World champion Francesco Bagnaia won Sunday’s season-opening Portuguese MotoGP after a costly mistake by pole-sitter Marc Marquez.
Ducati star Bagnaia coasted across the line ahead of Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales in the Algarve sunshine to follow up his win in MotoGP’s inaugural sprint 24 hours earlier.
Marquez crashed and wiped out home favorite Miguel Oliveira on lap three to leave the way clear for Bagnaia to get his championship defense off to a perfect start.
Photo: AFP
Bagnaia leaves Portimao with a maximum 37 points from the first of the 21-race season.
“That’s the start me and my team wanted,” the Italian told motogp.com. “We have to keep going like this.”
He then joked that after Saturday’s 12-lap dash in the sprint “I’m not used to such a long race.”
Bagnaia’s compatriot, Marco Bezzecchi, riding Ducati’s VR46 bike, came in third to complete the podium.
If it was reasonably plain sailing for the world champion it was anything but for Marquez. A rare moment of madness from the Spaniard provided the main drama of the afternoon.
The pole sitter clipped Jorge Martin, and his out-of-control Honda slammed into the back of Oliveira’s KTM, wiping out the Portuguese rider who had high hopes of a podium finish in front of his home fans.
Marquez received a hostile reception from some of the fans on his return to the pits where he quickly made his way to Oliveira’s garage to offer his apologies.
The six-time former world champion suffered a suspected hand fracture as well as a time-penalty, the last thing the 30-year-old needed after his last three seasons plagued by injury.
Marquez has been hit with a double long-lap penalty for next week’s Grand Prix in Argentina if he is passed fit.
“I apologize... This accident was my fault, I deserved to be penalized for it,” he said.
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