Martin’s success signals changing of the guard
If ever there was a moment that signalled the true changing of the guard in Motogp, then it was on the podium of last Sunday’s Styrian Grand Prix, when rookie Jorge Martin took to the top step for the very first time.
On a weekend preceded by the news that nine-time grand prix world champion Valentino Rossi will be retiring at the end of this season, Martin – just six races into his premier class career – snared his maiden victory ahead of reigning world champion Joan Mir and Fabio Quartararo, who are both in only their third top-flight campaigns. With a combined age of just 68, the Styrian GP podium was nine years younger than the
Petronas SRT Yamaha line-up of Rossi and Franco Morbidelli’s stand-in Cal Crutchlow.
The Red Bull Ring race should have been Martin’s 10th Motogp start, but a four-race injury layoff following a crash in Portugal in April severely robbed him of track time. Yet the Pramac Ducati rider showed no signs of the knock-on effects as he stormed to his second Motogp pole with an all-time lap record for the Austrian circuit.
After running so brilliantly at the front in the Doha GP from his first pole, Martin wasn’t to be flustered on what was his best chance of victory to date. He was sitting second on lap three when the race was red-flagged for a fiery accident involving KTM wildcard Dani Pedrosa and Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori – the Italian suffered a broken ankle – and was sent back to pole for the restart.
MOTOGP
RED BULL RING (AUT) 9 AUGUST
ROUND 10/19
Martin would spend the first four laps staring at the rear of factory Ducati counterpart Jack Miller, while the Australian’s team-mate Francesco Bagnaia went from leading the first race to plummeting through the order with rear grip issues – he was one of several riders hit by dodgy tyres at the restart.
Martin took the lead on lap four, and the battle for the spoils quickly became a two-horse race: Martin’s Ducati against Mir on a Suzuki that finally sported the ride height adjuster it had lacked over the first half of the season. There was nothing to separate the pair on the timing screens. Martin used the sheer grunt of the Ducati to keep in front on the runs through the first two sectors, while Mir deployed the Suzuki’s agility to close back in again through the final two splits.
The turning point came on lap 19 of 27, when Martin’s lead opened out to 0.8s. A mistake from Mir at Turn 3 on lap 22 ended his victory charge, the gap rising to 1.2s and continuing to climb until the flag.
Ducati success in Austria has become the norm since the Red Bull Ring returned to the schedule in 2016. Its latest Styria success again vindicates the team’s decision to bank largely on youth at the end of 2020.
Second for Mir was an important result in his hopes to rescue his title defence, and he has closed the points deficit to 51 to series leader Quartararo, whose result was similarly significant given the circuit exposes all of Yamaha’s weaknesses. With
Bagnaia 11th after a 3s time addition for failing to comply with a long-lap penalty, Pramac Ducati rider Johann Zarco sixth, and Miller crashing out late on while chasing Quartararo for third, the last-named has opened his lead to 40 points over Zarco.
Brad Binder salvaged a largely difficult first of two home rounds for KTM with a fine charge from 16th on the grid to fourth, while Pedrosa bravely got back on his RC16 after his scary incident to end his wildcard outing 10th. Miguel Oliveira, battling a wrist injury from a crash in practice, had to retire with a front-tyre issue.
Takaaki Nakagami was top Honda rider in fifth ahead of Zarco and Suzuki’s Alex Rins, while Marc Marquez struggled with an iffy tyre to eighth. Marquez courted Aleix Espargaro’s rage with Turn 1 collisions in both race starts, with Espargaro furious at the lack of a penalty for the Honda rider.
Marquez headed his LCR Honda-mounted brother Alex, while Espargaro was forced out with an engine issue. Maverick Vinales had his best start in ages in the first race, but stalled his Yamaha for the restart and had to launch from pitlane. He finished the race in pitlane with electrical problems.
Thirteenth for Rossi isn’t a result to write home about. But now that the sands of time are slowly counting down to his farewell in November, where he finishes has almost become immaterial. Now it’s simply a matter of enjoying the conclusion to motorsport’s greatest two-wheeled story.