MotoGP: A phenomenal fight between the 73 and 37, with Bezzecchi right there too, sees Gresini beat KTM by just a tenth on Saturday afternoon in Portugal.
MotoGP at its pulsating best. Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) vs Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). 73 vs 37. It was the sky blue of Marquez that won a barnstorming battle against the orange of Acosta in a Saturday head-to-head that will live long in the memory. Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) had the perfect viewing spot for the fight while also having his say, with the polesitter just 0.5s away from the gold medal as the trio treat us to something a little bit special in the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Portugal Tissot Sprint.
Bezzecchi grabs holeshot, Marquez gets away well
Bezzecchi launched perfectly from pole to earn the holeshot, with Acosta holding onto P2 ahead of the fast-starting Alex Marquez. The latter gained two places off the line, which meant Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) dropped a place each into P4 and P5 respectively.
At the end of Lap 2 of 12, Bezzecchi had Acosta swarming all over the rear tailpipes of his RS-GP and sure enough, on the run into Turn 1, Acosta struck. The #37 perfected the move to lead the Sprint, and now, Marquez was tucked right behind Bezzecchi too. A gap of 1.5s had opened up behind the rapid trio to Quartararo, Bagnaia and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team).
Let battle commence: Bezzecchi vs Acosta vs Marquez
On Lap 3, Turn 1 saw Bezzecchi get picked off by Marquez. A copy and paste from the pass Acosta made, with the KTM, Ducati and Aprilia riders locked together. Further back, Lap 4 saw Nicolo Bulega (Ducati Lenovo Team) crash out of his first Sprint, Turn 13 catching the Italian out, and at a similar time, Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) was forced to retire.
Another Turn 1 move, anyone? Go on then. Marquez attacked but Acosta didn’t hang around in P2 for long. The #37 went for the lead at Turn 3, but Marquez was able to keep hold of P1 on the cutback. Then, Turn 5 witnessed a brilliant move pay off for Acosta, but once again, a couple of laps later, Marquez was able to get a lovely run out of the final corner to set up another Sprint leading move into Turn 1.
However, four corners later, Acosta again lunged at Turn 5 and got the move done. Bezzecchi had a VIP seat in this and the Italian had a wonderful view of Marquez’s latest Turn 1 pass on Acosta.
This was scintillating. Alex Marquez vs Acosta, with Bezzecchi ready to react to any error from the Spaniards. But with three laps to go, Marquez looked like he had something extra in his pocket compared to Acosta and Bezzecchi, with the latter now climbing all over the rear wheel of the KTM.
Heading onto the last lap, Marquez’s lead was 0.4s. Did Acosta have anything left? The answer was yes. Enough to get within touching distance anyway. In the end, it wasn’t quite enough, but what a fight Acosta put up. Marquez fended off his compatriot by just 0.120s, with Bezzecchi third by just half a second in a very memorable Tissot Sprint at Portimao’s rollercoaster.
The Saturday points scorers
Quartararo kept hold of P4 to cap off a good day for the Yamaha star, with Di Giannantonio eight tenths in arrears to round out the top five. Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) won a great battle for P6 that went down to the wire, with Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) also getting the better of Pecco out of the final corner as the Italian loses crucial points in the race for P3 overall. It was P8 in the end for the #63, with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) picking up the final Saturday point in P9.
Coming up: Grand Prix Sunday in Portugal
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