Fabulous Fabio, El Diablo demolition in Portimao

April 28, 2022

MotoGP – Grande Premio Tissot De Portugal. Portimao. 24.4.2022

Quali and the Grid:

Under difficult circumstances, it was the likeable Johann Zarco who put his Ducati on pole. Joan Mir was solid on the Suzuki in P2, and Aleix Espargaro once again showed us Aprilia’s performance spike with P3. After a nasty crash on Saturday, Francesco Bagnaia was declared fit to race, not so for Raul Fernandez who suffered a hand injury in Q1 and could not race.

The Race:

It was overcast skies and potential rain as the riders took to the circuit for the warm-up lap.

Joan Mir shot away from the line, the Suzuki looking stable and like a rocket. Not to be denied, Fabio Quartararo also had a great start from P5 and slotted in behind Mir on the first lap, the leaders already creating a gap from Miller, Zarco and Alex Marquez. Alex Rins was amazing in the first two laps, making up thirteen places!

On only lap four, with 22 to go from the 25, Fabio Quartararo cruised past Joan Mir to take the lead, then set about creating the rhythm that he is known for, and the other riders fear from El Diablo. This left Joan Mir in P2, Zarco P3, Miller P4 and Alex Marquez in a solid P5.

With Fabio Quartararo setting consistent lap times, the race pace was calm. Joan Mir had Fabio in his sights, but there was 1.7 second gap between them on lap 8 with 18 to go. There was plenty going on behind the leaders, in particular, Alex Rins consistently making progress, so much that he was P6 on lap 9.

With eight laps to go Fabio was running a masterclass at the front, with a 5.313 second gap over P2 man Zarco, Joan Mir in P3 but slowing and Jack Miller P4, with Aleix Espargaro in a solid P5 on the Aprilia. With seven laps to go, Miller came in to turn one, too quick and too ambitious and tried to get under Joan Mir, he lost control and crashed, taking Mir with him! Racing incident? Maybe, but seriously why, where is the skill that we see other riders use to overtake? Mir was gracious after the crash, first of all, checking Miller was ok, then being very fair when, to his credit, Miller came to apologise.

Last lap and Fabio had a 5.832 second lead over Johann Zarco in P2, with Aleix Espargaro in P3 and Alex Rins in P4, after an incredible race from way down on the grid. So that was how it ended with Fabio winning his first race since Silverstone 2021, hard to believe considering he is the current World Champion, but that is the hallmark of champions, consistency and using your head.