Monster Energy Yamaha rider, Fabio Quartararo, won the MotoGP Portugal 2022 race. MotoGP Portugal is the fifth race of the 2022 World Championship which will take place at the Algarve International Circuit on Sunday April 24 2022 local time.
Starting the race from fifth place, Fabio Quartararo has managed to push to the second position on the first lap. Fabio Quartararo then managed to overtake Joan Mir from Suzuki Ecstar at Turn one to take over the lead early in the fourth lap. Since then, Fabio Quartararo was no longer overtaken until he finally managed to become the first rider to cross the finish line.
Fabio Quartararo this time on the MotoGP podium in Portugal 2022 accompanied by Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing). Aleix Espargaro took the third podium after taking advantage of the incident involving Joan Mir (Suzuki Ecstar) and Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo). Joan Mir and Jack Miller could not continue the race after colliding at Turn 1 on lap 19. This is Fabio Quartararo’s first win in the 2022 MotoGP World Championship. Overall, this is Fabio Quartararo’s 9th win in his career as a MotoGP rider.
The course of the 2022 Portuguese MotoGP Race:
The track at the Algarve Circuit this time was completely dry, it was different from the free practice session or free practice for the Portugal 2022 MotoGP. However, dark clouds were still visible over the Algerve Circuit a few moments before the Portugal 2022 MotoGP race started. This made several teams prepare motorbikes with wet tires in front of their paddock in case the race turned into a wet race.
Quoted from Sky Sports Italia, there are only two riders who use medium-hard tires, namely Alex Marquez (LCR Honda) and Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda). The 22 other riders, such as Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha), and Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) as pole sitters, used a combination of medium-medium tires.
Joan Mir (Suzuki Ecstar) who started the race from second place immediately led the race before the first corner. Joan Mir leads followed by Fabio Quartararo and Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo). On the other hand, Johann Zarco immediately dropped to fifth on the first lap.
Joan Mir’s teammate, Alex Rins, became the rider who had the best start. Alex Rins, who started the race from 23rd, had moved up 13 places to 10th on the second lap. Right at the start of the fourth lap, Fabio Quartararo managed to overtake Joan Mir at the first corner to take over the lead of the race. Fabio Quartararo took the lead after being the fastest rider to finish the second and third laps. Quartararo was recorded to complete the third lap with a time of 1 minute 39.836 seconds. On the fifth lap, Quartararo led by 0.722 seconds over Joan Mir in second.
In the middle of the fifth lap, Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) slipped off the track in sector four. The incident made Jorge Martin unable to continue the race.
At the beginning of the seventh lap, Marc Marquez and his teammate, Pol Espargaro, were involved in a fierce battle at Turn 1 for the 9th position. Pol Espargaro at that time managed to maintain the 9th position. Meanwhile, Fabio Quartararo managed to widen his lead over Joan Mir to one more second on the seventh lap.
Marc Marquez’s attempt to overtake Pol Espargaro finally succeeded at the beginning of the 8th lap. Marquez overtook Pol Espargaro right at the first corner. Exactly on the 10th lap, Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing) suffered a low side crash at Turn 8 so he was immediately out of the race. Fabio Quartararo again became the fastest rider on the 10th lap with a time of 1 minute 39.435 seconds.
The French rider remained in the lead, followed by Joan Mir and Johann Zarco behind him. The three riders had already started to leave the group on the 11th lap. Until the 15th lap, Fabio Quartararo was still the leading rider. Fabio Quartararo took the lead even further after Joan Mir was busy dealing with Johann Zarco’s pressure.
At the beginning of the 16th lap, Quartararo was already 4.554 seconds ahead of Joan Mir, who was almost overtaken by Johann Zarco at the first corner. Right on the 17th lap, Johann Zarco finally managed to overtake Joan Mir in the first Tikngan to win the second post.
Two laps later, Joan Mir and Jack Miller crashed at the first corner. The moment started with Jack Miller’s attempt to overtake Joan Mir at the first corner. However, Jack Miller lost control and slipped. Jack Miller and his Ducati Desmosedici GP22 then immediately nudged Joan Mir. The incident was then used by Aleix Espargaro to occupy the third position. Until the end of the race, none of the drivers managed to catch up to Fabio Quartararo.
