The 2024 Portuguese MotoGP race saw Jorge Martin emerge victorious with another factory Ducati rider, Enea Bastianini second and rookie Pedro Acosta crossing the finish line in third place.
- Pedro Acosta secures podium finish in his second GP
- Bagnaia and M. Marquez crash on lap 23 of the race
- Maverick Vinales' gearbox failure leads to crash on second last lap
Pedro Acosta third youngest podium finisher in MotoGP
Starting in seventh place, GASGAS Tech 3 rider, Pedro Acosta overtook both the factory KTM riders that were ahead of him and for much of the race was battling with Marc Marquez and reigning World Champion, Francesco Bagnaia. The first one to fall prey to Acosta’s clutches was Marc Marquez and later on the rookie overtook the 2023 World Champion to take fourth place.
Once Acosta overtook the two Ducati riders ahead of him, they were locked in their own joust and in the closing stages of the race, they both came together and crashed. While Francesco Bagnaia retired, Marc Marquez rejoined the race and eventually took the chequered flag in 16th place, just outside the points.
Maverick Vinales, who was running second at the start of the last lap, slowed down, went off track and highsided out of the race. This was attributed to a gearbox failure and promoted Pedro Acosta to the final step of the podium, who was the highest finisher in this race amongst all his Pierer Mobility peers.
The podium battle, home hero in top 10
Jorge Martin had an impeccable start in the main race and he took the lead from the first corner of the race to stay there till the very end. For much of the race, Maverick Vinales was running in a very close second place until a gearbox failure on the start of the last lap put an end to his race and a podium in a full-length Grand Prix with three different manufacturers. Enea Bastianini was running in third place for the entirety of the race and managed to hold onto that position despite multiple attempts from different riders. Home crowd favourite, Miguel Oliveira, came across the finish line in eighth place and was the highest finisher amongst the four Aprilia riders.
2024 MotoGP championship standings
With Martin taking the win in the feature-length race and finishing on the podium in the Sprint race, last year’s runner-up, Jorge Martin currently leads the World Championship standings. Bard Binder is second and Enea Bastianini is third. Reigning World Champion Francesco Bagnaia is currently fourth in the standings. The next MotoGP race will be held on April 12-14 at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
2024 Portuguese MotoGP results
Unnatee Gidithuri
