Ducati’s pole sitter Francesco Bagnaia produced a near-flawless display at the Algarve Grand Prix on Sunday to claim his third victory of the season, finishing ahead of Spain’s outgoing champion Joan Mir of Suzuki and team mate Jack Miller.
Italian Bagnaia, who was starting first on the grid for a fifth straight race, overcame a minor early blip in which he briefly lost the lead before crossing the line in dominant fashion in the penultimate race of the season.
Yamaha’s new world champion Fabio Quartararo – who clinched the title at last month’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix – began his reign in disappointing fashion as he crashed out with five laps to go in the race.
It was the first time that the consistent Frenchman had not finished a race this season and capped off a disappointing weekend in which he also struggled in qualifying.
Miller lost pace with 15 laps to go and was overtaken by LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez, who made up five places in search of his first podium this season, but the Australian regained ground to take third and help Ducati claim the constructors’ title.
The race ended in anti-climactic fashion shortly before the finish with a red flag being waved following a bad crash.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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