Aprilia rider Maverick Vinales took a long-awaited victory in the MotoGP sprint at Portimao, as Pecco Bagnaia’s likely win was lost in a sudden Turn 1 off.
Behind Vinales, Marc Marquez celebrated his first podium as a Ducati rider in second place.
Defending champion Bagnaia had looked on course to a comfortable first place (which would’ve marked his first sprint win since August of last year), only to have a massive shake in the downhill braking to Turn 1 on lap 9 of 12 and drop out of the podium places.
It left Vinales – who has been battling suspected stomach flu this weekend – suddenly in the lead, and he soaked up pressure from Jorge Martin to successfully secure the win.
Though sprint wins don’t count as proper MotoGP wins for the record books, factually Vinales has become the first rider in the MotoGP era to win races for three different premier-class manufacturers – having previously won for Suzuki and Aprilia.
He also ends a Ducati win streak that spanned 19 races across sprints and grands prix, the firm having not been defeated since Vinales’ team-mate Aleix Espargaro’s Catalan Grand Prix win last September.
With poleman Enea Bastianini getting a pretty awful start, Vinales was in position to hold the lead under braking into Turn 1 – though the always-fast-starting KTM of Jack Miller barged past him through the quick Turn 2 right-hander.
That allowed Bagnaia to pick off Vinales, too, and at the end of the second lap Bagnaia dealt with his former team-mate Miller by taking a tighter line through the downhill final corner.
