It was Portimao perfection for Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo as he eased to a first win of 2022 and the World Championship lead at the Tissot Grand Prix of Portugal. In a day to remember for France, he was joined on the podium by Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) in second, whilst Aprilia Racing’s Aleix Espargaro benefitted from late drama involving Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) to take third. Quartararo is now the Championship leader, although he is tied at the top on points with Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins, who put in arguably the ride of the day by recovering from 23rd on the grid to finish fourth.
Off the line it was Mir with the perfect launch, firing clear of the rest of the grid to take the holeshot. Another strong start came from Quartararo who quickly moved through on his compatriot Zarco to take second halfway around the opening lap. Meanwhile, further back, Alex Rins had somehow launched his factory Suzuki up an incredible 13 places on the first lap to go from 23rd to inside the top ten.
At the front, it didn’t take long for Quartararo to get into his rhythm. The Frenchman was flying and had quickly reduced Mir’s early advantage down to nothing before then, at the start of Lap 4, he made his move on the 2020 World Champion at Turn 1. Mir had no response and Quartararo was leading a race for the first time this year.
Nobody could match the metronomic pace of the reigning World Champion and he edged further and further into the lead. He set a new fastest lap of the race and Portimao lap record, a 1:39.435, on Lap 10 by which point Mir had thrown in the towel and was looking over his shoulder in the fight for second. Quartararo would eventually cruise across the line over five seconds clear of second place for his first victory since the British Grand Prix in August of last year and, as a result, he jumped to the top of the MotoGP™ World Championship.
It was much closer in the fight for the final podium places with Mir defending hard as Zarco applied more and more pressure. The Frenchman took advantage of a tiny error by the Spaniard out of the final corner to power past him down the start-finish straight and take second. However, he ran wide at the opening corner allowing Mir to swoop back through. A lap later Zarco got the job done, again capitalising on a small wheelie by Mir out of the final corner to dive through on the brakes into Turn 1.
Six laps remained, with Jack Miller now challenging Mir for third, when the moment of the race took place between the usual sparring partners. The Australian pulled alongside the Suzuki man down the start-finish straight and they side-by-side on the brakes into the opening corner when the front-end of Miller’s Ducati let go. Down went Miller and he took an innocent and unsuspecting Mir with him. The pair, thankfully, are both OK despite the frightening collision.
That elevated Aleix Espargaro to third as he eyed only the third MotoGP™ podium for Aprilia. The Argentine Grand Prix winner closed onto the rear wheel of Zarco on the final lap but couldn’t find a way through. Zarco took second, the thirteenth of his premier class career, and Espargaro had to settle for third.
Fourth across the line was arguably the man of the day: Alex Rins. A quite incredible performance from the factory Suzuki man saw him come through 23rd and, in doing so, lifted himself to equal points with Quartararo in the Championship chase. Another strong comeback rider came courtesy of the home hero Miguel Oliveira. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing man clinched a top five to bounce back from two crashes on home soil in 2021.
For the first time in MotoGP™ we were treated to a Marquez vs Marquez battle on the final lap of the race. LCR Castrol Honda’s Alex Marquez was holding off elder brother Marc quite brilliantly as the laps ticked by, before then, on the last lap, the Repsol Honda man squeezed his way through to take sixth place by only 0.020 ahead of Alex. Half a second back, Ducati Lenovo Team’s Francesco Bagnaia was gritting his teeth to salvage eighth place thanks to a last lap move on Repsol Honda’s Pol Espargaro. Aprilia’s Maverick Viñales took the final place inside the top ten.
There were crashes for Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing), Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing), Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Idemitsu Honda), Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), bringing to an end a run of 18 straight point-scoring finishes, and, most notably, the former World Championship leader Enea Bastianini.
MotoGP™ Portuguese GP Top 10:
1. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP)
2. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) + 5.409
3. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) + 6.068
4. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 9.633
5. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 13.573
6. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 16.163
7. Alex Marquez (LCR Castrol Honda) + 16.183
8. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 16.511
9. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) + 16.769
10. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) + 18.063.
