Francesco Bagnaia snatched victory in the maiden MotoGP sprint race away from Jorge Martin on the final lap after the Pramac rider made an error and ran wide.
Proceedings got underway underneath the beating Portuguese sun, a very different proposition compared to the rain showers that affected early running during Friday practice.
Conditions were still challenging though due to the strong winds afflicting the Algarve International Circuit, which provided the riders an extra variable to think about while trying to make further progress up the grid to start their 2023 campaigns on the right foot.
All 21 riders that qualified took the start, with only Pol Espargaro being unable to join his peers after the GasGas rider was ruled out for the remainder of the weekend following his violent Turn 10 crash during FP2 on Friday afternoon which left the Spaniard with a lung contusion and a fractured dorsal vertebra among other injuries.
Bagnaia initially fell to third off the start after factory Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini managed to dive down the inside at Turn 1 due to a rapid start, though the reigning world champion quickly reversed his fortunes to move into the runners-up spot behind pole-man Marc Marquez – who he duly passed.
He soon dropped behind a charging Martin though, while he then fell to third as Jack Miller aimed to begin his KTM career with a bang – the Aussie briefly leading before Martin managed to swiftly re-gain the leadership.
The Pramac rider started to run out of tyres as the 12-lap sprint approached its conclusion though, with Bagnaia piling the pressure on over the final couple of laps before Martin eventually opened the door by running wide at Turn 5 – gifting Bagnaia an advantage he would not relinquish as he took the chequered flag 0.307s clear of Martin.
The battle for the final spot on the rostrum looked to be going the way of home hero Miguel Oliveira, though the RNF Aprilia man ran wide at Turn 10 on the last circulation and allowed Marquez through to claim the spot.
Miller ended up fourth after fading in the final laps, while Maverick Vinales completed the top five after making a bold move on Aprilia team-mate Aleix Espargaro on the final tour.
Espargaro was sixth ahead of Oliveira, with Johann Zarco claiming eighth on his Pramac Ducati.
Alex Marquez took the final point in ninth, denying Fabio Quartararo who rounded off the top ten despite being pushed wide by Honda’s Joan Mir on the opening lap.
The 2020 MotoGP world champion made a rather optimistic lunge on Quartararo at Turn 13, Mir clattering into the side of the Yamaha and falling off his machine and into retirement while Quartararo dropped to 17th.
Joining Mir on the sidelines were both VR46 Ducati riders, Marco Bezzecchi crashing out after only a few laps while Luca Marini went out after tucking the front of his Desmosedici at Turn 5 just a lap prior to his team-mate – his error also taking out Bastianini who was taken to the medical centre for checks.
Keyword: Bagnaia scores first MotoGP sprint win after Martin error