Fabio Quartararo clinches second consecutive victory at Portimão

Michelle L.

April 19, 2021

The Frenchman carves his second victory of the season ahead of Pecco Bagnaia and reigning world champion Joan Mir.

Fabio Quartararo maintains Yamaha’s winning streak with a triumph in Portugal.

The Portuguese Grand Prix closed its veil and Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP sweeps its third consecutive victory with Fabio Quartararo passing the chequered flag for the second time in a row. The Frenchman converted pole position into victory at the Grande Prémio 888 de Portugal as the MotoGP race saw some big names crash out. Quartararo remained cool and calm at the front despite intense pressure from Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar). It wasn’t to be for the number 42 though as he crashed out, with Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) then carving his way through to second and just holding off third-placed Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar). The returning Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) battled through the pain to finish P7 after a few feisty exchanges.

Teammate Maverick Viñales didn’t recover from a horror start, and in the end, benefited from a few crashes to pick up P11. Luca Marini (Sky VR46 Avintia) slipped to P12 from a P8 start but it was nevertheless a very promising weekend for the Italian, and a job well done after some awesome speed in practice. Injured Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing), Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) completed the points, and Oliveira was the final finisher in P16 after his crash.

The MotoGP paddock heads to Jerez next for the Spanish Grand Prix on May 2.

Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP)- As It Happened

“Good to feel back! I feel full of confidence. Bringing that confidence from Qatar. Now we know what we need to work to go fast. I only need to feel the front and I go fast and just focus on my riding. Woah, what a pace. I didn’t expect it, I was less than half a second from my qualifying lap on the pace. It was amazing, also the pressure of Rins in the back, I wanted to make a gap. He made a mistake and then… I was riding well; I was riding easy and still making a gap to Pecco.

“We did an amazing job, we were P1 all day yesterday, P1 today, thanks to the team. Important points, and now we go to one of my favourite tracks in Jerez. I can’t wait to be there, thanks to my family for watching. It will be a great celebration for my birthday in two days. ”