Portimao: Jorge Martin took the lead on the first lap and never relinquished his lead to win the Portuguese MotoGP on Sunday, the second race of the season.
Enea Bastianini was second and teenage rookie Pedro Acosta third.
Martin took first place in the standings from champion Francesco Bagnaio, who crashed after colliding with Marc Marquez in a wild final stage.
Bastianini on the factory Ducati started on pole, but Martin, third at lights out, quickly took the lead on his Pramac Ducati at the first corner and dominated the race.
Martin, Bagnaio’s championship runner-up last season, suffered a horror crash at Portimao in 2021 from which he needed several operations to recover.
“I had no problems today and I felt great… to win again is fantastic and I feel very competitive,” Martin told DAZN.
“I concentrated a lot on the start, I knew it would be key.
“I’m happy because I worked a lot… on every detail to feel 100 percent.”
The exciting 19-year-old Acosta on Gasgas-Tech3, seventh in qualifying, overtook KTM’s Brad Binder and then six-time MotoGP world champion Marquez on the Fresini Ducati to move up to fifth.
Italian defending two-time world champion Bagnaia kept Acosta at bay for a while, but the young Spaniard overtook him to claim the first podium after Maverick Vinales crashed out.
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“The team did an incredible job,” a delighted Acosta told DAZN.
“It’s the first stage and look at all the people, today is Gas Gas red day.
“Thanks to the whole team, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but now we have the first podium in the bag.”
Bagnaia, who opened the season with wins at the Algarve in 2021 and 2023, was chasing a 20th win but Martin stayed comfortably ahead of the chasing pack.
The final laps were chaotic, with Bagnaia and Marquez colliding at turn five and Vinales crashing out with an apparent technical problem on his Aprilia.
The team later said it was “probably” a transmission problem.
After the cancellation of the Argentine MotoGP, the next race will be held in Austin, Texas on April 12-14.
Martin leads the standings with 60 points from Binder with 42 and Bastianini with 39.
