Portuguese GP marked by great battles and several crashes: 7 drivers did not finish the race!

A great race in Portugal brought an absolutely awesome spectacle. There were really beautiful, but tough battles for podiums and other positions. But the Portuguese Grand Prix also brought a few crashes, so what were the results of Sunday’s race?

Raúl Fernández was unable to take part in the Portuguese Grand Prix, as he ran into a wet patch on the track in the warm-up, which literally blew his rear tyre off, and as a result of a nasty crash and subsequent injury, he did not start Sunday’s race.

However, Lorenzo Savadori on the Aprilia motorcycle received a wild card. In addition to Fernandez, Francesco Bagnaia, who also suffered a nasty crash in qualifying, also fell. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries and the Italian rider started the Portuguese Grand Prix from the very back of the grid.

Zarco, Mir, Aleix Espargaro, Miller, Quartararo, Bezzecchi, Alex Márquez, Luca Marini, Marc Márquez and Pol Espargaro – that’s how the top ten at the start of the Portuguese Grand Prix looked like. It should be noted that both Friday and Saturday’s action in Portugal was significantly affected by rain.

After all the red lights went out, Joan Mir made an absolutely stunning start on his Suzuki motorcycle. This immediately put him in first place. Fabio Quartararo also made an excellent start from his starting slot, taking second place behind the Spaniard Mir.

Suzuki co-pilot Alex Rins also produced something truly fantastic. In fact, Rins started from twenty-third position and was already in the top ten on the second lap of the race. After three laps, the leading pair of Mir – Quartararo had built up a lead of almost one second.

Recently, the reigning world champion has been complaining about the top speed of his Yamaha. However, it was a great top speed at the start of the fourth lap that put Quartararo in the lead of the race.

Quartararo, Mir, Zarco, Miller, Alex Márquez, Aleix Espargaro, Oliveira, Rins, Pol Espargaro, Marc Márquez – that’s how the top ten standings looked after five laps.

However, Jorge Martin retired from the race at the end of the fifth circuit, having crashed in the final sector of the track and becoming the first driver to retire from the Portuguese Grand Prix.

Then, on lap seven, the fans saw a beautiful battle between the two Honda Respol riders. That’s how Marc Márquez got ahead of his teammate Polo Espargar.

On lap nine, Rins continued his superb chase, passing both Oliveira and Alex Márquez on the track to move up to number 6!

On lap 10, the fans witnessed another crash, which was “taken care of” by the current championship leader Enea Bastianini. His front wheel slipped going into turn 8, and the subsequent crash was inevitable.

Takaaki Nakagami was the third rider to lose control of his bike in the race and crash as a result of contact with Brad Binder. However, the Japanese LCR Honda rider was able to continue the race.

Meanwhile, Yamaha rider Quartararo set a really great pace and continued to increase his lead over second-placed Miro. The French rider enjoyed a 3.5 second lead at the end of lap thirteen!

Thus, the 24-year-old Spanish rider not only began to lose ground on race leader Quartararo, but Johann Zarco began to close in on him.

Quartararo, Mir, Zarco, Miller, Aleix Espargaro, Rins, Oliveira, Alex Márquez, Marc Márquez, Pol Espargaro. That was the order of the Portuguese Grand Prix in the fifteenth round.

Mir definitely lost his second place at the beginning of the seventeenth lap when Zarco overtook him. However, this battle greatly helped the first Quartararo, whose lead was already 5 and a half seconds at the start of the eighteenth lap!

Also, as a result of the battle for second place, other drivers joined the fray. The spectators in the stands and on the TV screens could and did watch a beautiful battle for the podium. But this was interrupted by a collision between Miro and Jack Miller.

The Ducati Australian closed his front end on the nineteenth lap on the approach to Turn 1, knocking out Rins, who was riding alongside him. This left Zarco in second place, with Aleix Espargar in third.

In addition, Brad Binder had crashed in Turn 18 on the previous lap and was the next driver to retire from the Portuguese Grand Prix.

Technical problems took Fabio Di Giannantonio out of the race, specifically on his penultimate lap. Savadori also crashed at the very end.

On the last lap, the fans were still watching the battle for second place between Aleix Espargar and Zarco, but the order remained unchanged. But that was not the case in a terrific battle for sixth place that involved four riders.

Marc Márquez emerged victorious from this battle, with seventh place going to Alex Márquez. It should be noted, during the Portuguese Grand Prix the Italian Bagnaia fought his way up the order, whereupon despite his starting position he finished in a fine eighth place.

Pol Espargaro crossed the line ninth, with Maverick Viñales rounding out the top ten. The Portuguese Grand Prix really brought a lot to the table. Sharp and beautiful battles, crashes and, last but not least, an impressive pursuit drive by Rins, a solid placing by Bagnaii and a fantastic performance by Quartararo.

Source: MotoGP