots on the grid are taken by the Honda riders. Johann Zarco was the quickest of the quartet onboard the LCR Honda, coming home ahead of Joan Mir, Takaaki Nakagami and Luca Marini.

The MotoGP Sprint race is due to take place at 15:00 this afternoon, with the Grand Prix scheduled for 14:00 on Sunday March 24.