Jorge Martin, the rider for Pramac Ducati in MotoGP, dominated the Portuguese Grand Prix at Portimao. His main rivals in the championship, Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez, collided during the race. Marquez attempted a risky move on Bagnaia at Turn 5, causing both riders to veer off track and effectively ending their chances of winning.
A young and talented rookie named Pedro Acosta made several impressive moves throughout the race. He managed to overtake both Bagnaia and Marquez and was rewarded with a podium finish after Maverick Vinales crashed on the last lap.
Martin took the lead right from the start and controlled the race in the early stages. Vinales briefly challenged him by overtaking Bagnaia, but Martin remained unruffled. Vinales eventually dropped back and struggled to close the gap. Towards the end of the race, Vinales faced pressure and ultimately suffered a dramatic crash on the start-finish straight.
This allowed Martin to secure first place, followed by his Ducati teammate. Acosta, riding for Tech3 Gas Gas, secured his first-ever podium finish with an impressive performance.
Acosta initially trailed behind Brad Binder and Jack Miller, both riding KTM RC16 bikes. However, he managed to overtake them and then set his sights on Bagnaia. Acosta aggressively defended his position and successfully prevented Bagnaia from counter-attacking.
As a result, Marquez saw an opportunity to challenge Bagnaia. Unfortunately, their collision mirrored Marquez’s incident with Vinales at Le Mans last year. Bagnaia retired from the race, while Marquez remounted his bike and finished outside the points.
With this outcome, Bagnaia dropped to fourth place in the standings, trailing Martin by 23 points. Binder, who had a relatively uneventful race, secured fourth place, making it three KTM RC16 bikes in the top five.
Marco Bezzecchi, riding for VR46 Ducati, struggled at the start but managed to climb back to sixth place. Fabio Quartararo from Yamaha and Aleix Espargaro from Aprilia finished in eighth place after Espargaro was forced wide at Turn 1 during the opening lap.
Despite the numerous incidents and retirements, the lead Honda, ridden by Joan Mir, could only manage a 12th place finish. It was a disappointing weekend for the new RC213V, as higher expectations were set for the team.
Prior to the collisions involving Bagnaia, Marquez, and Vinales, there were also crashes for Franco Morbidelli from Pramac Ducati, Alex Marquez from Gresini Ducati, and Raul Fernandez from RNF Aprilia.