Dovizioso wins Austrian GP after tight battle with Marquez
Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso has taken his third win of the season after beating Marc Marquez in a thrilling duel at the Austrian MotoGP.
Having passed Dovi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo on lap 12 of 28, the pair were rarely separated by more than a few bikelengths.
It wasn't a 'game of chess', waiting until the end, either - the pair exchanged the lead five times on a single lap!
That briefly allowed Dani Pedrosa to reach the lead battle, but the No 26 couldn't keep pace.
A Turn 1 mistake by Marquez threatened to hand Dovizioso victory with three laps to go, but the Repsol Honda star (using the medium-hard tyre combination) reeled the Desmosedici (medsoft) back in to set-up a Hollywood ending.
Marquez lurked on Dovizioso's rear wheel for most of the last lap, an inquisitive move at the penultimate corner being followed by an 'on-the-limit' attack at the final turn. Dovizioso saw it coming and cut back inside the sliding RCV on the exit, casually waving his hand as he rode to what was surely the best victory of his career.
Dovi's celebrations were in stark contrast to the misery of a narrow defeat to team-mate Andrea Iannone one year ago.
Pedrosa completed the podium, four seconds ahead of Lorenzo. The No 99 chose the same tyres as Dovizioso, and looked back to his best when holding the lead, but still needs to work on maintaining his pace.
Dovizioso and Lorenzo were both using the new Ducati fairing, which reduces some of their top speed advantage, but aids acceleration and braking.
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rookie Johann Zarco was the top M1 rider, in fifth place on the softsoft tyres. The Frenchman got the better of factory stars Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi, who mirrored Lorenzo's loss of speed after the opening ten laps.
Dovi has now passed Vinales for second in the world championship, 16 points from Marquez. Vinales is 24 from Marquez, with Rossi 33 points behind.
Aspar Ducati's Alvaro Bautista was eighth, while Loris Baz (Avintia Ducati) and KTM wildcard Mika Kallio had a day to remember by filling the rest of the top ten.
Regular KTM rider Pol Espargaro's race ended when he clipped another rider at the start and suffered lever damage. Zarco's team-mate Jonas Folger and Pramac's Danilo Petrucci
Results and Standings
Results from yesterday’s MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix 1. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Duca Team (GP17) 39m 43.323s 2. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda (RC213V) 39m 43.499s 3. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda (RC213V) 39m 45.984s 4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Duca Team (GP17) 39m 49.986s 5. Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1)* 39m 50.585s 6. Maverick Viñales ESP Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 39m 50.770s 7. Valen no Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 39m 52.318s 8. Alvaro Bau sta ESP Pull&Bear Aspar (GP16) 39m 57.838s 9. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avin a (GP15) 40m 2.943s 10. Mika Kallio FIN Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 40m 3.089s 11. Andrea Iannone ITA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 40m 3.424s 12. Sco Redding GBR Octo Pramac (GP16) 40m 8.846s 13. Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 40m 10.023s 14. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar (GP15) 40m 10.644s 15. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 40m 11.419s 16. Alex Rins ESP Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 40m 16.235s 17. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avin a (GP16) 40m 17.435s 18. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 40m 19.746s 19. Tito Rabat ESP EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 40m 25.727s 20. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 40m 35.815s Re red Jack Miller AUS EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) DNF Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac (GP17) DNF Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1)* DNF also made an early exit due to technical problems.
Marc VDS Honda's Jack Miller was the only one who crashed out.