Boris on Portimao – I love it when they fight…

Of the many things I love and admire about Pedro Acosta, the thing I most dig is the unfettered mongrel fight in him. It’s always been there.

From the very beginning of his rise out of the smaller classes, Pedro has been like a savage weasel trying to get out of a sack. It’s what makes him one of the greatest riders out there, and what will no doubt propel him to greatness once he gets off that wretched KTM.

And rest assured, KTM knows this full well. Best it do whatever it can (which admittedly may not be all that much given its current straits), to give Pedro a bike he can win on. Otherwise, someone else will.

This weekend, his fighting soul was on full display in both races. The championship is certainly over, and the Marquez family is high-fiving itself over its achievement, but there’s still third spot to play for. And even if there wasn’t, Pedro would still come launching off the grid like hell-bound train.

His team-mate, Brad Binder, has to be in awe of him. No matter what Brad tries, he just cannot get his factory KTM up the pointy end. I’m sure he and Pecco would have some things to talk about in terms of overachieving teammates.

So, it was Pedro who made Saturday’s Sprint Race a highlight of the season. Sure, Marquez the Lesser won that, but Pedro hunted him like an orca pursuing a seal. I was convinced he would have caught him had the Sprint gone on for another few laps. Bez, back in third, must have watched them gnaw at each other and felt that if he just waited, the inevitable would happen, they’d both hit the rocks, and he’d get his win. To be honest, I was kinda thinking that too. It was a great race.

Come Sunday, Bez decided he didn’t want to see anything at all in front of him, hared off from pole, and made the others chase him. Pedro did just that with Alex Marquez in very hot pursuit. And you knew, you just knew, Alex would pass Pedro as soon as he warmed up his tyres. And actually, even before Lap Two was very old.

Franky Morbidelli opted for an early gravel-wash after Ogura ran him a bit wide and smacked Franky into Pol, while Pecco got himself past Fabulous for fourth. Fabulous is another superb rider handicapped by less-than-optimal machinery. I’ve often thought that sticking both on Ducati machinery would make Marc Marquez work much, much harder.

Anyway, no-one was catching Bez. He just kept piling on incredibly quick laps and steadily gapping Alex and Pedro with consummate ease.

The hapless and luckless Mir, who was a world champion seemingly ages ago, rolled into the pits, for yet another of his endless DNFs – number 17 this year, I believe. Beast also came idling back in, waited for everyone to be three laps ahead of him, then rejoined the race, and briefly acted like one of those now-extinct back-markers from back in the day.

Pedro continued to hound Alex, constantly catching him under brakes, then losing a little to the Ducati just getting out of corners better, and Bez continued to eke out a gap. All three were lapping in the 38s, which was some deal faster than anyone else on the track.

Around Lap Seven, Pedro hit a wall and was struggling to keep pace with Alex and Bez, who were not backing off at all. Solid 38s for the both of them.

Brad Binder was having a great race, He started in 14th and had worked his way into sixth, so he could torment Fabulous for fifth place.

Meanwhile, Pecco was back in fourth and three long seconds behind Pedro, which is what you get for lapping in the 39s, I guess.

Fermin Aldeguer was also feeling his oats and decided to inflict some reality onto Brad Binder. He had two hard-pass attempts on the South African before making it stick, and leaving Brad in his wake. Fabulous, now had someone far more intent to worry about than Brad Binder.

And then Pecco crashed out of fourth. The feed immediately cut to Digi back in the pit. Now, despite Gigi being the most po-faced of all crew chiefs, you watch him for long enough and you can tell when he is…well, displeased. It looked like he’d eaten a turd on this occasion.

Fabulous finally succumbed to Fermin’s relentless pressure, had a bit of a moment under brakes, and that enabled Brad to get past the Pearl King as well.

Bez just kept unloading 38s and his lead was now well over two seconds. Alex Marquez had nothing for him, but since Pedro was also some two seconds behind the Spaniard in third, a cruise to the podium looked to be the go.

Super-rookie, and Marc Marquez stand-in, Nicola Bulega, was having a bit of a go with the home-race fan-love-interest, Miguel Oliveira, which was better than he did on Saturday, when he ploughed Marc’s bike into the stones. I think Nicola will do okay, once he gets used to the difference between a Factory MotoGP bike and his WSBK ride.

On Lap 19, Bez was more than three-seconds ahead of Alex, and decided he might do a 39, just to see what that felt like. But Alex was starting to have issues of his own, and Pedro, whom I had written off for second, suddenly started to creep up on Alex.

Pedro was suddenly doing 38s again and catching Alex rather rapidly. But as the laps ticked down, it truly was a bridge too far.

Back in the field, Ai Ogura, who had been bothering Zarco for much of the race, bothered him even more and passed him. This inspired Digi to pass the ageing Frenchman as well. Ogura finished seventh, Digi eighth, and Zarco ninth.

Pol Espargaro was a creditable tenth, and I can’t help but wonder if maybe he decided to call it quits a bit too early. But then, I have never quite busted myself up as badly as he did.

As you know, Bez won the race, and Pedro, for all the glorious fight in his massive Spanish balls, just couldn’t catch Alex Marquez on the last lap. But he sure did try, and it was ever so obvious. Fermin came in a very solid fourth, maybe leaving his charge a little too late.

So one more round to go, and we still don’t know who will come third in the championship, but if I were betting, I would get very poor odds on it being Bez.