MotoGP Austrian GP: Bagnaia beats Martin to win, reclaims points lead
Bagnaia makes it a hat-trick of Austria wins to take back the control of the championship
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia outduelled MotoGP title rival Jorge Martin to take a convincing victory in the Austrian Grand Prix and retake the top spot in the championship standings.
Bagnaia again made the best start from the front row of the grid but couldn’t pass polesitter Martin, who did just enough to hold the lead into the opening right-hander and the tricky Turn 2 chicane.
However, with the race lead so important at Spielberg to maintain tyre pressures, Bagnaia made another attempt at Turn 1 at the start of the second lap and got the move done on brakes to drop Martin to second.
The Pramac rider tried to retaliate into Turn 9 on the same lap but ran too deep into the corner, allowing Bagnaia to stay in front.
For almost the first half the race, the two riders circulated within just a few tenths of each other, with Bagnaia successfully responding every time Martin picked up the pace.
But on lap 14 of 28, Martin started to run out of steam, the Spaniard’s lap times dropping in the 1m30s bracket. Bagnaia, meanwhile, was still able to maintain his early-race speed, allowing him to pull out an advantage of over a second.
With the late threat of rain never materialising, Bagnaia was able to cruise to the finish and claim his seventh win of the season, taking a five-point lead in the championship in the process.
Martin had no answer to Bagnaia’s pace in the final laps of the race and had to settle for second, 2.2s adrift of his title rival.
A rapid getaway propelled Enea Bastianini to third on the opening lap, but the factory Ducati rider lacked his usual late-race pace, ending up 7s behind race winner and team-mate Bagnaia.
Marc Marquez was able to recover to fourth on the Gresini Ducati after make a shocking start from third on the grid, likely due to a disengaged front holeshot device.
Tumbling down the order long before the braking zone, Marquez hit the Pramac Ducati of Franco Morbidelli before overshooting Turn 1, rejoining the track down in 13th place.
However, the six-time champion was able to lap consistently in the 1m29s bracket throughout the race, surging back to fourth by lap 18, where he would finish in the end.
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Brad Binder scored a solid fifth place on KTM’s home turf after an impressive charge from 12th on the grid, but the RC16 lacked the pace to put up any fight against the Ducatis.
Sixth place went to Marco Bezzecchi on the VR46 Ducati, while Maverick Vinales successfully repassed team-mate Aleix Espargaro at Turn 9 on lap 19 to finish as the top Aprilia in seventh. Espargaro was later demoted to ninth by Morbidelli, who also ran wide at the start after coming together with Marquez.
The top 10 was completed by Alex Marquez on the other Gresini Ducati, while KTM wildcard Pol Espargaro took 11th ahead of and Trackhouse rider Miguel Oliveira.
Having missed Q2 for the first time in his MotoGP career on Saturday, Tech3 GasGas rider Pedro Acosta had a tough race en route to 13th place, as he lacked the pace to contend for a spot inside the top 10.
The list of points scorers was completed by LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami and Acosta’s team-mate Augusto Fernandez.
Yamaha failed to score points in Austria, with the marque’s lead rider Fabio Quartararo picking up a long penalty for exceeding track limits and ended up 18th, two spots behind team-mate Alex Rins.
Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse) and Luca Marini (Honda) were the only two riders to retire from the race, while Jack Miller crashed on lap 11 while running in sixth but was able to remount on his KTM to take 19th.
