Portimao MotoGP 2022, Moto2 and Moto3 Race Reports, Results, Points

MotoGP 2022 – Round Five – Portimao
Grande Prémio Tissot de Portugal

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo has taken his first win of the season in Portimao, moving into the championship lead alongside Alex Rins, while Pramac Racing’s Johann Zarco and Aprilia Racing’s Aleix Espargaro joined him on the podium after an overtaking manoeuvre saw Jack Miller and Joan Mir crash out battling for third.

Off the line it was Mir with the perfect launch, firing clear of the rest of the grid to take the holeshot. Another strong start came from Quartararo who quickly moved through on his compatriot Zarco to take second halfway around the opening lap. Meanwhile, further back, Alex Rins had somehow launched his factory Suzuki up an incredible 13 places on the first lap to go from 23rd to inside the top ten.

At the front, it didn’t take long for Quartararo to get into his rhythm. The Frenchman was flying and had quickly reduced Mir’s early advantage down to nothing before then, at the start of Lap 4, he made his move on the 2020 World Champion at Turn 1. Mir had no response and Quartararo was leading a race for the first time this year.

Nobody could match the metronomic pace of the reigning World Champion and he edged further and further into the lead. He set a new fastest lap of the race and Portimao lap record, a 1:39.435, on Lap 10 by which point Mir had thrown in the towel and was looking over his shoulder in the fight for second.

Quartararo would eventually cruise across the line over five seconds clear of second place for his first victory since the British Grand Prix in August of last year and, as a result, he jumped to the top of the MotoGP World Championship.

It was much closer in the fight for the final podium places with Mir defending hard as Zarco applied more and more pressure. The Frenchman took advantage of a tiny error by the Spaniard out of the final corner to power past him down the start-finish straight and take second.

However, he ran wide at the opening corner allowing Mir to swoop back through. A lap later Zarco got the job done, again capitalising on a small wheelie by Mir out of the final corner to dive through on the brakes into Turn 1.

Six laps remained, with Jack Miller now challenging Mir for third, when the moment of the race took place between the usual sparring partners. The Australian pulled alongside the Suzuki man down the start-finish straight and they side-by-side on the brakes into the opening corner when the front-end of Miller’s Ducati let go. Down went Miller and he took an innocent and unsuspecting Mir with him. The pair, thankfully, are both OK despite the frightening collision.

That elevated Aleix Espargaro to third as he eyed only the third MotoGP podium for Aprilia. The Argentine Grand Prix winner closed onto the rear wheel of Zarco on the final lap but couldn’t find a way through. Zarco took second, the thirteenth of his premier class career, and Espargaro had to settle for third.

Fourth across the line was arguably the man of the day: Alex Rins. A quite incredible performance from the factory Suzuki man saw him come through 23rd and, in doing so, lifted himself to equal points with Quartararo in the Championship chase.

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Another strong comeback rider came courtesy of the home hero Miguel Oliveira. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing man clinched a top five to bounce back from two crashes on home soil in 2021.

For the first time in MotoGP we were treated to a Marquez vs Marquez battle on the final lap of the race. LCR Castrol Honda’s Alex Marquez was holding off elder brother Marc quite brilliantly as the laps ticked by, before then, on the last lap, the Repsol Honda man squeezed his way through to take sixth place by only 0.020 ahead of Alex.

Half a second back, Ducati Lenovo Team’s Francesco Bagnaia was gritting his teeth to salvage eighth place thanks to a last lap move on Repsol Honda’s Pol Espargaro. Aprilia’s Maverick Viñales took the final place inside the top ten.

Remy Gardner was top rookie and carded a couple of points for his 14th place finish after coming from 20th on the grid.

There were crashes for Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing), Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing), Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Idemitsu Honda), Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), bringing to an end a run of 18 straight point-scoring finishes, and, most notably, the former World Championship leader Enea Bastianini.

Portimao MotoGP Race Results

MotoGP Championship Points Standings

Moto2

Italtrans Racing’s Joe Roberts is a Moto2 winner at last after grabbing his golden opportunity in a red-flagged and hugely dramatic intermediate class encounter at the Tissot Grand Prix of Portugal.

An isolated rain shower at Turn 2 caught out eleven riders, including the top six at that time, halfway through, which caused the red flags to come out. From the restart, Roberts took full advantage to take a debut win and the first for America in the intermediate class since John Kosinski in 1990. He was joined on the podium by a relived World Championship leader Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing) and Jorge Navarro (FlexBox HP40)

American Racing’s Cameron Beaubier made a lightning start from second on the grid to take the holeshot ahead of the poleman Aron Canet (FlexBox HP40). The former MotoAmerica Superbike king found a strong early pace as the rain flags began to wave. The light rain didn’t deter Canet though, and he had just a little bit more pace than Beaubier. After a couple of laps of watching the American, he made his move at the opening corner.

Further back, Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) was making progress through the field after taking a trip through the Long Lap Penalty loop for his misdemeanor at the Americas Grand Prix. The Thai rider’s teammate, Ai Ogura, was also making progress, diving past Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) at Turn 3.

Then, on Lap 9, the leading trio of Canet, Beaubier and Ogura flicked it into Turn 2 and all three were spat off their bikes as heavier rain caught them all out. They were joined in the gravel trap seconds later by Chantra, Arbolino, Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing), Albert Arenas (Autosolar GasGas Aspar), Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Zonta van den Goorbergh (RW Racing) and Simone Corsi (MV Agusta Forward Racing). As a result, the red flag was shown immediately and the race halted.

