Round 11 Austria – Spielberg Red Bull Ring- 16th to 18th August
After a two-week break, the MotoGP championship returned to the track for Round 9 of the championship, which was held at the Spielberg Red Bull Ring in Austria. The circuit is beautifully situated in the Murtal region and is roughly an hour’s drive from Graz, the capital of Styria. The 2016 season saw the Red Bull Ring host its first MotoGP race when the World Championship returned to Austria for the first time since 1997.
Jorge Martin took the pole for the Austrian Grand Prix with a sensational lap time of 1:27.748 seconds to make sure he claimed pole position ahead of Francesco Bagnaia, who had led most of the session. The lap record coming into the weekend was 1:28.544 seconds which was set by Marco Bezzecchi last year, meaning an improvement of almost 0.8 seconds by Martin. Marc Marquez rounded out the front row in third.
Both Aprilia riders had a nightmare Friday, after some overnight setup changes they were able to qualify in fourth with Aleix Esaprgaro and sixth with Maverick Vinales. KTM’s Jack Miller qualified between them in fifth.
Bagnaia made the best start from the front row and took the lead into turn one. A massive lunge from Martin at turn three on the opening lap saw him reclaim the lead from Bagnaia. His lead was short-lived when Bagnaia took the lead back again at turn one at the start of lap two. Martin was eager to get back ahead of Bagnaia but made a mistake and ran wide at the turn 2a-2b chicane, he rejoined from the cut-through in second place. Both Martin and Bagnaia had pulled away from Marc Marquez by the end of lap four.
There was drama for Martin when he was given a long-lap penalty for not losing enough time when he cut the chicane on lap two. Martin took the long lap and lost four seconds in the process which dropped him to third behind Marc Marquez in second and just ahead of Espargaro in fourth. Martin’s chances of a win were now over. The battle for the win was now between Bagnaia and Marc Marquez. Initially, the Spanish rider appeared to be able to close in on Bagnaia. On lap nine Marc Marquez was around 0.3 seconds faster than Bagnaia. Then on lap ten Marc Marquez crashed out at turn three as he pushed to catch Bagnaia. Martin inherited second but was now 4.5 seconds behind his rival. The gap was reduced slightly by the chequered flag as Bagnaia tried not to repeat his Barcelona Sprint mistake from a couple of months ago when he crashed out of the lead.
With this win, Bagnaia reclaimed the lead in the championship even though he was now on level points with Martin. Second place was secured by Martin who had pulled away from Espargaro in third. Enea Bastianini finished fourth and once again showed that he had good late-race pace. Miller had a solid race he led the battle for fourth place for most of the race but eventually finished fifth. Franco Morbidelli, finished sixth, with Brad Binder seventh. Martin got the holeshot at the start of Sunday’s feature race ahead of Bagnaia. There was drama for Marc Marquez when the Spaniard’s ride height device failed to engage at the start, meaning he got a terrible launch.
He made contact with Franco Morbidelli as the riders entered turn one and ended up in fourteenth position at the end of the opening lap. By lap two Bagnaia had taken the lead away from Martin. Martin remained close to Bagnia for the first half of the race, but he was unable to challenge for the win. Bagnia controlled the race from the front and eventually took the victory by three seconds. This win marked Bagnia’s third consecutive Austrian Grand Prix win, and his second straight double at the Red Bull Ring after his Sprint win on Saturday.
Behind Bagnia there was Martin who had settled for second and the points, he was over five seconds clear of Bastianini in third, who unfortunately could not show the same kind of late-race pace that he had had the previous day. By the end of the race, Marc Marquez had climbed back up to fourth; frustratingly for Marquez, he was the only rider who had the same race pace as Bagnaia and Martin. Unfortunately due to his incident on the opening lap, he had lost too much time to challenge for the win.
Brad Binder finished fifth at KTM’s home Grand Prix ahead of Marco Bezzecchi who had one of his best rides of the season in sixth. Bagnaia’s win in Austria meant he had taken his seventh Grand Prix win of the season and reclaimed the championship lead ahead of Martin, while Marc Marquez had reclaimed third in the championship from Bastianini.
1 Francesco Bagnaia, 275pts
2 Jorge Martin, 270 (-5)
3 Marc Marquez, 215(-61)
4 Enea Bastianini, 198 (-83)
5 Maverick Viñales, 139 (-136)
6 Brad Binder, 128 (-147)
MotoGP Round 12 Spain – MotorLand Aragón- 30th to 1st September
The twelfth round of the MotoGP calendar returned to the Aragon in Spain after a year away from the circuit. In the year away from the calendar, the track has been completely resurfaced, which may provide more entertaining racing. A favourite track amongst fans and riders, the Aragon circuit is fast, flowing, and a challenging prospect for the riders. Nestled in North Eastern Spain near the town of Alcaniz, Aragon’s remote location, along with searing weather, makes it a physical challenge for the riders.
