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MotoGP Portuguese GP: Vinales wins tense sprint after Bagnaia error, Marquez second

Reigning world champion Bagnaia looked set to cruise to a first sprint win since the Austrian Grand Prix last year having led by just under a second at the start of lap nine.

But the Ducati rider made a mistake under braking and flew off track at Turn 1, dropping to fourth and releasing Vinales into a slender lead over Pramac’s Jorge Martin.

Martin hounded Vinales over the final few laps, but the Aprilia racer put in a determined ride despite suffering from gastroenteritis to pull a gap to the Pramac Ducati on the last tour.

Vinales got to the chequered flag 1.039s clear of the field to score his first win in Aprilia colours and first since the Qatar GP in 2021 when he was a Yamaha rider.

Marc Marquez scythed past Martin at Turn 5 on the last lap with a hard pass to finish second and score his first podium on the Gresini Ducati.

Bagnaia was fourth after his mistake but still holds a slender two-point lead in the championship.

KTM’s Jack Miller got the holeshot off the line from fifth on the grid as Bagnaia carved his way through from fourth to second by way of an overtake on Vinales at Turn 3.

Poleman Bastianini on the sister factory Ducati dropped to fourth off the line, while Martin slumped to sixth from third on the grid.

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

Marquez pushed Bastianini back to fifth at Turn 13 on lap one when the factory Ducati rider ran slightly wide, while Martin soon followed suit.

On lap two, Marquez threw his Ducati GP23 up the inside of Vinales at Turn 11 and made contact with the Aprilia rider on the exit, before slamming the door shut in the #12’s face to snatch third on the change of direction into Turn 12.

At the final corner, Bagnaia took advantage of Miller running slightly wide through the long downhill right-hander to lead the sprint at the start of the third tour.

Marquez pushed Miller to third on lap three at Turn 11, with Martin also shuffling the KTM rider further down the order.

A moment for Marquez on lap five at Turn 5 let Vinales back into second, while Martin would push the Gresini rider off the podium a tour later.

While all this was going on, Bagnaia had swelled his lead to a second and kept it around the 0.8s gap until he got out of shape on the brakes into Turn 1 on lap 12 and dropped to fourth.

Vinales kept Martin at bay despite the Pramac rider’s best efforts, from Marquez and Martin.

Bagnaia was 3.033s off the podium in fourth ahead of Miller and Bastianini, while Tech3 GasGas rookie Pedro Acosta finished seventh ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.

Quartararo’s team-mate Alex Rins crashed out on lap three, with KTM’s Brad Binder and VR46 Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio suffering separate falls a tour later, as Johann Zarco also fell off his LCR Honda.

MotoGP Portguese GP - Sprint results:

   
1
 - 
5
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Retirement Points
1 Spain M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team 12 Aprilia 12

-

      12
2 Spain M. Marquez Gresini Racing 93 Ducati 12

+1.039

1.039

1.039     9
3 Spain J. Martin Pramac Racing 89 Ducati 12

+1.122

1.122

0.083     7
4 Italy F. Bagnaia Ducati Team 1 Ducati 12

+4.155

4.155

3.033     6
5 Australia J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 43 KTM 12

+4.329

4.329

0.174     5
6 Italy E. Bastianini Ducati Team 23 Ducati 12

+4.384

4.384

0.055     4
7 Spain P. Acosta Tech 3 31 KTM 12

+5.088

5.088

0.704     3
8 Spain A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team 41 Aprilia 12

+6.161

6.161

1.073     2
9 France F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing 20 Yamaha 12

+7.501

7.501

1.340     1
10 Spain R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team 25 Aprilia 12

+8.484

8.484

0.983      
11 Italy M. Bezzecchi Team VR46 72 Ducati 12

+9.529

9.529

1.045      
12 Portugal M. Oliveira Trackhouse Racing Team 88 Aprilia 12

+10.519

10.519

0.990      
13 Spain A. Marquez Gresini Racing 73 Ducati 12

+11.458

11.458

0.939      
14 Spain J. Mir Repsol Honda Team 36 Honda 12

+14.035

14.035

2.577      
15 Spain A. Fernandez Tech 3 37 KTM 12

+14.853

14.853

0.818      
16 Italy F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing 21 Ducati 12

+16.049

16.049

1.196      
17 Japan T. Nakagami Team LCR 30 Honda 12

+16.398

16.398

0.349      
18 Italy L. Marini Repsol Honda Team 10 Honda 12

+24.907

24.907

8.509      
dnf France J. Zarco Team LCR 5 Honda 5

 

    Retirement  
dnf South Africa B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 33 KTM 3

 

    Retirement  
dnf Italy F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46 49 Ducati 3

 

    Retirement  
dnf Spain A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing 42 Yamaha 2

 

    Retirement  
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