MotoGP Austrian GP – Race results
|
1
-
2
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cla | Rider | # | Bike | Laps | Time | Interval | km/h | Retirement | Points | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 |
F. Bagnaia
Ducati Team
|
1 |
|
Ducati | 28 |
42'11.173 |
173.1 | 25 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 |
J. Martin
Pramac Racing
|
89 |
|
Ducati | 28 |
+3.232 42'14.405 |
3.232 | 172.9 | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 |
E. Bastianini
Ducati Team
|
23 |
|
Ducati | 28 |
+7.357 42'18.530 |
4.125 | 172.6 | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 |
M. Marquez
Gresini Racing
|
93 |
|
Ducati | 28 |
+13.836 42'25.009 |
6.479 | 172.2 | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 |
B. Binder
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
|
33 |
|
KTM | 28 |
+18.620 42'29.793 |
4.784 | 171.8 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 |
M. Bezzecchi
Team VR46
|
72 |
|
Ducati | 28 |
+21.206 42'32.379 |
2.586 | 171.7 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 |
M. Viñales
Aprilia Racing Team
|
12 |
|
Aprilia | 28 |
+24.322 42'35.495 |
3.116 | 171.5 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 |
F. Morbidelli
Pramac Racing
|
21 |
|
Ducati | 28 |
+27.677 42'38.850 |
3.355 | 171.2 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 |
A. Espargaro
Aprilia Racing Team
|
41 |
|
Aprilia | 28 |
+28.829 42'40.002 |
1.152 | 171.2 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 |
A. Marquez
Gresini Racing
|
73 |
|
Ducati | 28 |
+30.268 42'41.441 |
1.439 | 171.1 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 |
P. Espargaro
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
|
44 |
|
KTM | 28 |
+30.526 42'41.699 |
0.258 | 171.0 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 |
M. Oliveira
Trackhouse Racing Team
|
88 |
|
Aprilia | 28 |
+30.702 42'41.875 |
0.176 | 171.0 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 |
P. Acosta
Tech 3
|
31 |
|
KTM | 28 |
+33.736 42'44.909 |
3.034 | 170.8 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 |
T. Nakagami
Team LCR
|
30 |
|
Honda | 28 |
+36.310 42'47.483 |
2.574 | 170.7 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 |
A. Fernandez
Tech 3
|
37 |
|
KTM | 28 |
+36.522 42'47.695 |
0.212 | 170.6 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 |
A. Rins
Yamaha Factory Racing
|
42 |
|
Yamaha | 28 |
+37.571 42'48.744 |
1.049 | 170.6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 |
J. Mir
Repsol Honda Team
|
36 |
|
Honda | 28 |
+40.432 42'51.605 |
2.861 | 170.4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 |
F. Quartararo
Yamaha Factory Racing
|
20 |
|
Yamaha | 28 |
+43.788 42'54.961 |
3.356 | 170.2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 |
J. Miller
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
|
43 |
|
KTM | 28 |
+44.134 42'55.307 |
0.346 | 170.1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 |
L. Savadori
Aprilia Racing Team
|
32 |
|
Aprilia | 28 |
+44.576 42'55.749 |
0.442 | 170.1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 |
J. Zarco
Team LCR
|
5 |
|
Honda | 28 |
+54.126 43'05.299 |
9.550 | 169.5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 22 |
S. Bradl
HRC Test Team
|
6 | Honda | 28 |
+54.923 43'06.096 |
0.797 | 169.4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| dnf |
R. Fernández
Trackhouse Racing Team
|
25 |
|
Aprilia | 27 |
+1 Lap 41'38.834 |
1 Lap | 169.1 | Retirement | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| dnf |
L. Marini
Repsol Honda Team
|
10 |
|
Honda | 5 |
+23 Laps 7'58.359 |
22 Laps | 163.6 | Retirement | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| View full results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Share Or Save This Story
Why Marco Bezzecchi had no answer to Jorge Martin’s pace in the French GP
MotoGP race winners Jack Miller and Johann Zarco confirmed for Suzuka 8 Hours
The uncomfortable questions posed by Marc Marquez’s recent MotoGP form
Behind the debate over F1's future engines is a battle for control
Who slept worst last night: Connor Zilisch
Martin Brundle hails Max Verstappen's "genius" Miami GP save after rare spin
Every other F1 driver to race the Nurburgring 24 Hours before Max Verstappen
Five things we learned at the MotoGP French Grand Prix
The uncomfortable questions posed by Marc Marquez’s recent MotoGP form
Five things we learned from MotoGP’s Spanish GP
Can Ducati end Aprilia's MotoGP winning streak at the Spanish GP?
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments