Italy’s Francesco Bagnaia, world champion and ‘sprint race’ winner, won the Portuguese Grand Prix this Sunday ahead of Maverick Vinales. Johann Zarco finished fourth, while Fabio Quartararo had to settle for eighth.
Who can beat Francesco Bagnaia? This is the question that arises after the first race of the Moto GP season. Already the winner of the previous day’s “sprint race”, the reigning world champion once again tamed the competition, this Sunday, to win the Portuguese Grand Prix at the Portimao circuit. Second on the starting grid behind Marc Márquez, he was only caught off guard at the start by Miguel Oliveira and Jorge Martin. But he took the lead on the second lap and was never worried again.
Moments after taking power, he survived the violent clash right behind him between Marc Marquez and Miguel Oliveira. In difficulty, the Spaniard attempted an improbable overtake and hit Jorge Martín before hitting Miguel Oliveira head-on in the back. Both riders crashed and had to retire, allowing Francesco Bagnaia to rise to victory.
Perfecting the handlebars of a Ducati, the Italian beat Spaniard Maverick Viñales and compatriot Marco Bizicki to claim a full card with 37 points this weekend on Portuguese soil, where Fabio Quartararo was also expected. While the Frenchman held on to two consecutive victories in Portugal, he had to settle for eighth place, after losing his start by being demoted from tenth to fifteenth.
“It’s been a really complicated weekend. We managed to be really fast, but we’re so far away. I got a good start, but the first corners were really tough. We have the pace, but it’s impossible to overtake. We’ll have to find a solution to the way we use our motorcycle .And at the moment, we don’t have those solutions. We have to keep our cool because the championship is so long, but it’s frustrating to know that we’re going fast without being able to fight for the top spots,” he said upon his arrival.
Johann Zarco was in his favour, especially in the final laps. Habs, initially ranked eighth, made a decent comeback to finally finish at the foot of the podium (fourth). Johan Zarco, Fabio Quartararo, who will surely be an Avenger, and the other drivers will have a date this week on the other side of the Atlantic for the Argentine Grand Prix.
