Aprilia rider Maverick Vinales achieved a long-awaited victory in the MotoGP sprint at Portimao, as Pecco Bagnaia’s potential win was thwarted by a sudden incident at Turn 1. Behind Vinales, Marc Marquez celebrated his first podium finish as a Ducati rider, securing second place. Defending champion Bagnaia appeared to be on track for a comfortable first place, but a significant shake during braking on lap 9 caused him to drop out of contention for the podium. This turn of events allowed Vinales, who had been battling a suspected stomach flu, to take the lead and successfully hold off Jorge Martin to secure the win.
While sprint wins do not count as official MotoGP victories, Vinales has made history by becoming the first rider in the MotoGP era to win races for three different premier-class manufacturers, having previously won for Suzuki and Aprilia. Additionally, Vinales ended Ducati’s 19-race winning streak across sprints and grands prix, with their last defeat occurring at the Catalan Grand Prix in September, when Vinales’ teammate Aleix Espargaro emerged victorious.
With poleman Enea Bastianini experiencing a poor start, Vinales was able to maintain the lead under braking into Turn 1. However, Jack Miller’s fast-starting KTM overtook Vinales through the quick Turn 2 right-hander. Bagnaia then capitalized on the situation and also passed Vinales, ultimately taking the lead at the end of the second lap by executing a tighter line through the downhill final corner. From that point on, the race seemed to be Bagnaia’s to lose, with intense battles occurring behind him. Marquez made a remarkable move around the outside to overtake Vinales earlier in the race and subsequently passed Miller on the following lap. However, Marquez made an error on lap five while chasing down Bagnaia, allowing Vinales to reclaim second place. Despite this setback, Bagnaia still maintained a nearly one-second lead until his off-track incident.
At that point, Jorge Martin had also overtaken Marquez with a forceful move at Turn 3 and appeared to be preparing to overtake Vinales. However, Vinales held his ground, and when he suddenly found himself in the lead, he maintained his position, ultimately crossing the finish line in first place. Martin, who complained of a rear issue after the race, was then overtaken by Marquez on the final lap with a divebomb move at Turn 5.
Following his mishap, Bagnaia was unable to rejoin the battle for the podium and finished four seconds behind the leaders. Nevertheless, he managed to fend off Miller and Bastianini, with both riders finishing within a quarter of a second of the reigning champion. Rookie Pedro Acosta secured seventh place for Tech3 Gas Gas after fending off Vinales’ Aprilia teammate Espargaro, while Fabio Quartararo earned a single point for Yamaha after choosing to start on the medium rear tire instead of the soft one.
The race saw four crashes, all of which occurred within the first four laps. Quartararo’s teammate Alex Rins was the first to go down, followed by LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco, who remounted before retiring in the pits. VR46 Ducati’s Fabio Di Giannantonio and KTM’s Brad Binder were the other two riders who ended up on the ground.
With his performance in the race, Bagnaia now leads the championship by two points over Martin, with Binder and Marquez trailing by eight and ten points, respectively.