Francesco Bagnaia took the lead and dominated in MotoGP sprint win in Austrian GP from Jorge Martin and Aleix Espargaro.
It was a hectic start in MotoGP sprint in Austrian GP at a sunny Red Bull Ring circuit. Even though Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia led the way in the first part of the lap, Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin snatched the lead from the Italian by the end of the lap.
Gresini Ducati’s Marc Marquez was third from Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro as KTM’s Jack Miller had a bad start to be fifth from a better starter Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli. The pair of KTM riders Pol Espargaro and Brad Binder were seventh and eighth.
Ducati’s Enea Bastianini ran fourth in early part of Lap 1 but dropped to ninth after the mistake. Gresini’s Alex Marquez had a crash at Turn 2, but he managed to continue on at the back of the grid, with the fight for lead in the next couple of laps.
Bagnaia briefly retook the lead on Lap 2 but Martin fought back soon, only to lose it the next lap after making a mistake. He was forced to go wide and take the run-off, but was eventually handed a Long Gap Penalty for not losing a second in the said sector.
Bagnaia was firm in the lead with Marquez moving up to second after Martin took his Long Gap Penalty to be third. Espargaro was fourth from Miller and Morbidelli, as Bastianini cleared the KTM pair to be seventh in a recovery ride.
Binder managed to pass P Espargaro – who dropped to 10th – for eighth as VR46 Ducati’s Marco Bezzecchi climbed up to ninth in the final point position. There was also a Long Gap Penalty for Honda’s Joan Mir for track limits, as several riders got pinged for it.
With Bagnaia leading comfortably, M Marquez gifted Martin second after a minor crash to drop out. A Espargaro was up to third from Miller who was being chased by Bastianini. The Italian barged his way through Morbidelli where the two touched leathers.
He eventually cleared Miller for fourth as the Australian then had Morbidelli and Binder on his tail. There were three more retirements with the likes of GASGAS Tech 3’s Augusto Fernandez, Yamaha’s Alex Rins and Honda wildcard Stefan Bradl pitting on the final lap.
At the front, Bagnaia dominated the proceedings to win the MotoGP sprint in Austrian GP from Martin and A Espargaro in the Top 3. Bastianini was fourth from Miller, Morbidelli and Binder, as Bezzecchi and P Espargaro rounded the Top 9 points positions.