The second round of races at the Algarve International Circuit is over, and Aprilia Racing's Maverick Viñales and Pramac Ducati's Jorge Martin emerged victorious in the sprint and main race, respectively.
MotoGP was at Portugal over the weekend after the first set of races in Qatar and from the outset, reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia struggled for pace. It was his teammate Enea Bastianini who set the timesheets on fire, with Viñales coming a close second in the qualifying.
On Saturday's sprint race, the Aprilia man was untouchable, but Marc Marquez showed why he is an eight-time world champion by coming through on Martin on the final lap. He finished second, and Martin, third.
Earlier, though, it was Bagnaia who raced to the front, and he held the position until lap nine, when the Italian ran wide and allowed Viñales, Martin, and Marquez to come through. Pecco finished the race in fourth place.
In the main race on Sunday, the stars aligned for Martin, who bolted to the front and remained there for the entirety of the race, displaying poise and confidence.
Until the race in Portimao, Martin was known for his Sprint performances, but he turned the stats around by winning the race with a spotless ride, even as Aprilia's Viñales did not give him room to breathe.
The star of the whole race was GasGas' Pedro Acosta, who came through the pack with a lot of bravado. The young Spaniard was seen sliding his bike around, attacking corners supermoto style, and not being afraid to take on the big guns.
Acosta was in the right place at the right time when Viñales ran wide and crashed in the last lap. He finished third and took his first podium in the premier class. Ahead of him was Bastianini, who kept Maverik honest for the entirety of the race until the moment of the Spaniard's crash.
All the talking points were about what happened behind them, though. In a rare display of frustration, Factory Ducati's Bagnaia collided with Marc Marquez, which led to the duo crashing out. They were battling for the fifth position.
Although Marquez managed to rejoin the race, he could not score points, and Pecco retired from the race despite getting his bike going. The stewards rightfully deemed it a racing incident that warranted no further action.
The next set of races is set to take place in the USA on April 13 and 14. Martin leads the championship (with 60 points) over KTM's Brad Binder (42 points), Bastianini (39 points), and Bagnaia (37 points).
