Francesco Bagnaia took a thrilling MotoGP Sprint win in Portuguese GP from Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez.
It was a clean start from Honda’s Marc Marquez from pole in MotoGP Sprint in Portuguese GP as Ducati trio had some fight where Pramac’s Jorge Martin got second from Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini, with RNF Aprilia’s Miguel Oliveira in fifth.
KTM’s Jack Miller was sixth from VR46 Ducati’s Luca Marini, Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales, Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez and Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro in the Top 10. But the order didn’t remain same for long with multiple crashes and offs.
VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi had a moment as Honda’s Joan Mir and Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo collided where the former tried a move on the inside. The Spaniard retired while the Frenchman continued on but lost a chunk of places.
There was also a crash for Tech3 GASGAS’ Agusto Fernandez too. At the front, Bagnaia shot into the lead from Martin and Marquez as Marini had a tangle with Bastianini when trying a move on the inside. Bastianini lost couple of places when Marini tried a move.
But Marini lost control and crashed into Bastianini, with Miller jumping up to fourth from Oliveira, Espargaro, Marquez, Pramac’s Johann Zarco, Vinales and KTM’s Brad Binder in the Top 10. There was crash for Bezzecchi too after his early moment.
At the front, the fight was relentless as Martin made a move on Bagnaia. They were soon joined by Miller who picked up Marquez. The Australian passed both to take the lead but Martin came back on the straight to retake the lead, with Bagnaia in third.
Oliveira passed Marquez for fourth as Espargaro and Vinales joined the fight. Zarco was eighth from Marquez with Quartararo climbing back up in 10th as he chased the Spaniard for the final point in the MotoGP Sprint race.
The final few laps had more changes as Bagnaia got past Martin to eventually win the first-ever MotoGP Sprint in Portuguese GP as Marquez climbed back to third after Oliveira went wide which allowed Miller, Vinales and Espargaro to get ahead of him.
Miller lost to Bagnaia just before that and held off the Aprilia pair where Vinales got ahead of Espargaro in their fight. Oliveira was seventh from Zarco and Marquez in the points position, with Quartararo missing out after a Lap 1 whack from Mir.
The #1 starts life in 2023 in the perfect way with victory in the #TissotSprint 👏
Will it be the same way tomorrow? 🤔#PortugueseGP 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/kpIVjTfp4G
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 25, 2023
Medical Info Update 📋
#MotoGP rider #23 @Bestia23 will go to the hospital for further medical examination due to pain in the right scapular area #PortugueseGP 🇵🇹— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 25, 2023