Quali was all about Jorge Martin, as he took pole, looking fast and assured throughout the weekend. That left Francesco Bagnaia P2 and the previous king of the pole, Fabio Quartararo in P3.
The Race:
Francesco Bagnaia launched his Ducati off the line to take the lead with Jorge Martin and Joan Mir chasing him down. Fabio Quartararo dropped one place from his grid position to slot into P4, as Joan Mir took P2 and Martin P3, so much happening on the first lap. By lap three it was Bagnaia in the lead with Jorge Martin P2 and Fabio Quartararo P3 and with the fastest lap. Then disaster, as Dani Pedrosa (who had been the fastest KTM rider all weekend) span out in a bizarre fall and Lorenzo Savadori hit Dani’s bike full-on into the corner, both bikes exploding into flames. Red Flag! Dani walked away, but Lorenzo looked injured, although conscious and moving.
With charred tarmac and fluids on the racing line, it took some time to clear the track, understandably. The amount of kit available at the Red Bull Ring is top-notch, with full industrial road sweeper trucks and special vehicles with detergent sprayers and more brushes than Basil, so the turnaround was probably quicker than most tracks.
The re-start was set to be 27 laps, and the grid positions were the same as the first race. Dani Pedrosa was able to start, unfortunately, Lorenzo Savadori could not. So at 1:40pm, the pit lane opened ready for a quick start to the race, and just before the sighting lap, Maverick Vinales seemed to have stalled and lost his grid position and had to start from the pits. Off the line, it was Jack Miller who took the lead with Jorge Martin and Joan Mir chasing him down.
Twenty-four laps to go and Jorge Martin took Jack Miller for the lead, with Joan Mir now P2 and Miller P3, Fabio Quartararo P4, staying with the Ducatis by his demon late braking. Seventeen laps to go and Jorge Martin was holding his lead, with Joan Mir keeping him honest and just a little further back Fabio Quartararo holding off Miller. The laps went by and the positions stayed the same, until… With 10 laps to go Miller lowsided out of the race, pushing to catch Quartararo had proved too much. So the status quo was maintained and it was Jorge Martin P1, Joan Mir P2 and Fabio P3.
The Result:
Over the line, it was Jorge Martin Pramac Racing, Joan Mir Team Suzuki Ecstar, P2 and Fabio Quartararo, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP P3.
This was a well-deserved win for Jorge Martin who suffered multiple injuries from an early season crash and was out for four races, his determination shining through on every single lap.
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Author: Martin Northern
Founder of Bike Directory