Before Saturday’s qualifying, a significant amount of rainfall had fallen overnight which had washed all the rubber off the track. This effectively reset the weekend and playing field for the riders. Going into qualifying Marc Marquez looked in his best form on his short Ducati career as he topped all three practice sessions. Qualifying was no different. Marquez took a dominant pole position by over eight-tenths of a second ahead of Acosta in second and Bagnaia just two-thousandths behind in third. Martin was resigned to fourth while Alex Marquez was fifth, Morbidelli rounded out the front row in sixth.
A perfect launch off the line saw Marc Marquez storm into turn one to lead the sprint race ahead of Martin who swiftly jumped across Acosta into turn one. Bagnaia made a terrible start after he spun up on the starting grid due to starting on the dirty side of the track. He entered turn one in sixth. Espargaro’s race was short-lived when he crashed at turn one. On lap two Bagnaia had moved up to fourth after passing Alex Marquez. By now, the front three, led by Marquez, Martin, and Acosta, had pulled away by almost 1.5 seconds. On lap three, Marc Marquez had pulled away from Martin, who in turn had established a small gap over Acosta.
On lap six, Bagnaia started to struggle and was back to sixth and was under pressure from Binder in seventh. By mid-race, Bagnaia looked in trouble when he ran wide at turn fourteen; this allowed Binder through into sixth. At the front, Marc Marquez had increased his lead to over two seconds ahead of Martin in second and Acosta in third. A battle between Fabio Quartararo and Bagnaia on lap eight had let Bastianini slip into seventh, Bagnaia was now relegated to eighth. At the start of the penultimate lap, Marc Marquez’ lead approached four seconds ahead of Martin and Acosta who were both safe in second and third, while Bagnaia was just about holding onto eighth ahead of Quartararo. Marc Marquez took victory it was his first win on a Ducati, his first-ever Sprint win, and his first win of any kind in 1042 days. Martin took second ahead of Acosta in third, Alex Marquez crossed the line in fourth ahead of Miguel Oliveira. While Bagnaia crossed the line in ninth just ahead of Marco Bezzecchi in tenth.
The 23-lap feature race got underway in front of a packed crowd, Marc Marquez led into turn one ahead of Acosta in second and Martin in third. It was another bad start for Bagnaia, who once again spun up off the line. Martin tried to pass Acosta at turn eight for second but ran off the track; Acosta kept the position. The desperate move cost both of them about a second to Marc Marquez. Martin eventually passed Acosta at turn sixteen and took second off Acosta. Their fighting had cost them time; they were now over two seconds behind Marquez, who had started to disappear. After passing Acosta, Martin instantly pulled away in second.
Acosta was now in third and was under pressure from Alex Marquez in fourth. By lap ten, Marc Marquez had almost a 3-second lead over Martin, who was comfortable in second, while Bagnaia had closed in on Acosta in fourth. A lap later, Bagnaia had forced Acosta into an error, which allowed Bagnaia through into fourth. Now, with a clear track ahead of him, Bagnaia set his sights on closing in on Alex Marquez, who was just 1.6 seconds ahead.
By lap sixteen Bagnaia had caught Alex Marquez’ and had seven laps to make his move for the final podium position. On lap nineteen, there was drama for Alex Marquez when he ran wide into turn twelve; this allowed Bagnaia to sweep around the outside into turn thirteen; Alex Marquez, unaware that Bagnaia was there, attempted to make the corner.
The pair collided, and both crashed out. After the Alex Marquez-Bagnaia crash, Acosta got promoted back to third. On lap twenty-one, Marc Marquez had over a five-second lead over Martin while Acosta continued to hold off Binder for third place. Marc Marquez won again with a dominant display. He completed the double in Aragon ahead of Martin in second, who extended his championship lead while Acosta secured third.
1 Jorge Martin 299
2 Francesco Bagnaia, 276(-23)
3 Marc Marquez, 229(-70)
4 Enea Bastianini, 228(-71)
5 Perdo Acost, 148(-151)
6 Brad Binder, 145(-154)
MotoGP Round 13 Italy – Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli- 6th to 8th September
MotoGP headed to one of its most iconic tracks in Misano for round thirteen. Named after the late great Marco Simoncelli, who raced in MotoGP in the early 2010s. The San Marino Grand Prix was another home race for Ducati and Bagnaia, which will give them extra momentum to destroy their competition. With Bagnaia crashing out of the last GP
Martin holds a healthy lead in the championship, meanwhile, Marc Marquez will be looking to continue his momentum from Aragon, where he toped every single session. Marc Marquez sits 70 points away from the championship leader Martin, whilst unlikely to win the championship, he will likely attempt to string some good results together before the end of the year.
