Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) capped off a perfect weekend at the CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich by dominating Sunday’s MotoGP™ race to bring up a half-century of Grand Prix podiums for the World Champion.
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) gave the Austrian factory something to cheer about by bringing his RC16 home in P2, as Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) rebounded from Tissot Sprint disappointment to climb onto the rostrum.
Bagnaia simply unstoppable at the Ring
Just like he did in the Tissot Sprint, Bagnaia launched incredibly to comfortably grab the holeshot ahead of Binder. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was away well – as usual – to propel himself up to P3, as Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) went backwards again. It wasn’t a terrible getaway from ‘Top Gun’ but Viñales got swarmed at Turn 1, as Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) lit up the rear end on the exit of Turn 1 as he and Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) gained places.
Bagnaia and Binder quickly pulled a second clear of the chasers, with the #33 shadowing the World Champion. Lap 4 saw Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) take his Long Lap penalty, which dropped the title hopeful to P13, as Binder hounded Pecco. Alex Marquez passed Miller for P3 at the end of Lap 4 but faced a 1.7s gap to Pecco and Binder, with Bezzecchi and Mooney VR46 teammate Marini quickly dispatching the Australian too.
As the race settled, Binder dropped to half a second adrift of Bagnaia’s rear wheel as ‘Mapping 2’ popped up on the South African’s dashboard. In the fight for P3, Alex Marquez was holding off Bezzecchi as we entered Lap 11, with the double World Champions still 1.7s shy of Binder in P2.
With 15 laps to go, Pecco’s lead crept up to a second for the first time. That went up to 1.2s on Lap 17 of 28, as Bezzecchi continued to pursue Alex Marquez. Marini was a safe P5 with Viñales two seconds down the road in P6, while Martin’s recovery found him in a commendable P7 with 12 laps to go.
Could Binder get the gap down? Two crucial laps were slammed in by the race-leading #1 to give us our answer. With 10 laps left, Pecco’s advantage was up to 2.5s. A battle was raging for the final podium spot though as Bezzecchi attempted to make a pass stick at Turn 1, however the Spaniard was able to get back past on the cutback. Meanwhile, Marini had reeled the Ducati duo in to join the rostrum battle.
Bezzecchi made a move stick at Turn 9 with seven laps to go, and the Italian immediately began to open up a gap to make his podium chase a lot more comfortable. Marini made his way past Alex Marquez with three laps to go, but by that point, Bezzecchi had 1.7s in his back pocket.
At the front, Bagnaia was in a league of his own. The #1 proving just why he wears that special number on the front of his red Bologna bullet, as Bagnaia claimed victory to make it a pole, Tissot Sprint and Grand Prix race triple at the Red Bull Ring.
That’s 50 career podiums for the Italian, as Binder brings his KTM home in P2 to cap off a very strong weekend on the Austrian manufacturer’s home turf. Bezzecchi bounced back very well to stand on the rostrum after his Saturday disappointment.
Your Austrian GP points scorers
Marini’s late race pace was superb as the Italian crossed the line in P4 as Alex Marquez rounded out the top five. Viñales ended P6 after a disappointing start, Martin made up ground but will leave Styria disappointed with P7, as Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) and Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) completed the top 10.
Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) eventually got the better of Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) for P11, the latter took P12, with Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing), Augusto Fernandez (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3) and Miller taking home the final points.
Next stop: Barcelona
After a perfect weekend in Austria, Bagnaia’s Championship lead sits at a healthy 62 points over Martin heading to the Catalan GP. Can the chasing pack stop the World Champion’s charge in Barcelona?
Top 10:
| 1 | FRANCESCO BAGNAIA (DUCATI LENOVO TEAM) | |
| 2 | Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) | + 5.191 |
| 3 | Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) | + 7.708 |
| 4 | Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) | + 10.343 |
| 5 | Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) | + 11.039 |
| 6 | Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) | + 11.724 |
| 7 | Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) | + 12.917 |
| 8 | Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) | + 19.509 |
| 9 | Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) | + 20.231 |
| 10 | Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) | + 20.729 |
