Bagnaia takes Austrian Grand Prix victory

Francesco Bagnaia was in a class of his own at the Austrian Grand Prix as the Lenovo Ducati rider secured his fifth MotoGP victory of the season for a double at the Red Bull Ring.

Bagnaia, who also won Saturday’s Sprint race – his fourth in 2023 – won by five seconds from KTM’s Brad Binder, who was clear of Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati) in third.

Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin was seventh after serving a Long Lap penalty for irresponsible riding in the Sprint race, which resulted in a multiple pile-up at the first corner on the opening lap.

It was a perfect weekend for reigning champion Bagnaia, who claimed the lead from pole as he did in the Sprint.

South African Binder threw everything at the Ducati rider on the opening laps but was unable to unsettle Bagnaia’s rhythm.

Gradually, Bagnaia began to edge away from the Red Bull KTM rider, opening a lead of almost nine tenths after 12 laps.

Binder was secure in second place, comfortably ahead of the fight for third place between Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez, Bezzecchi and Luca Marini (VR46 Ducati).

Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales made a better start off the front row than he did in the Sprint, but the Spaniard lost a lot of places in Turn 1 and was forced to mount another comeback.

Australia’s Jack Miller, who was running in third on the second of the Red Bull KTM machines throughout the first five laps, began to drop back dramatically and eventually finished in 15th.

Joan Mir crashed out on the Repsol Honda at Turn 3 on Lap 13 as Honda’s struggles continued.

With Bagnaia in total control of the race, leading Binder by 3.6s after 21 laps, all eyes were focused on the fight for third between Alex Marquez, Bezzecchi and Marini.

After a few failed attempts, with Bezzecchi out-braking himself into Turn 1 on Lap 16, the Italian finally made a decisive move at Turn 9 with six laps to go.

Marini also got the better of Marquez to snatch fourth position on the second of the VR46 machines behind team-mate Bezzecchi.

At the finish, Bagnaia’s official winning margin was 5.191s over Binder, with Bezzecchi seven seconds down in third.

Bagnaia has now increased his lead in the standings to 62 points over Martin, with Bezzecchi a further six points behind in third after ten rounds.

Viñales recovered to sixth, closing fast on Marquez before running out of time.

Martin was next in seventh while Monster Energy Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo pipped Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) on the line for eighth.

Enea Bastianini rounded out the top ten on the Lenovo Ducati followed by Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha) and Marc Marquez on the Repsol Honda.

Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco was 13th ahead of Augusto Fernandez on the GasGas Tech3 KTM.

Miguel Oliveira (RNF Aprilia) retired from the race due to an issue with the front of his bike.

Pol Espargaro, who had a three-place grid penalty in the race after impeding Marc Marquez in practice, was hit with a three second penalty for failing to serve a Long Lap penalty in the race after exceeding the track limits.

The GasGas Tech3 KTM rider dropped to 16th as a result.

2023 CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Osterreich
Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria, August 20