Portuguese GP talking points: "There was no love lost there"

Get stuck into some of the notable talking points that emerged from a dramatic weekend in Portimao

The aftermath of the phenomenal Grande Prémio Tissot de Portugal isn't short of talking points, is it? From Jorge Martin's (Prima Pramac Racing) first Sunday win of the season to that crash between two World Champions, and of course Pedro Acosta's (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) scintillating debut premier class podium. 

Here's a rundown of what some of the riders had to say about the hot topics from Portimao. 

Riders share thoughts on Bagnaia and Marc Marquez's incident 

Arguably the biggest talking point from the Portuguese GP was the reigning World Champion and eight-time World Champion's crash at Turn 5 in the latter stages of the race. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) collided while scrapping for a top five finish in Portimao, and some of their fellow competitors shared their views on what unfolded. 

- WATCH: "HE KNOWS WHAT MISTAKE HE DID" - BAGNAIA AND MARQUEZ DISCUSS COLLISION 
- WATCH: BAGNAIA AND MARQUEZ' PORTIMAO CRASH FROM ALL ANGLES

Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing): "I kind of could because early on in the race when we went out of Turn 5 those two were absolutely banging each other, coming out of Turn 5 they hit into each other and every time they probably touched three or four times through the acceleration through six, and every time they're hitting the one on the outside was losing the front and the one on the inside was almost highsiding and I was behind trying to obviously go with the group, but I was just waiting for an absolute aeroplane crash in front of me.

"There was no love lost there, they're all pushing hard at the beginning as we all were, but it obviously all boiled over there at the end. It's a hard place to pass this track, to pass nicely, and it's unfortunate what happened but that's racing and I'm sure those boys will be back to fight in Texas."

Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing): "I saw it in a replay. For me it’s a racing incident. It’s always a difficult corner to negotiate. But I think Pecco could give a bit more space to Marc in order to avoid the contact.”

Martin: "About the incident, I saw with three to go or whatever, I saw it on the screen. At that point, I thought, 'Jorge, you need to finish, 100%.' So, for two corners I was really blocked. But then I said to myself, 'Today you need to win.' I didn’t care about finishing, just winning. That corner, it’s a bit complicated. Racing." 

Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team): "I don’t know what really happened. But as you’re fighting, it’s always difficult to overtake and this kind of contact can happen."

Binder talks Acosta: "He's a real class act"

After the reigning Moto2™ World Champion became the third youngest premier class podium finisher in history, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) discussed what he saw when Acosta passed him - on the same machinery - on his way to a P3 finish. 

"I’ll tell you when he passed me, he was rolling eh, he’s really special. When you watch him ride you can see how good he is, the way he can control the bike, has a lot of corner speed, picks it up nicely, he’s a real class act. Hats off to him, he really deserves a podium." 

Read more of what Acosta's rivals had to say on the rookie's performance HERE! 

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Mir: "It doesn’t make any sense at the stage of the race"

Something that wasn't seen on TV was the first lap incident involving Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) and Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team). The latter finished the race in P12 despite suffering sufficient damage to his RC213V, while Morbidelli crossed the line in P18. Here's what Mir had to say about what happened:

"Morbidelli decided to finish the race earlier and then I received a contact on the first lap, at Turn 8. I went completely out of the track. I was last, without any wings. Everything was destroyed, as well as my leathers. I don’t understand, it doesn’t make any sense at that stage of the race." 

Martin: "This is a track where I almost lost everything in 2021"

After winning his first Sunday race since the 2023 Thai GP, Martin described his 2024 Portuguese GP victory as "the most mature" of his career. But there's a bit more to his Portimao win than just an important 25 points...

"I think it’s the most mature. This is a track where I almost lost everything in 2021. I broke nine bones in corner seven. Today I’m here in the first place. I’m grateful for the track. I think this gives me a lot of maturity for the future also. Today, taking the lead at the beginning was a bit more easy because I could manage at the beginning. So, as soon as they were catching, I had this small margin of maybe one tenth or half a tenth, and every lap was faster than the one."

Two weekends off await before we head to Austin. What stories lie ahead at the Circuit of The Americas? 

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