None of the riders involved in the Turn 2 pile-up were able to take part in the 7-lap restart, meaning we had a revised grid of now just 18 riders. Autosolar GasGas Aspar Team’s Jake Dixon fired from pole position and took the lead on the opening lap. But disaster struck for the Brit at Turn 7 when the front-end let go and his hopes of a debut Moto2 win were dashed.

That saw Roberts take over at the front and he quickly got his head down. The Californian was three seconds clear of the fight for second in the blink of an eye, before managing his nerves on the final couple of laps to take a historic win eleven years on from the last American Grand Prix victory and 32 years on from the last in the intermediate class.

Championship leader Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing) also had his fair slice of fortune as he extended his title lead out to 34 points. The Italian managed to find a way through on Jorge Navarro (FlexBoxHP40) on the penultimate lap, before defending well on the final lap to secure his fourth podium in the opening five races of 2022. Navarro was delighted with third though, a first rostrum visit since Silverstone last year. Strong rides came in from Marcel Schrötter and Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 MasterCamp) to take fourth and fifth.

Jeremy Alcoba (Liqui Moly Intact GP) ended up sixth after Fermin Aldeguer (Lightech Speed Up) was demoted a place to seventh on the final lap. Rounding out the top ten were Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team), Barry Baltus (RW Racing) and Gabriel Rodrigo (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team).

Joe Roberts – P1

“Man, it’s been a long road for me. It means so much to me to get that win, especially for all the American fans back home. It’s been a long time coming but we finally got it done. It’s real nice to see the flag at the top of the podium. I couldn’t believe it. In the last two laps, I saw the gap and I was like ‘I can’t believe I have this gap right now’. I couldn’t even ride on the last lap, I was all over the place. I just wanted to not make a mistake and bring it home. It’s an amazing day for my team, for everyone back home in America and I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who’s supported me during this time. Let’s hope it’s the first of many!”

Portimao Moto2 Race Results

Moto2 Championship Standings

Moto3

Valresa GasGas Aspar Team’s Sergio Garcia dug deep to pull off yet more last lap brilliance to secure a second win of the season at the Tissot Grand Prix of Portugal. After his early breakaway failed, the Spaniard was forced to fight it out with a leading group of five before holding off Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) on the final lap to retake control of the Moto3™ World Championship.

Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Deniz Öncü fired away perfectly from pole position to take the holeshot but he was immediately under pressure from Garcia, who settled into second after starting from the middle of the second row. The young Spaniard moved through on the Turk as they came across the line and began to pull away.

Garcia’s teammate Ivan Guevara could see the Valresa GasGas Aspar machine edging clear and knew he had to make a move on Öncü. The Mallorcan slipstreamed ahead at the end of the second lap but Öncü responded immediately. The determined Tech3 rider made life difficult for Guevara, meanwhile, Garcia’s advantage became 1.5 seconds. Guevara finally dived through on Öncü at the start of Lap 5. The Turk, in the blink of an eye, was then demoted to fourth as Sasaki found a way through.

Guevara and Sasaki began working together, chipping away at Garcia’s lead. Half a second behind them, Masia had moved through to fourth and was towing Öncü along. Twelve laps were left in Portimao before Garcia’s early advantage was gone. Guevara caught and passed his teammate with Sasaki, Masia and Öncü joining the Aspar duo in the fight at the front.

Over the next ten laps, the five riders at the front swapped places lap after lap. They all had their chance at leading the race at one stage or another, with Garcia and Masia even having contact on the run down to Turn 1 as they squabbled over track position.

Two and a half laps left and it was Garcia leading the way ahead of Sasaki, Öncü, Masia and Guevara. The GasGas man got swallowed up down the straight though as they started the penultimate lap, as Sasaki and Masia both managed to get ahead of him. But Garcia wasn’t giving up easily, battling back on Masia for second.

We started the final lap with Sasaki leading but it didn’t last long. Garcia flew past him and had enough on the brakes to emerge at the front. It was incredibly congested through Turn 1 but a big and brave move from Masia saw him jump from second to fourth. He heaped pressure on Garcia, desperately looking for the smallest gap to try and nudge through.

But Garcia was perfect on the final lap once again, fending off a determined Masia to take the chequered flag and his second win of the season. The Ajo rider had to settle for second, 0.069 seconds behind Garcia, for back-to-back podium finishes following his victory in Austin. Third went the way of Sasaki, his second rostrum of the season, ahead of the frustrated Öncü and Guevara in fourth and fifth.

Title leader Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) had an afternoon to forget as he came across the line in eighth and, therefore, surrendered the title lead to Garcia. The Spaniard and the Italian are now split by just one point as we head to Jerez next weekend.

Young Aussie Joel Kelso was inside the top ten with a brilliant come from behind to ninth place finish to add another seven-points to his championship tally.

Joel Kelso

“I have always enjoyed my races in Portugal and this race was no exception. After some tricky conditions over the weekend, it was nice to see some good weather which allowed us to get a top 10 finish in P9. Unfortunately, where we started on the grid meant we were unable to fight in that front group. We did have the pace though which is a big positive. I am overall really happy with my position and now I am working towards next week – Bring on Jerez!”

Foggia was down in 17th on the first lap but recovered well to fight his way through to the front of the third group, with both Carlos Tatay (CFMoto Racing PruestelGP) in sixth and Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) in seventh ahead of him. Completing the top ten behind Foggia were Joel Kelso (CIP Green Power), a great ride from 22nd on the grid, and Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI), who was demoted two places from eighth to tenth after the race.

Portimao Moto3 Race Results

Moto3 Championship Points Standings

2022 MotoGP Calendar

2022 Grande Prémio Tissot de Portugal Schedule