The Grand Prix of Portugal brought sweeping highs and crashing lows for Team Suzuki Ecstar as Alex Rins crafted a superb fight through the field from 23rd on the grid to fourth. And Joan Mir, who was in the running for a strong podium, was wiped out seven laps from the end of the race.

The 25-lap race started under threatening clouds but the GSX-RR riders had their minds clearly set on their potential. Mir took the ‘holeshot’ from second on the grid and Rins made a very fast progression from 23rd up to 11th. On Lap 4 Mir lost the lead to Fabio Quartararo but the Suzuki man’s determination kept him up the front, despite struggling with a lack of feeling.

While Mir was fighting to keep the Ducati riders behind him, Rins was swiftly moving up the order, taking sixth on Lap 8 by sweeping through on his nearest rivals. But it was all to change when a mistake from Jack Miller under braking at Turn 1 took Mir out of the race as the pair hit the gravel trap at speed with seven laps to go. Both riders were OK.

This meant that Rins – cool and calm after his calculated carve through – had moved into fourth place, he held the chasing pack at bay and maintained this spot until the chequered flag.

Rins now holds second in the Championship, equal on points with Fabio Quartararo (69 a piece), and Team Suzuki Ecstar continue to lead the Teams’ Standings.

Alex Rins:

“It was a good race for me, I finished quite a long way up considering my grid spot. These points are very important, and it’s great to have moved up the standings; I’m now in second place, on equal points with Fabio. Honestly, I believed in my potential today, even if it seemed tough from so far back. I knew I could have a good rhythm and a strong finish. The contrast between yesterday and today is massive, yesterday we didn’t feel much like celebrating but now we can be happy with the race. Now let’s go to Spain and Jerez!”

Joan Mir:

“It was really hard to push in this race, I was struggling to attack. After my good start I was just trying to get the best position possible, and I sort of went into defence mode. What happened with Jack was obviously frustrating, but mistakes can happen in racing and I’ve also made similar mistakes in the past. It was a racing incident and nothing deliberate. It’s a shame not to score any points here, but we’ll move onto Jerez now and try to find the best settings to give me a good chance of fighting.”

Livio Suppo – Team Manager:

“Like yesterday, it’s mixed feelings for us. Of course, we’re really sorry for what happened to Joan, it was a racing incident, but it was a pity because he was doing a great job at the front. Alex did unbelievably well, and even though he got fourth partly due to the crash involving Joan, he did a lot of hard work and gave a solid performance to work his way up the results. It gives us a good feeling heading into Jerez, and hopefully the weather will also be on our side there!”

Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager:

“In Portimão we had potential to fight for the podium, and for Joan we thought even a win was possible. In the end the race didn’t work out as we’d hoped, and Joan crashed with another rider while in a good position. This is racing, and sometimes things don’t work out. On the other hand, Alex did a super recovery job to finish fourth, which is very positive and it keeps up his consistent finishes of the season so far. We’ll go directly into a new race week now and we’re looking forward to it.”

GRAND PRIX OF PORTUGAL RACE RESULTS:


1 Fabio QUARTARARO Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 41’39.611
2 Johann ZARCO Pramac Racing 41’45.020 5.409
3 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing 41’45.679 6.068
4 Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 41’49.244 9.633
5 Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 41’53.184 13.573
6 Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 41’55.774 16.163
7 Alex MARQUEZ LCR Honda CASTROL 41’55.794 16.183
8 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati Lenovo Team 41’56.122 16.511
9 Pol ESPARGARO Repsol Honda Team 41’56.380 16.769
10 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia Racing 41’57.674 18.063
11 Andrea DOVIZIOSO WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP 42’08.640 29.029
12 Luca MARINI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 42’08.860 29.249
13 Franco MORBIDELLI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 42’12.965 33.354
14 Remy GARDNER Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 42’19.816 40.205
15 Marco BEZZECCHI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 42’25.663 46.052
16 Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU 42’29.180 49.569
17 Darryn BINDER WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP 42’29.914 50.303