Bagnaia dominates Portimao with flawless double win

Francesco Bagnaia dominated the Portuguese Grand Prix, securing a flawless double win and retaining his title as MotoGP champion. Vinales makes history with first Aprilia podium finish. Early collision takes out Marquez and Oliveira in dramatic MotoGP race.

Francesco Bagnaia clinched his second victory of the 2023 MotoGP campaign by triumphing over Maverick Vinales. Meanwhile, Marc Marquez incurred the wrath of the crowd by colliding with Miguel Oliveira, prompting jeers from the spectators.

Jorge Martin initially took the lead from third place, but Oliveira surpassed him in a stunning move from fourth to first. Martin reclaimed the top spot at turn two, but Marquez then made a daring move, overtaking both riders from the inside with his Repsol Honda.

As Marquez attempted to maintain his lead on the corner exit, he collided with Martin, who was riding on the inside of the Honda rider. The collision caused Martin to lose ground and allowed Oliveira to regain his lead. Bagnaia managed to overtake Marquez, but not Martin, and settled into third place.

However, Bagnaia made an early move on Martin at the beginning of the second lap and then surged ahead to take the lead a few corners later.

On lap three, a pivotal moment occurred that would alter the course of the race. Marquez misjudged his braking at turn three, causing him to collide with the back of Martin’s Pramac Ducati. This collision happened just before Marquez crashed into Oliveira at high speed.

Martin’s position dropped significantly to 15th place due to the collision, while Oliveira was visibly injured and remained down for some time. Marquez immediately went to check on Oliveira before trying to restart his Honda. Oliveira took almost an entire lap to recover and get back on his bike, riding cautiously.

Although the incident gifted Bagnaia a significant lead, he was still facing challenges.

Vinales rapidly closed the gap on Bagnaia, with the reigning world champion feeling the pressure. Meanwhile, Jack Miller was unable to maintain his earlier form from the Sprint race, falling to fifth place behind Marco Bezzecchi and Alex Marquez.

As Vinales relentlessly pursued the lead, Fabio Di Giannantonio was forced to retire from the race due to a technical problem. Despite struggling with a neck injury all weekend, Brad Binder managed to secure sixth place with 11 laps remaining, just behind his teammate Miller.

When Vinales came within two tenths of Bagnaia’s lead, the Italian rider stepped up his game and set consecutive personal best laps, enabling him to extend his lead to eight tenths.

Despite exhibiting impressive race pace following yet another slow start, Fabio Quartararo was struggling to advance up the rankings, with him remaining in a solitary tenth position with nine laps to go.

As Bagnaia’s lead grew to 1.3 seconds, Vinales mounted a comeback, reducing the gap by six tenths of a second, prompting Bagnaia to respond swiftly.

Bagnaia responded to Vinales’ surge and regained his composure. However, Vinales was still able to outpace Bagnaia by two tenths of a second on the next lap.

Meanwhile, Binder made consecutive overtakes on Miller and Marquez after witnessing his teammate fail to overtake Marquez twice. Despite Binder’s efforts, Marquez regained his position by utilizing his Ducati’s power to outrun Binder on the run to turn one.

As Bagnaia held onto his lead to claim victory, Zarco delivered a remarkable comeback in the final three laps. He overtook Miller, Binder, and Marquez to secure a fourth-place finish.

The race results for the Portuguese MotoGP held in Portimao in 2023 are as follows:

Bagnaia Portimao double win MOTOgp 2023 Bagnaia Portimao double win MOTOgp 2023 Bagnaia Portimao double win MOTOgp 2023 Bagnaia Portimao double win MOTOgp 2023

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• MotoGP Sprint Race: Bagnaia Overtakes Martin to Take the Checkered Flag
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