A French Start to Finish
We head to Portimão, Portugal, for the third round of the MotoGP season. What would it have in store for us?
MotoGP
Pole-setter in Portimão was the Frenchman, Fabio Quartararo of Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP. Portimão is a new track to the MotoGP calendar with riders being exposed to it only last year. Fabio got off to a good start on Sunday, taking the lead while fighting off a very fast Alex Rins of Team Suzuki Ecstar and Pramac Ducati rider Johann Zarco.
Rins and Zarco stuck to the Frenchman like glue and it seemed like Portimão would have a very interesting last few laps. Unfortunately, both Zarco and Rins crashed out with just over a handful of laps to go. This gave Fabio Quartararo his second and consecutive victory in MotoGP, taking him to the top of the championship on points.
With Rins and Zarco out, the fight for the podium was among three riders, Franco Bagnaia of Ducati Lenovo Team, current world champion Joan Mir of Team Suzuki Ecstar, and last year’s championship runner-up, Franco Morbidelli of Petronas Yamaha SRT. Bagnaia seemed to sit quite comfortably ahead of the two, especially due to the scrap taking place behind him. Morbidelli and Mir took the fight down to the final lap with Mir just about pipping the Italian to take the final position on the podium.
So far it seems like the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP boys have been on the top of their game, but the Ducatis and Suzukis continue to be scary competitors. Also, Aleis Espagaro on the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini bike has been consistently performing well, which is a great sign for the sport. However, Portimão finally saw the return of the Repsol Honda Team bike of Marc Marquez. The eighttime world champion managed a brilliant seventh-place finish, fighting through the pain caused by last year’s mishap. We welcome back Marquez with smiles on our faces as this is an exciting time. Watch all the coverage of MotoGP on Eurosport India and Discovery Plus. It will surely be worth your time.
Moto2
Season double-winner, Sam Lowes on the Elf Marc VDS machine, had a terrible time in Portimão, retiring on the first lap. This left the fight for victory among four riders starting with Joe Roberts on the Italtrans Racing Team bike, Aron Canet of Solunion Aspar Team, Raul Fernandez of Red Bull Team Ajo, and the second Red Bull team Ajo bike of Remy Gardner.
The race saw a big fight among Roberts, Gardner, and Canet, but it was Raul Fernandez who got the better of the other three, taking a small lead and a comfortable victory. The fight for second was a bit closer with Aron Canet finally grabbing the second spot on the podium. Gardner and Roberts tussled for third with the Aussie, Gardner, finally getting the better of the American, Roberts, at the line.
Moto3
Pedro Acosta of Red Bull KTM Ajo continued his brilliant form with another victory in Portimão. The young KTM rider now has two victories to his name and the championship lead after three races. Leopard Racing reared their face once again with Dennis Foggia finishing in second barely a blink of an eye behind Acosta.
This is Moto3, hence madness is the theme for each race with the fight for third being fought at the line among five riders. In the end, it was Andrea Migno on the Rivacold Snipers Team who took third just ahead of Red Bull KTM Tech 3 rider, Ayumu Sasaki.
Next up we head to Jerez, to the Angel Nieto circuit, for some more brilliant motorcycle racing action. Can’t wait.