Bezzecchi claims second title of season with win at Portugal GP

Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi delivered a commanding lights-to-flag victory at the Portuguese Grand Prix on Sunday, claiming his second win of the season and strengthening his grip on third place in the championship with just one round remaining.

The pole-sitter made amends for a lacklustre Saturday sprint performance, where he could only manage third, by controlling the race from start to finish ahead of Gresini Racing’s Alex Marquez and KTM’s Pedro Acosta.

Bezzecchi’s dominance was emphatic, as he finished more than 2.5 seconds clear of Marquez to become the sixth different winner in the last six MotoGP races, while Acosta’s late race pace had him close in on his compatriot but settled for third.

Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia, who is battling with Bezzecchi for third in the championship behind champion Marc Marquez and runner-up Alex, crashed out of fourth place and finds himself 35 points behind before the final round in Valencia.

Italian rider Marco Bezzecchi celebrates on the podium. AP

“It was a fantastic race for me. This morning I felt better and yesterday evening we worked a lot in the box to try to find that last step that we missed,” Bezzecchi said.

“I was super afraid of Pedro and Alex because yesterday they were super quick, but I was also very motivated to try to get a win... I’m very happy, super important to be back on the top of the podium.”

Just as in the sprint, Bezzecchi took the lead into turn one ahead of Acosta while Marquez moved up from fifth to third again, before the Gresini Racing rider then used the KTM’s slipstream at the start of lap two to move up to second.

But unlike the sprint, there was no wheel-to-wheel battle this time as Bezzecchi and Marquez peeled away. Before long, the three riders were split by nearly two seconds at the halfway mark.

Bagnaia was running in fourth when the Ducati rider suddenly crashed out, marking his fourth straight Sunday retirement -- the first time it has happened to the two-time champion since his rookie year in MotoGP in 2019.

Second placed Spain's rider Alex Marquez (left), winner Italian rider Marco Bezzecchi and third placed Spain's rider Pedro Acosta pose on the podium of the Motogp race of the Portugal Motorcycle Grand Prix, at the Algarve International circuit near Portimao, Portugal, on Sunday. AP

With five laps left, Marquez showed no signs of being able to catch up with Bezzecchi, who was nearly four seconds clear in the lead before the Italian eased off the throttle to conserve his tyres until the chequered flag.

Acosta then found a second wind in the dying stages of the race but Marquez responded to his younger compatriot’s charge to defend his second place.

“We are missing a lot of pace and a lot of traction at the beginning of the race,” Acosta said.

“It doesn’t matter how much we manage the tyre. At the end, if we are missing it at the beginning, we lose anyway.”

The race was also a chance for an emotional Miguel Oliveira to say farewell on home turf, with the Portuguese rider making the switch to World Superbikes after 15 years in Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP.

The final round of the season is the Valencia Grand Prix next weekend.

Earlier, Spaniard Alex Marquez put his crash in qualifying behind him to win the the Portuguese MotoGP sprint race on Saturday at the Portimao circuit.

Reuters