Marquez finally masters Austria as MotoGP champ Martin crashes

The factory Ducati rider defeated fellow Desmosedici rider Fermin Aldeguer, whose second place represented a career-best finish in his rookie MotoGP campaign with Gresini.

Third went to Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi, who started from pole position but faded to the final step of the podium.

Initially, Bezzecchi led Francesco Bagnaia and Marquez. The Spaniard put a pass on his Italian teammate just two laps into the race and settled in behind Bezzecchi.

Bagnaia, meanwhile, defended third place from factory KTM rider Pedro Acosta. He put a pass on Bagnaia for third on Lap 18 at the second-to-last turn, which allowed Aldeguer to slip through to fourth.

On Lap 20 of 28, Marquez made the decisive move for the lead. He and Bezzecchi jockeyed over the place and traded the lead. Ultimately, Marquez held sway.

👀 👀 👀

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— Fox Motorsport (@Fox_Motorsport) August 17, 2025

Behind the leading duo, Aldeguer roared past Acosta at the second leg of the Turn 2 chicane. Four laps shy of the finish, he usurped Bezzecchi for second at Turn 3.

Aldeguer looked like he might threaten to overhaul Marquez but couldn’t quite come within striking distance.

All told, Marquez was victorious by 0.9s.

Remarkably, it’s the first time Marquez has won at the Red Bull Ring.

“I was obviously eager to win here,” said the six-time premier class champion.

“When on Thursday I got asked what the goal at this track was, I said that, with the red bike, it was the win, as this is the bike against which I had lost many times before at this track.

“I knew that Marco and Pecco (Francesco Bagnaia) would be my main opponents over the long distance as Alex (Marquez) had to serve a long-lap penalty, from which it’s hard to bounce back.

“We had already noticed that, among all Ducati riders, Fermíin was the one who could manage tyre wear the best, so when I saw his name on the pit board I knew I had to start pushing again, and we finished with a good pace.”

After the podium finishers came Acosta and KTM satellite rider Enea Bastianini for Tech3. Joan Mir was sixth for Honda ahead of Acosta’s teammate Brad Binder.

Bagnaia faded to eighth while Raul Fernandez and Alex Marquez rounded out the top 10 for Trackhouse and Gresini respectively.

Marquez was forced to take a long lap penalty for colliding with Mir at Brno during the Grand Prix of Czechia, which took him out of contention early.

Jack Miller was classified rider in 18th for Pramac while teammate Miguel Oliveira was three seconds up the road in 17th.

For Bagnaia, it was a disappointing result having come close to leading the race in Austria. The Italian won the last three editions of the race at the Red Bull Ring.

“It’s difficult to explain this type of performance, especially on a track where I’ve always been strong,” said Bagnaia.

“I got a good start and everything looked good in the opening laps, even though I didn’t have the same pace as the frontrunners.

“The idea was to stay calm and bring home the best possible result, but then I began to slow down as soon as I lost support from the rear-end.

“Today I found myself battling for the top eight and was 12 seconds behind the winner at the line – my pace was slow.

“The weekend started off very well and the pace shown on both Friday and Saturday morning was a good one. Then we know how the Sprint and race went, and it’s a pity.

“The potential is there, but we can’t express it in the race right now.”

Jorge Martin has crashed 😬

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— Fox Motorsport (@Fox_Motorsport) August 17, 2025

On Lap 14, Bezzecchi’s world championship-winning teammate Jorge Martin crashed out at Turn 7.

Martin said he was still getting up to speed after a long injury layoff.

“I started well, but maybe I was a bit too cautious,” said the 2024 champion.

“I tried to maintain the position, but in the early laps, the others began to overtake me straight away.

“I’m still lacking a bit of experience in those opening stages of the race, where I need to have that aggressiveness. I went from 14th to ninth, and then back to 14th.

“The front pressure was extremely high. Yesterday, I managed to ride more comfortably and in a more fluid way, but today I was at the limit of my possibilities in a situation that is new for me, because I had never ridden the bike with such high pressures.

“It’s a pity about the crash, but fortunately there were no physical consequences.”

MotoGP continues on August 22-24 with its inaugural visit to Batalon for the Grand Prix of Hungary.

Results: Grand Prix of Austria, Red Bull Ring