Portimao was hosting the MotoGP Championship for the first time in its history at the occasion of the last event of the 2020 season. After the world title was awarded the previous weekend, the remaining stakes included the title of world vice-champion.
There were still six contenders in the race to claim this honorary title of world vice-champion. Separated by only 20 points, Morbidelli, Quartararo, Viñales, Rins, Paul Espargaro, and Dovizioso promised us an intense battle!
“I want to enjoy myself. I think we can have a really good race here,” explained Fabio Quartararo, who was taking his 100th Grand Prix start. Boxed in at the first corner, the Frenchman lost three positions and found himself in eighth place. The best-placed was Maralpin’s teammate, Franco Morbidelli, in second position. Meanwhile, the fight between the other protagonists, Quartararo, Rins, and Viñales, who follow closely on track, was living up to expectations. The first to drop out was Andrea Dovizioso on his Ducati. A few laps later, it was Viñales who made a small error. The Spaniard, future teammate of Fabio Quartararo next year in the official Yamaha team, once again fell back, as has often been the case over the past few years.
A battle for third place was thus shaping up between Alex Rins, P. Espargaro, and the man from Nice. Engulfed in a group of about ten riders, the three men followed each other closely in the first 10 laps. The one who managed to get ahead was Espargaro, leading this group on his KTM. Unfortunately, Quartararo, like in the second half of the season, could not keep up with the pace and was left behind, like most of the Yamaha machines, except for Mordibelli, who was holding onto his second place solidly.
Shortly after the midway point of the race, it was Rins’ turn to lose contact. The Spaniard found himself just ahead of Quartararo and Viñales, who, like at the beginning of the race, went back on the attack but only for the 12th place. In this little game, it was Viñales who came out on top.
Out front, the Portuguese Miguel Oliveira, racing for the French Tech 3 team (KTM), dominated his home Grand Prix from start to finish and secured his second victory of the season. Different fortunes for the new world champion Joan Mir, who was forced to retire due to a technical problem but could rejoice in having clinched his title the previous week!
Ultimately, the battle to determine his successor in the championship wouldn’t progress any further during the second half of the race. Franco Morbidelli, despite losing his second place in the last lap of the race, claimed the title of world vice-champion. Disappointment, therefore, for our local rider who couldn’t find the solution in the second half of the season to regain the performance level that was his at the beginning of the season. The man from Nice ended up in eighth place in this world championship, with likely a lot of doubts in his mind. Questions that will need to be quickly brushed away to start the next season at full speed!
See you in Qatar, on March 28, 2021, to open a new chapter in the history of MotoGP with, hopefully, a man from Nice at the top of the world hierarchy!