Grande Prémio tissot de Portugal
Autódromo Internacional do Algarve
, April 24th 2022
18º C
Cloudy
Track condition: Dry
Humidity: 70%
Ground: 26º
| 1 | 25 | 20
FabioQuartararo
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ |
Yamaha | 165.3 | 41’39.6110 |
| 2 | 20 | 5
JohannZarco
Pramac Racing |
Ducati | 164.9 | +5.409 |
| 3 | 16 | 41
AleixEspargaro
Aprilia Racing |
Aprilia | 164.9 | +6.068 |
| 4 | 13 | 42
AlexRins
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR |
Suzuki | 164.7 | +9.633 |
| 5 | 11 | 88
MiguelOliveira
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
KTM | 164.4 | +13.573 |
| 6 | 10 | 93
MarcMarquez
Repsol Honda Team |
Honda | 164.2 | +16.163 |
| 7 | 9 | 73
AlexMarquez
LCR Honda Castrol |
Honda | 164.2 | +16.183 |
| 8 | 8 | 63
FrancescoBagnaia
Ducati Lenovo Team |
Ducati | 164.2 | +16.511 |
| 9 | 7 | 44
PolEspargaro
Repsol Honda Team |
Honda | 164.2 | +16.769 |
| 10 | 6 | 12
MaverickViñales
Aprilia Racing |
Aprilia | 164.1 | +18.063 |
| 11 | 5 | 4
AndreaDovizioso
WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team |
Yamaha | 163.4 | +29.029 |
| 12 | 4 | 10
LucaMarini
Mooney VR46 Racing Team |
Ducati | 163.4 | +29.249 |
| 13 | 3 | 21
FrancoMorbidelli
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ |
Yamaha | 163.1 | +33.354 |
| 14 | 2 | 87
RemyGardner
Tech3 KTM Factory Racing |
KTM | 162.7 | +40.205 |
| 15 | 1 | 72
MarcoBezzecchi
Mooney VR46 Racing Team |
Ducati | 162.3 | +46.052 |
| 16 | 30
TakaakiNakagami
LCR Honda IDEMITSU |
Honda | 162.1 | +49.569 | |
| 17 | 40
DarrynBinder
WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team |
Yamaha | 162 | +50.303 |
Non-classified riders
| 36
JoanMir
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR |
Suzuki | 164.9 | 18 Laps | ||
| 33
BradBinder
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
KTM | 163.9 | 17 Laps | ||
| 32
LorenzoSavadori
Aprilia Racing |
Aprilia | 161.2 | 24 Laps | ||
| 43
JackMiller
Ducati Lenovo Team |
Ducati | 164.8 | 18 Laps | ||
| 49
FabioDi Giannantonio
Gresini Racing MotoGP™ |
Ducati | 162.2 | 21 Laps | ||
| 89
JorgeMartin
Pramac Racing |
Ducati | 162.5 | 4 Laps | ||
| 23
EneaBastianini
Gresini Racing MotoGP™ |
Ducati | 163.4 | 9 Laps |
Autódromo Internacional do Algarve
, April 22nd 2022
13º C
Raining
Track condition: Wet
Humidity: 93%
Ground: 12º
Championship Standings MotoGP™ 2022
| 1 |  20 Fabio Quartararo |
 |
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ | Yamaha | 69 |
| 2 |  42 Alex Rins |
 |
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 69 |
| 3 |  41 Aleix Espargaro |
|
Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 66 |
| 4 |  23 Enea Bastianini |
 |
Gresini Racing MotoGP™ | Ducati | 61 |
| 5 |  5 Johann Zarco |
|
Pramac Racing | Ducati | 51 |
| 6 |  36 Joan Mir |
|
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 46 |
| 7 |  33 Brad Binder |
 |
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 42 |
| 8 |  88 Miguel Oliveira |
 |
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 39 |
| 9 |  43 Jack Miller |
 |
Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 31 |
| 10 |  63 Francesco Bagnaia |
|
Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 31 |
| 11 |  93 Marc Marquez |
|
Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 31 |
| 12 |  44 Pol Espargaro |
|
Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 30 |
| 13 |  89 Jorge Martin |
|
Pramac Racing | Ducati | 28 |
| 14 |  12 Maverick Viñales |
|
Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 25 |
| 15 |  21 Franco Morbidelli |
|
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ | Yamaha | 17 |
| 16 |  10 Luca Marini |
|
Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | 14 |
| 17 |  73 Alex Marquez |
|
LCR Honda Castrol | Honda | 13 |
| 18 |  30 Takaaki Nakagami |
 |
LCR Honda IDEMITSU | Honda | 12 |
| 19 |  72 Marco Bezzecchi |
|
Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | 8 |
| 20 |  4 Andrea Dovizioso |
|
WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team | Yamaha | 8 |
| 21 |  40 Darryn Binder |
|
WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team | Yamaha | 6 |
| 22 |  87 Remy Gardner |
|
Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 3 |
| 23 |  25 Raul Fernandez |
|
Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 0 |
| 24 |  49 Fabio Di Giannantonio |
|
Gresini Racing MotoGP™ | Ducati | 0 |
| 25 |  32 Lorenzo Savadori |
|
Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 0 |
| 26 |  6 Stefan Bradl |
 |
Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 0 |
Credits : Photos and content courtesy of MotoGP.com
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Wing Hin Motorsports Looks To Japan To Expand Its Driver Development Program![]()
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“This is a strong result to kickstart the season but the development process continues and both drivers acknowledge that the challenges ahead will get tougher.”![]()
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Wing Hin Motorsports’ Driver Development Program received a huge boost when two of its drivers finished the opening round of the Japanese Toyota GAZOO Racing GR86/BRZ Clubman Series in 2nd and 6th positions at Autopolis Circuit.![]()
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Malaysia’s Mitchell Cheah got off to a dream start in his racing debut in Japan when he powered the Wing Hin Motorsports GR86 to a hard-fought 2nd place.![]()
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The 2026 Toyota GAZOO Racing GR86/BRZ Cup will be run over seven rounds. From the season-opener at Autopolis, the Series moves to Round 2 from 16-17 May at Sportsland Sugo, followed by Round 3 from 27-28 June at Okayama International Circuit; and Round 4 from 8-9 August at the Tokachi Speedway. Round 5 will be held at Fuji Speedway from 5-6 September, followed by Round 6 from 3-4 October at Suzuka Circuit before the 7th and final round at Mobility Resort Montegi from 21-22 November.
Wing Hin Motorsports Looks To Japan To Expand Its Driver Development Program![]()
![]()
“This is a strong result to kickstart the season but the development process continues and both drivers acknowledge that the challenges ahead will get tougher.”![]()
![]()
Wing Hin Motorsports’ Driver Development Program received a huge boost when two of its drivers finished the opening round of the Japanese Toyota GAZOO Racing GR86/BRZ Clubman Series in 2nd and 6th positions at Autopolis Circuit.![]()
![]()
Malaysia’s Mitchell Cheah got off to a dream start in his racing debut in Japan when he powered the Wing Hin Motorsports GR86 to a hard-fought 2nd place.![]()
![]()
The 2026 Toyota GAZOO Racing GR86/BRZ Cup will be run over seven rounds. From the season-opener at Autopolis, the Series moves to Round 2 from 16-17 May at Sportsland Sugo, followed by Round 3 from 27-28 June at Okayama International Circuit; and Round 4 from 8-9 August at the Tokachi Speedway. Round 5 will be held at Fuji Speedway from 5-6 September, followed by Round 6 from 3-4 October at Suzuka Circuit before the 7th and final round at Mobility Resort Montegi from 21-22 November.
Wing Hin Motorsports Looks To Japan To Expand Its Driver Development Program![]()
![]()
Having won the Toyota GAZOO Racing GR86/BRZ Clubman Series last year, Malaysia’s Wing Hin Motorsports is doubling down on its’s presence in Japan to establish a gateway for the rise of racing talent from Asia.![]()
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In collaboration with Masahiro Sasaki, a Gazoo Racing and Rookie Racing driver, the Malaysian team will field two drivers at the opening of the 2026 Toyota GAZOO Racing GR86/BRZ Clubman Series this weekend as part of its Driver Development Program. Wing Hin Motorsports had won the Series in its debut last year with Naquib Azlan and also clinched a 4th place overall with a second Malaysian driver Amer Harris.![]()
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This year, Wing Hin Motorsports will field Malaysian touring car ace Mitchell Cheah and Indonesian Jordan Johan in the Series with Round 1 taking on the Autopolis Circuit.
