Motorsport
Fantastic Bagnaia rode to victory! Honda continues the tragedy, who else took the podium?
The MotoGP royal cubature had the tenth round of this season on its schedule this weekend, namely the Austrian Grand Prix. Francesco Bagnaia dominated the race at the Red Bull Ring in start-finish style, with Brad Binder and Marco Bezzecchi rounding out the podium.
The MotoGP royal cubature had the tenth round of this season on its schedule this weekend, namely the Austrian Grand Prix. Francesco Bagnaia dominated the race at the Red Bull Ring in start-finish style, with Brad Binder and Marco Bezzecchi rounding out the podium.
Pecco Bagnaia continues his fine ride across almost the entire race weekend at the Red Bull Ring. The Ducati-serviced Italian rider dominated Saturday’s qualifying, followed by the sprint and the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday.
It started at 14:00 and you can see how the riders’ order on the grid looked in the attached post below.
The best start of all was made by Bagnaia, who shot out of his starting slot in such a way that no one threatened him from the lower positions at the first corner. Binder also made a very good start and Jorge Martin moved up to seventh place after two laps behind twelfth.
Third place went to Binder’s teammate Jack Miller, followed by the rest of the elite ten as follows: Alex Márquez, Luca Marini, Marco Bezzecchi, Jorge Martin, Maverick Viñales, Enea Bastianini.
The seventh Martin took a long lap penalty at the start of the fourth lap and dropped to 13th. Aussie Miller began to drop down the order on lap 6.
Unfortunately, this is a tradition for the KTM rider this year, with his race pace often gradually fading during the grand prix. It was on lap six that both riders from the Mooney VR46 stable – Marini and Bezzecchi – passed him.
The first retirement fans in the stands and on the TV screens saw was on lap seven, when Miguel Oliveira retired his bike. Joan Mir was the next to drop out, crashing on lap 13 of the Austrian Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, Miller dropped another three places when he was passed by both Aprilia riders Viñales and Aleix Espargaro, plus Bastianini on the Ducati. Martin was back in the elite ten after completing his penalty.
With ten laps to go, leader Bagnaia had already built up a 2.5-second lead. The Mooney VR46 riders were starting to put pressure on Alex Márquez, with Miller dropping to eleventh place behind Fabio Quartara.
On lap 20, Márquez and Bezzecchi briefly swapped positions in a handsome duel, but the former still managed to hold on to third place.
On lap 21, the top ten standings were as follows: Bagnaia, Binder, Alex Márquez, Marini, Viñales, Martin, Aleix Espargaro, Quartararo, Bastianini.
Martin, it should be added, managed to get back to position number 7 after a penalty at the start of the race, while Quartararo was at least ninth. Unfortunately for Yamaha, this position is close to the maximum the former MotoGP champion can achieve.
Repsol Honda is also doing very badly. Miro has been underperforming all season, with the legendary Marc Márquez only in twelfth place with eight laps to go.
With seven laps to go, Alex Márquez lost third place when Bezzecchi finally managed to overtake him. In the last few laps, the top ten order didn’t change much, with Marini getting ahead of Márquez with three laps to go.
Bagnaia gradually built up a five-second lead and comfortably took another victory. Binder and Bezzecchi rounded out the podium for the current drivers’ championship leader. The final complete standings can be seen below.
Source: MotoGP