Bagnaia wins Algarve MotoGP, Lecuona-Oliveira clash causes late red flag

A dominant Francesco Bagnaia has won his third MotoGP race after leading every lap around the Portimao Circuit. 

Jack Miller made a brilliant start as the lights went out and immediately took the lead from team-mate Bagnaia. 

However, the Australian’s lead lasted just one corner as Bagnaia repassed Miller on the exit of turn two. Miller was then relegated to third by Suzuki’s Joan Mir on the same lap. 

At the beginning of lap two, Iker Lecuona made a late move on Pol Espargaro for sixth, but the Tech 3 KTM rider ran wide which also pushed the Honda man off-track - allowing Fabio Quartararo through and into P6.

Alex Marquez, who went from eighth to fifth during the first two laps, then got ahead of Jorge Martin for fourth. 

At the front, Bagnaia and Mir began to pull clear of Miller who had Marquez, Martin and Quartararo for close company. 

Miller was able to respond on lap four in order to keep a consistent gap of six tenths between Mir and himself. 

The gap from Quartararo in sixth and compatriot Johann Zarco in seventh began to close up on lap five, while Lecuona made yet another error at turn one to fall from eighth to 12th. 

Back-to-back quick laps then saw race leader Bagnaia increase his advantage from four to seven tenths. 

Further back, Aleix Espargaro’s race came to a disappointing end on lap eight after suffering a fast crash at turn one. 

The gap between Bagnaia and Mir continued to fluctuate in different sectors, however, the Ducati rider was able to slowly edge clear at the end of every lap. 

Bagnaia’s lead after ten laps was a full second - a margin that was the same between Mir and Miller. 

A small mistake from Miller then allowed Marquez to close in on lap ten, before the Spaniard got through at the start of lap 11 - turn one. 

Then it was the turn of Quartararo to make a mistake as he momentarily lost the front end at turn 13.  The Yamaha rider lost sixth place to Zarco in the process. 

Bagnaia continued to show his dominance out front as a 2.5 second gap separated himself and Mir with ten to go.

The battle for third intensified with seven laps to go as Miller made a move down the inside of Marquez at turn one. 

However, the LCR Honda rider executed a brilliant switch back to regain P3. Meanwhile, Quartararo managed to get back past Zarco for sixth. 

But just as Quartararo seemed to have a pace advantage of Zarco, the Pramac rider got back through on the main straight. 

Zarco then promoted himself into fifth with an overtake on team-mate Martin, a move which helped Quartararo get through as well. 

With five laps to go Miller finally got through on Marquez for P3, while 2021 MotoGP champion Quartararo crashed out at turn five. Quartararo’s crash is his first DNF of the season. 

Shortly after Quartararo’s crash came a red flag after Lecuona crashed into Miguel Oliviera which resulted in the Portuguese rider being stretchered away - all riders were conscious.

It means Bagnaia has won his third race of the year, while Mir and Miller round out the podium.