MotoGP CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Osterreich 2022
Qualification:
Enea Bastianini put his Gresini Racing Ducati on to pole. On form Francesco Bagnaia was P2 and team mate Jack Miller P3. Fabio Quartararo struggled, but put the Yamaha on P5.
The Race:
It was a blistering start from the front row Ducatis as the lights went out, but it was Francesco Bagnaia who held off the other two Italian machines to take the lead into the first corner, with Enea Bastainini P2 and Jack Miller P3, Jorge Martin P4 and Fabio Quartararo P5, until Maverick Vinales made an early race move to take P5 leaving Fabio P6, not where he needed to be.
Twenty-five laps to go and Jack Miller took Bastianini to take P2 and follow his teammate, as Enea was P3 and Jorge Martin P4, Fabio holding P5, perhaps waiting for his hard front tyre to settle in. Twenty-two laps to go and Enea Bastianini left the track with what seemed to be a front tyre issue which had him retire from the race, thus leaving Fabio in P4, inherited, but that’s racing.
With ten laps to go and Bagnaia still leading and Miller P2, it was getting a bit boring, until Fabio decided he needed the points and started moving forward and towards Miller, but with Jorge Martin close by to make his ambitions just that harder. Soon though Fabio found even more from and gapped Martin by a second, as Luca Marini started hustling in P5.
Four laps to go and Fabio Quartararo was determined to take Miller, but he had Jorge Martin now all over the back of the Yamaha, and Martin wants the factory Ducati ride, and the other contender Bastianini was out, so he had a lot to prove. As this scenario unfolded, Fabio pulled the move of the race, perhaps the season so far, with a flip-flop overtake that left Miller bemused (as he stated in the post-race interview) and in P3, with Martin P4.
The last lap had Francesco Bagnaia in the lead, but Fabio had brought the gap down to 0.845 of a second, a commendable effort but just running out of time. Meanwhile, Jorge Martin dropped his Ducati in a low slide but managed to re-start, (eventually finishing P10). As the flag dropped it was Bagnaia for the win, with Fabio just 0.452 behind over the line. P3 was Jack Miller and a very good P4 on another Ducati was Luca Marini.
The Result:
P1, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Lenovo Team. P2, Fabio Quartararo, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP. P3, Jack Miller, Ducati Lenovo Team.
Author: Martin Northern
Founder of Bike Directory
