Bagnaia completes dominant double in Austrian MotoGP VC, rare very processional race sees further Ducati dominance

Unfortunately for the spectators in the stands of the Red Bull Ring, the Austrian GP did not offer the most spectacular MotoGP race. In the eleventh race of this season’s premier class , Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia outclassed all his rivals. the 27-year-old reigning champion won the main race for the seventh time this season ahead of Jorge Martín and Enea Bastianini. Aside from a hectic first round, the rest of the grand prix went off without much drama and with a rare very choppy field.

The second half of this year’s MotoGP season moved into the second half, kicked off by the Austrian VC at the Red Bull Ring. The picturesque circuit, set in the Styrian Alps in the south-east of the country, enjoys one of the highest elevation changes on the calendar compared to the others.

It was first introduced in its modern form in 1996 as the A1-Ring. It has been used continuously by World Championship drivers since 2016.

In Saturday’s premier class programme, reigning world champion Pecco Bagnaia was the best performer. After qualifying in the morning with the second fastest time , he triumphed in the sprint and tied at the top of the leaderboard with Jorge Martín. It was the 26-year-old Spaniard who finished second after a penalty in the short race, helped by a crash by Marc Márquez.

Once again, as in the sprint, an exciting opening laps, Márquez failed to make the start

After losing the advantage of pole position in the sprint, Martín wanted to make amends in the main race. Despite cutting his left thumb after a crash in the shower, the Spaniard managed to hold on to the lead this time ahead of Bagnaia. Martín led the field after the first corner, but the blast off the grid went horribly wrong for Márquez from third position.

Post-start reverse shots caught Márquez, who apparently failed to activate the ride-height device correctly. This caused a loss after the initial tee-off for the 31-year-old Spaniard. In trying to make back as much time as possible, he clashed with the also very erratic Franco Morbidelli. Both left the track after the contact and Márquez dropped down to 14th position.

In contrast, Bastianini, Bagnai’s teammate, made the biggest profit after the start. From seventh position, he worked his way up to third after the post-start chaos and began chasing the leading pair.

KTM factory rider pair Brad Binder and Jack Miller also shot up to solid positions. Both were lingering in fourth and fifth place respectively after the first lap.

As they did at the start of Saturday’s sprint, Martín and Bagnaia found themselves in another fierce battle for the race lead. At the start of the second lap, the Italian found room to manoeuvre and led into the first corner. Martín tried to retaliate on the same lap but was unsuccessful.

Márquez quickly back in the game, Miller the only crashing

The pace of the factory Ducati machines throughout the weekend promised another dominant display from the three championship leaders. Bagnaia, Martín and Bastianini immediately fell away from fourth-placed Miller, who was losing several tenths of a lap to the trio in front of him at every circuit. A train of many drivers formed behind the Australian, offering a chance for Márquez to salvage at least a fourth place finish.

While Martín bravely chased down leader Bagnaiu, Márquez had already broken into the top 10 on lap six. On the following lap, Miller and Binder swapped positions without much drama.

Just behind them, however, an internal disaster nearly occurred when Maverick Viñales failed to brake into turn three and surprisingly took teammate Aleix Espargar with him. This benefited a charging Márquez, who dropped to eighth after Viñales’ mistake.

Although a great qualifying effort put him in contention for his best result of the season, Miller’s tradition often involves a gradual drop through the field. After losing fourth place to Binder, he was subsequently passed by Marco Bezzecchi and the elder Márquez began breathing down his neck.

Miller breathed a sigh of relief after Márquez erred after trying to ambitiously pass him into the chicane. His calm, however, was quickly replaced by anger when he fell in the same spot moments later. This gave Márquez another position to gain. After the race, he ended up being the only rider to crash, with the other retirees heading to the pits for various reasons.

The rest of the race was uneventful, with the traditional top four again in the top four at the finish

After Miller crashed, Márquez moved up to sixth place and began to put pressure on Bezzecchi and Binder ahead of him. On lap 17, he handled the fifth-placed Italian in his own style, and a lap later he overtook Binder as well. It thus took eighteen laps for the fourth man overall to return to the territory that, looking at the Ducati’s advantage over the rest of the field, was his due.

There were still ten laps to go, but the gaps between the riders, rarely through the entire starting field, were exceptionally huge. Márquez, having moved up to fourth, had no chance of moving forward, already more than eight seconds behind Bastianini in third.

Even Bastianini himself was unable to replicate his last laps magic and continued to lose ground on the leading duo. Bagnaia guarded a two-second lead on Martino at the end of the race, who in turn enjoyed a five-second cushion on Bastianini. Although black clouds hovered ominously near the circuit in the second half of the grand prix, there was no final drama with possible rain.

It wasn’t until the last two laps that the cameras caught some on-track action, with Álex Márquez and wildcard rider Paul Espargaro battling for tenth place. Occasionally the directors even cut to the pilots at the tail of the field in an attempt to find any entertainment.

In the end, Bagnaia managed to run the full 28 laps in first and dominated the Austrian VC for the third consecutive time. Martín and Bastianini finished second, with Márquez and Binder rounding out the top five. Bagnai’s seventh Sunday triumph this year put the Italian into a still-tight five-point lead over Martín.

Austrian Grand Prix MotoGP results (race 11/20, 28 laps = 121.744 km; top 10 only):

1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita., Ducati) 42:11.173
2. Jorge Martín (Span., Ducati) +3.232
3. Enea Bastianini (Ita., Ducati) +7.357
4. Marc Márquez (Span., Ducati) +13.836
5. Brad Binder (RJA, KTM) +18.620
6. Marco Bezzecchi (Ita., Ducati) +21.206
7. Maverick Viñales (Span., Aprilia) +24.322
8. Franco Morbidelli (Ita., Ducati) +27.677
9. Aleix Espargaró (Span., Aprilia) +28.829
10. Álex Márquez (Span., Ducati) +30.268

2024 MotoGP rider standings (after 11/20; top 10 only):

1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita., Ducati) 275 points
2. Jorge Martín (Spa., Ducati) 270
3. Enea Bastianini (Ita., Ducati) 214
4. Marc Márquez (Span., Ducati) 192
5. Maverick Viñales (Span., Aprilia) 139
6. Brad Binder (RJA, KTM) 128
7. Pedro Acosta (Span., KTM) 125
8. Aleix Espargaró (Span., Aprilia) 113
9. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ita., Ducati) 104
10. Álex Márquez (Span., Ducati) 98

Sources: MotoGP, X