Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso win a thrilling MotoGP duel against Honda’s Marc Marquez to win the Austrian GP.
Pole-sitter and Honda’s Marc Marquez got a good start in Austrian GP MotoGP race at Red Bull Ring but Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso was with him in the first few corners when they nearly collided in the right-hander.
Dovizioso was on the outside of Marquez but the latter went wide and took the former along with him, which allowed Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Fabio Quartararo to take the lead of the grand prix.
Dovizioso got upto speed quickly to get back in second with Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller in third from Marquez as Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi climbed up to fifth to be ahead of Suzuki’s Alex Rins and Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales.
Behind them, Pramac Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia won the fight against LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami as Tech 3’s Miguel Oliveira led the KTM charge after an early end to KTM’s Pol Espargaro’s car due to a mechanical issue.
The slow riding Espargaro caught LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow out, who crashed out of the race then. At the same time, Tech 3 KTM’s Hafizh Syahrin had a crash at Turn 7 but continued on, only to retire eventually.
At the front though, Quartararo started to struggle as Dovizioso and Marquez pounced on him to get past the Frenchman to be first and second, after Marquez had cleared Miller for third.
The Australian though crashed out which helped Rossi to be fourth as his teammate Vinales got past Rins to be fifth as Bagnaia led Nakagami and Oliveira in seventh in the best of the rest category.
While Dovizioso and Quartararo battled at the front, their teammates Danilo Petrucci and Franco Morbidelli were fighting at the fag end of the Top 10 with the former in 10th ahead of the latter.
At the same time, Honda’s Stefan Bradl fought his way up inside Top 15 to be 14th from last on the grid, midway in the race. The fight between Dovizioso and Marquez got interesting as the race progressed.
The two exchanged places when Miller crashed but Marquez won the battle to lead the race. However, with nine laps to go, Dovizioso made his move on Marquez on the main straight to take the lead of the grand prix.
Behind them, Rossi started to come under pressure for fourth as Vinales and Rins were tugged on his tail. At the same time, Bagnaia in seventh had Oliveira and Petrucci on his tail in the fight.
With three laps to go, Marquez made the move at Turn 7 to take the lead but Dovizioso fought back in the next corner to take it back. However, Marquez was back ahead in the final corner, only to lose to Dovizioso.
The Italian went wide again which paved way for Marquez as Dovizioso came back on him on the main straight but he went wide again for Marquez to get past. It was all-out from Dovizioso on the final lap.
The Italian stayed on Marquez’s tail on the whole lap but the Italian sneaked past the Spaniard in the final corner to win the Austrian GP in an epic duel as Ducati had its fourth consecutive MotoGP win at Red Bull Ring.
It was Dovizioso’s only second win of 2019 and first since the season-opener in Qatar. With Marquez in second, the podium was completed by Quartararo with Rossi and Vinales rounding out the Top 5.
With power not its strength, Rins had to settle for sixth as Bagnaia held off Oliveira and Petrucci for seventh as Morbidelli was 10th with Nakagami 11th ahead of KTM’s Johann Zarco – the only factory KTM rider to finish.
Honda’s Bradl climbed up to 13th with Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro ending up 14th ahead of Avintia Ducati’s Karel Abraham, who cleared Aprilia’s Andrea Iannone to take away the final point in the race.
DNF: Tito Rabat, Miller, Syahrin, Epargaro, Crutchlow.