Algarve… | Bagnaia romps to victory in red flagged race

Pecco Bagnaia put the disappointment of losing out on the 2021 MotoGP World Championship title by marching to a dominant victory in the Algarve MotoGP at Portimao.

Starting the penultimate round of the season from his fifth consecutive pole position, Bagnaia shrugged off a modest pick up at the lights to sweep back in front at Turn 2 before easing away from the pack.

His third win in five races, Bagnaia’s only realistic competition came from outgoing champion Joan Mir, who made the most of his career-first front row start to keep the Ducati man honest initially before fading as the Italian turned up the wick.

The race was brought to an early halt with two laps remaining after messy incident involving KTM riders Miguel Oliveira and Iker Lecuona, caused by the latter sliding out as he attempted to pass his stablemate, leading to home hope being caught between the two bikes as they skidded into the gravel. Both riders were conscious, though Oliveira was stretched off my medical crews as the flags were deployed.

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Another resounding performance from a man whose formidable late season form arguably ranks him ahead of new champion Fabio Quartararo as the title favorite in 2022, Bagnaia’s win also had the effect of wrapping up the Constructors Championship for Ducati.

Indeed, it was a sobering afternoon for Quartararo in his first race as World Champion, the Frenchman suffering in the chasing pack to run sixth initially before dropping to seventh with a mistake at turn 13 on lap 12. However, just as he was making progress again by overtaking Jorge Martin for sixth, he’d fold the front at the tricky turn 5, dumping him out of a race for the first time in 2021.

Up at the front, Mir’s lonely second place finish secures him third in the standings, with the most engrossing battle of the race belonging to Jack Miller and Alex Marquez as they disputed the final podium spot.

Held by Miller initially, who after getting the hole-shot at the start had slipped back, Marquez – in his most convincing performance of the season – found himself staring at a possible first podium of the year with a fine crawl up the order from eighth on the grid.

However, after punishing Miller for a mistake on lap 12, the Aussie regrouped and overtook again with four laps to go before the red flags denied the Spaniard any chance to respond.

Johann Zarco wrapped up the Independents’ title in fifth place after passing Pramac Racing team-mate Martin shortly before the early stoppage, the Spaniard – still ailing from the injuries he sustained in a crash at the circuit at the start of the season – also overtaken by Pol Espargaro to finish seventh.

Despite showing front-running pace, Alex Rins couldn’t catch up to the chasing group in eighth place, while Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder were the big beneficiaries from the crash ahead for Oliveira and Lecuona, rising two spots for ninth and tenth positions.

A frustrating and painful end to Oliveira’s home race, the Portuguese rider – a winner during the circuit’s inaugural race 12 months ago – had been enduring a dismal weekend after starting 17th, but a strong start had him up inside the top ten throughout. However, it would end on a stretcher after Lecuona’s faux pas, the Tech 3 rider attempting to make up ground after an off-track moment earlier in the race dropped him from seventh to 12th.

Takaaki Nakagami made strong gains to finish 11th from last on the grid, ahead of Luca Marini, while Valentino Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Marquez-sub Stefan Bradl completed the top fifteen points’ paying positions.,

Elsewhere, Danilo Petrucci crashed out on lap one – the second event in succession he hasn’t made it past lap two – while Aleix Espargaro suffered a fast fall at Turn 1 on lap eight.

2021 Algarve MotoGP | Portimao | Race RESULTS | Round 17 / 18