PORTIMAO, (Portugal): Fabio Quartararo won his second consecutive race when he took the Portuguese MotoGP on Sunday, with six-time champion Marc Marquez seventh in his first race back after nine months out, a performance which left him in tears and “exhausted”.

“I feel full of confidence,” said French Yamaha rider Quartararo, who started last season strongly only to fade out of contention.

Italian Francesco Bagnaia on a Ducati was second with Spanish world champion Joan Mir of Suzuki third. Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha-SRT) and South African Brad Binder (KTM) completed the top five.

Marquez’s seventh-placed finish came on his return after three bouts of surgery on the right arm he broke in the 2020 opener at Jerez. He qualified on the second row and admitted on Saturday that he was “going to suffer” after such a long time away from racing. Unsurprisingly, the 28-year-old ended up “exhausted” on Sunday but above all “very moved” to “feel like a MotoGP rider again”, even shedding a few tears in the Honda garage. “Finishing just 13 seconds behind Quartararo is incredible,” he said.

Quartararo’s compatriot Johann Zarco (Ducati-Pramac), who had led the riders’ standings before Sunday’s race, crashed out on lap 20 while challenging for the podium after leading in the early stages. That allowed Quartararo to take a 15-point lead in the overall standings after three races. Despite a poor start from pole position, Quartararo patiently climbed back up to take the lead on the ninth of the 25 laps.