It’s barely a drizzle
The second round in Austria turned out to be a very exciting event with a number of twists in the tale
MotoGP
This was the second round of racing in Austria. The previous week’s Styrian GP saw rookie Jorge Martin of Pramac Racing claim his first victory in the top class of motorcycle racing. This time, the rookie would once again start the race on pole position, thus giving himself a good chance for a second victory. At the lights, the young Spaniard got off to a great start, shooting away from the grid and opening a slight lead.
Along with Martin, there were three others who also had great starts and were now hunting down the former. These were current world champion Joan Mir of Team Suzuki Ecstar, Ducati Lenovo Team rider Francesco Bagnaia, championship leader Fabio Quartararo of Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, and Repsol Honda Team legend Marc Marquez. Martin was soon caught by the four and, following a few position changes, it was Bagnaia who took the lead with Marquez challenging him throughout the race.
However, the Austrian GP would have a major twist as dark clouds hovered above for the entire race, threatening to play spoilsport. Finally, with five laps to go, the heavens began to open up, causing teams to frantically prepare for the change to wet tyres. Marquez, who is a genius in the wet, now seemed to have an upper hand on Bagnaia and, finally, with three laps to go, Bagnaia, Marquez, Martin, Quartararo, and Mir headed into the pits, while Brad Binder on the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, at the tail of that group, stayed out on slick tyres.
The riders swapped motorcycles in a flash with Marquez heading out of the pits first and the rest on his heels. Marc Marquez, the eight-time world champion, pushed a little too hard and slid off, allowing Bagnaia to take the reins of the group comfortably. However, Bagnaia was not in the lead. A bunch of riders had gambled to stay out on slick tyres considering that with only a couple of laps to go, they might just have a chance of winning. They were Binder on the KTM, Luca Marini of Sky VR46 Avintia, Iker Lecuona on the Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing bike, and ninetime world champion Valentino Rossi on the Petronas Yamaha SRT. The race had now taken new turn, a turn for pure excitement and unpredictability.
Bagnaia and crew were now rampaging through the track, trying to catch up with the group on slicks. The difference was ridiculously apparent as they blitzed past every rider who chose to stay on the dry ones. However, Brad Binder tenderly coaxed his KTM to the finish line to take an astonishing victory. Bagnaia, after a tremendous race, would come in second, followed by the Pramac Ducati of Jorge Martin, who occupied the final place on the podium.
After this brilliant race for both fans and riders, we now head to Silverstone for the British GP.
Moto2
With the red Bull Ktm Ajo boys having a week worth forgetting about last time, we could expect them to come back this weekend. that is exactly what happened, albeit for just one of them. raul Fernandez took a brilliant victory for red Bull Ktm Ajo, strengthening his claim to the championship. his teammate, remy gardner, however, would have another unsuccessful race, managing a seventh-place finish.
the remaining podium spots would go to Ai ogura of the idemitsu honda team Asia, thus giving the Japanese rider a deserving spot on the podium. third place went to Augusto Fernandez on the elf marc Vds racing team bike who took the final place on the podium ahead of his teammate, sam Lowes.
Moto3
unlike last week’s runaways, moto3 turned out to be a more competitive race this week. sergio garcia of santander Consumer gasgas, who had challenged for victory last week, was at the top once again. this time, the spaniard would do one better, taking victory at the Austrian gP. he was followed by red Bull Ktm tech 3 rider deniz oncu, with the turkish rider taking second place.
there was a fight for the third place between Leopard racing’s dennis Foggia and championship leader Pedro Acosta of red Bull Ktm Ajo. this time, however, Acosta would not have his way and Foggia would stand on the final step of the podium.