Bagnaia takes historic MotoGP Sprint win with last-lap move

Reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia secured a historic win in the maiden MotoGP Sprint race with a last-lap move on Jorge Martin at Portugal.

Australia’s Jack Miller produced an entertaining ride, leading briefly before dropping to seventh and fighting back to fourth with Marc Marquez taking a confidence-boosting podium.

Bagnaia’s win was secured with just 10 corners to go where Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin ran wide and allowed bike #1 to cruise past in a dramatic conclusion to a dramatic 12-lap race.

Bagnaia who is the hot favourite for the title said he had a ball riding in the MotoGP Sprint and said patience was the key in the frantic race around the Portimao circuit.

“It was fun and I enjoyed it a lot,” the 2021 world champion said.

“It was difficult with the wind going in the opposite direction compared to testing and Friday.

“The race was long, so I took my time in the first part of the race and then at the end I just tried to push at the end.

“Jorge was better in traction but had more problems than me with the fronts, so I used that to try to overtake.

“I thought it was shorter, but I enjoyed it a lot.”

The action on a historic Saturday started early with Marc Marquez scoring an unexpected sensational pole position.

The #93 Repsol Honda was the slowest of the 12 riders to progress into the final stage of qualifying, but a special 1:37.226 was enough to claim P1.

He edged out Bagnaia by just 0.064s with Martin completing the front row.

After setting record pace on Friday, Miller managed fourth despite suffering a crash at Turn 3. 

All 21 riders got away cleanly in the start of the first ever MotoGP Sprint race with Marquez leading into Turn 1.

But the six-time MotoGP champion was soon looking over his shoulder as both factory Ducatis  of Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini got flying starts before entering a squabble for second with Martin.

Yamaha leader Fabio Quartararo dropped down to 19th after heavy contact with Joan Mir, who finished second best, crashing out in a nightmare finish to his Repsol Honda debut.

Mir dived down the inside of Quartaro, but hit the Yamaha and slipped over in the process.

Miller finished the first lap in sixth as Marquez led, but could not stop the Ducati’s immense straight line speed, dropping to third as Bagnaia and Martin flew past.

As Miller made a lunge to get fourth at Turn 5, Luca Marini tried to follow him, but fell and took out the helpless Bastianini in the process.

At the start of Lap 4 Martin took control by soaring past Bagnaia on pit straight, while the VR46 Ducati of Marco Bezzecchi was the latest to crash out. 

Aussie Miller announced himself as a contender by setting the fastest lap on his third tour as the he chased down the top three.

A lap later the Aussie was in a podium place having sped ahead of Marquez down the main straight. Olivera tried to follow suit despite Marquez doing his best to shut the door.

On Lap 6 Miller was all over the back of Bagnaia and outbraked bike #1 into Turn 5 to take second.

A lap later the #43 KTM made a sensational move to take the lead at the unexpected location of Turn 13 and give Aussies the chance to dream.

Unfortunately the Australian only controlled the field for two corners as the power of the Ducati helped Martin regain it on the main straight.

A tight group of seven emerged at the front with both battling Aprillas joining the fray.

As Martin opened up a four-tenth lead, a poor exit out of the final corner proved costly for Miller as Bagnaia blitzed past to take second.

On the penultimate lap Miller’s victory and podium hopes disappeared. Miguel Oliveira made a big lunge at Turn 1 for the final podium spot, but this opened the door for the opportunistic Marquez to fly through to sensationally take third.

This left Miller vulnerable to the Aprillas and he managed to reclaim fourth after going past Maverick Vinales and Oliveira, who went off.

Up at the front, Martin had controlled the second half of the race and appeared destined for glory despite Bagnaia breathing down his neck.

However, the Pramac Ducati rider ran wide at Turn 5 which allowed Bagnaia to take the lead and the win on the final lap.

The top nine riders took points in the historic encounter with Bagnaia leading Martin, Marquez, Miller, Vinales, Aleix Espargaro, Oliveira, Johann Zarco and Alex Marquez getting their 2023 campaigns underway.

There were plenty of victims of the 12-lap race with Bezzecchi, Bastianini, Marini, Mir and Augusto Fernandez not reaching the chequered flag.

With the first MotoGP Sprint complete, the main event, a 24-lap race, takes place at midnight tonight. 

Portugal MotoGP Sprint Race results

Pos	Num	Rider	Nat	Team	Bike	Time/Gap
1	1	Francesco BAGNAIA	ITA	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	19:52.862
2	89	Jorge MARTIN	ESP	Prima Pramac Racing	Ducati	+0.307
3	93	Marc MARQUEZ	ESP	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	+1.517
4	43	Jack MILLER	AUS	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	+1.603
5	12	Maverick VIÑALES	ESP	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	+1.854
6	41	Aleix ESPARGARO	ESP	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	+2.106
7	88	Miguel OLIVEIRA	POR	CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team	Aprilia	+2.940
8	5	Johann ZARCO	FRA	Prima Pramac Racing	Ducati	+5.595
9	73	Alex MARQUEZ	ESP	Gresini Racing MotoGP	Ducati	+5.711
10	20	Fabio QUARTARARO	FRA	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	+5.924
11	25	Raul FERNANDEZ	ESP	CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team	Aprilia	+8.160
12	33	Brad BINDER	RSA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	+8.384
13	42	Alex RINS	ESP	LCR Honda CASTROL	Honda	+11.288
14	21	Franco MORBIDELLI	ITA	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	+17.138
15	30	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	JPN	LCR Honda IDEMITSU	Honda	+18.128
16	49	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	ITA	Gresini Racing MotoGP	Ducati	+21.235
DNF	72	Marco BEZZECCHI	ITA	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	+10 laps
DNF	23	Enea BASTIANINI	ITA	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	+11 laps
DNF	10	Luca MARINI	ITA	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	+11 laps
DNF	36	Joan MIR	ESP	Repsol Honda Team	Honda
DNF	37	Augusto FERNANDEZ	ESP	GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3	KTM

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