Francesco Bagnaia claimed pole position at his home GP in Misano. Bagnaia was joined on the front row by fellow VR46 Academy riders, Morbidelli, who started from second, while Bezzecchi rounded out the front row in third. Championship leader Martin put his Prima Pramac Ducati in fourth place ahead of Acosta in fifth and Binder in sixth.
Martin got the perfect launch off the line as he blasted past the three VR46 riders of Bagnia, Morbidelli, and Bezzecchi into turn one, while Marc Marquez gained one spot to eighth. It was a terrible first lap for Bezzecchi. He went from third on the grid to eighth behind Miller, who had a stellar start and was up to twelfth. At the start of lap two, Martin led Bagnaia by half a second. It was the dream start to Martins’s sprint race. By lap four, Bagnaia had brought Martin’s lead down by a few tenths, while Morbidelli had just set his fastest lap of the race and had closed down the lead pair. While pushing hard, both Martin and Morbidelli were given track limits warnings.
With three laps remaining, Martin stretched his lead over Bagnaia, and the gap crept above 0.5 seconds. Marc Marquez moved up to sixth after passing Binder at turn fourteen. At the start of the final lap, Martin had pulled 1.5 seconds clear of Bagnaia while Bastianini was hounding Morbidelli for third. At turn eight, Bastianini goes for a lunge on Morbidelli but runs too wide and loses his opportunity. Martin took the victory and scored his first sprint win since the German GP ahead of Bagnaia. In doing so, he extended his championship lead to 26 points over Bagnaia, which means that he will still be on top of the standings, whatever happens in Sunday’s feature race. Morbidelli claimed third while Bastianini had to settle for fourth. Marc Marquez got ahead of Acosta on the last lap to take fifth.
Bagnaia led into turn one from pole position ahead of Morbidelli and Martin, with Acosta in fourth. Martin managed to pass Morbidelli into turn two to take second, while Acosta moved into third at turn eight.
On lap two, Martin got close to tagging the back of Bagnaia into turn two and lost ground to the race leader. Acosta made contact with Morbidelli at turn four and lost a winglet. At the start of lap three Bagnaia led Martin across the line by 0.506 seconds. On lap six, Acosta crashed at turn fourteen and rejoined. In doing so, he left a lot of gravel on the track. On lap seven, rain started falling at turns one, two, and three. Morbidelli crashed at turn one where the rain was falling the heaviest. At the end of lap seven, Martin pitted and swapped bikes. He was the only one out of the lead group who elected to come in. It was all action on lap eight as the race pace had slowed; Marc Marquez took the gamble and upped his pace and passed Binder at turn fourteen to take second, and then a corner later, he took the lead from Bagnaia.
Martin was in fifteenth after his stop, he was ahead of Raul Fernandez and both factory Aprilias of Viñales and Espargaro as well as Acosta and Rins who had also pitted. By lap ten the rain had stopped and Martin’s gamble looked to have backfired, which was a disaster for the championship leader. Martin entered the pits once again on lap eleven to swap back to his dry bike, his race was over as he looked to try and score points. While Martin was in the pits, Marquez was fending off Bagnaia in to turn one for the lead while Miller was holding on to third. Marin exited the pits a lap down and rejoined at the back of the lead group. By mid-race, Marc Marquez was about 0.3 seconds ahead of Bagnaia, while Bastianini was only 1.1
seconds behind his Ducati team-mate in third. On lap nineteen, Marc Marquez’s lead sat stable at 0.5 seconds over Bagnaia, who had pulled a few tenths on Bastianini in third. The top three had pulled clear of Alex Marquez in fourth. On lap twenty, Martin has found himself at the back of the top eight, but a lap down, he was able to lap as quickly as the riders ahead of him. He was allowed to unlap himself, but he needed to be careful not to get involved in anything silly. On lap twenty-two, Marc Marquez’s lead was 1.2 seconds over Bagnaia. The pair had dropped Bastianini, who was in third. With three laps to go, Martin was fending off Vinales for fifteenth; the one solitary point could be valuable in the championship at the end of the year.
Marc Marquez won the San Marino Grand Prix, it was his first back-to-back win since 2021. Bagnaia finished second while Bastianini completed the podium in third. Martin finished fifteenth and scored a single point. The San Marino GP saw a big swing in the championship. Marquez is now only 53 points behind Martin in the standings. He is very much a factor in this title battle, while Bagnaia has closed Martin’s championship lead to seven points.
1 Jorge Martin, 312
2 Francesco Bagnaia, 305(-7)
3 Marc Marquez, 259 (-53)
4 Enea Bastianini, 250(-62)
5 Brad Binder, 161 (-151)
6 Pedro Acosta, 152 (-160)
Words by: Michael Wincott
