The defending world champion, Fabio Quartaro, didn’t have the best start to the season, but the latest race once again cemented his position at the top as he overcame Johann Zarko on the Pramac Ducati to secure the win.
see photosFabio Quartaro tops the points table with 69 points along with Alex Rins, who finished P4
Yamaha’s Fabio Quartaro won the dramatic Portuguese Grand Prix in Portimao, claiming his lead on the points table for this year’s championship. The defending world champion hasn’t had the best start to the season, but the latest race has once again cemented his position at the top as he overtook Johann Zarko on Pramac Ducati to secure the win. Coming in third was Alex Espargaro scoring podium finishers in the race on Aprilia. This was Quartaro’s first win since the British GP in August last year.
The race started with Jarko trying to convert the same into a win, but a slow start pushed the rider down to P4, while Suzuki’s Joan Mir took the lead after starting second on the grid . A strong start moved Quartaro from fifth to third, while Zarco dropped to second by the start of the second lap. But Quartaro soon moved up to second place and Mir was clearly ahead of sixth in tenth. Zarco struggled to keep pace with Ducati’s Jack Miller and LCR Honda rider Alex Marquez, finishing third and fourth respectively. However by the second lap, Zarko was back in contention to advance to P3.
At the front, Quartaro was charging at Mir and was soon an attacking distance and made his move on the final corner as Suzuki passed Ryder to take the lead on lap 4. It didn’t take long for Quartaro to part with Mir. Which was queried with a length of one second. The 2020 MotoGP champion was now facing the onslaught of Zarco. The Pramack rider spent too much time trying to pass Meir only to find success on lap 16. Meir was now struggling for last place on the podium with Miller, the rider being a casualty as the factory Ducati rider crashed on lap 19, taking off. Suzuki rode out with him.
This put Alex Espargaro in third place, with Alex Marquez fighting the Argentine GP winner, while KTM’s Miguel Oliveira and Suzuki’s Alex Reins were closing in. Rins was certainly one of the star riders of the race, moving up 10 places after a disappointing finish. The qualifying session placed them 23rd on the grid.
At the front, Quartaro held a lead of more than six seconds over Zarco, making sure he claimed the checkered flag without a hitch. Zarko was embroiled in a fight with Alex in the final stages, but defended his position to take P2, while Aprilia Ryder claimed P3. Reigns eventually finished on P4 with a fine run and tied Quartaro on the points table for the championship.
In fifth place is KTM’s Oliveira, ahead of Marc Marquez, who was embroiled in a fight with teammate Pol Espargaro to take P6. Subsequently, Alex Marquez claimed the P7 on the LCR Honda, while Francesco Bagnia claimed the P8 on the Ducati. Pol Espargaro and Maverick Viales rounded out the top 10 on Aprilia.
Andrea Dovizioso finished on P11 ahead of Luca Marini VR46 Ducati, Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli and Tech 3 KTM rookie Remy Gardner. Marco Bezzecchi on the VR46 bike took last place in the race. Takaaki Nakagami took P16 ahead of RNF rookie Darin Binder. For the DNFs, Aprilia rider Lorenzo Savdori, Grassini’s Fabio Di Giannantonio and Pramac rider Jorge Martin were out of contention.
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