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MotoGP: Bagnaia bags first Sprint Race of 2023

Posted by AR1 staff

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Marc Marquez was on pole after a miraculous qualifying lap for the Portuguese GP, but in the race his Honda is no match for the HP advantage the Ducati riders enjoy.

New for 2023 is a half – distance sprint race on Saturday’s after qualifying  – a copy of what F1 has done the last couple of years.

Marquez led the opening lap of the Sprint race today, but the Ducati riders had enough of that and at the start of the second lap of 12, Bagnaia and Martin used their HP advantage and blasted past Marquez to demote him to third on the run into Turn 1.

And that is how they finished, although Martin led for a bit, but on the final lap, Martin ran wide under braking for Turn 5 which allowed Bagnaia to pass and take the checkered flag for the first sprint race.

Francesco Bagnaia

Portugal Sprint Race Results

Pos No. Rider Bike Laps Behind Gap
1 1 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati 12 0.000s 0.000s
2 89 Jorge Martin Ducati 12 0.307 0.307
3 93 Marc Marquez Honda 12 1.517 1.210
4 43 Jack Miller KTM 12 1.603 0.086
5 12 Maverick Viñales Aprilia 12 1.854 0.251
6 41 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 12 2.106 0.252
7 88 Miguel Oliveira Aprilia 12 2.940 0.834
8 5 Johann Zarco Ducati 12 5.595 2.655
9 73 Alex Marquez Ducati 12 5.711 0.116
10 20 Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 12 5.924 0.213
11 25 Raúl Fernández Aprilia 12 8.160 2.236
12 33 Brad Binder KTM 12 8.384 0.224
13 42 Alex Rins Honda 12 11.288 2.904
14 21 Franco Morbidelli Yamaha 12 17.138 5.850
15 30 Takaaki Nakagami Honda 12 18.128 0.990
16 49 Fabio Di Giannantonio Ducati 12 21.235 3.107
DNF 72 Marco Bezzecchi Ducati 2 10 Laps 10 Laps
DNF 23 Enea Bastianini Ducati 1 11 Laps 1 Lap
DNF 10 Luca Marini Ducati 1 11 Laps 0.412
DNF 36 Joan Mir Honda 0
DNF 37 Augusto Fernandez GASGAS 0