Italian rider Marco Bezzecchi led from start to finish to claim his second victory of the season at the Portuguese Grand Prix.

The 26-year-old Aprilia rider won at Silverstone in May and was victorious again to boost his chances of sealing third place in the championship with one round left.

Polesitter Bezzecchi did not have the pace in Saturday’s sprint, when he came third, but this time he held his own to finish ahead of Gresini Racing’s Alex Marquez and KTM’s Pedro Acosta.

Such was Bezzecchi’s dominance that he finished more than 2.5 seconds clear of Marquez as he became the sixth different winner in the past six MotoGP races.

Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia, who is battling with Bezzecchi for third in the championship behind holder Marc Marquez and his brother and runner-up Alex, crashed out of fourth place leaving him 35 points behind before the final round in Valencia.

In MotoGP a rider can earn a maximum of 37 points from each Grand Prix, with the winner of Saturday afternoon’s sprint taking 12 points and victory in Sunday’s race earning 25 points.

World champion Marc Marquez, who won his seventh MotoGP title in Japan last month, again missed the race because of a season-ending collarbone injury.