Austrian MotoGP: Bagnaia pips Martin to reclaim championship lead

Francesco Bagnaia pipped title rival Jorge Martin to secure a commanding victory at the Austrian MotoGP, reclaiming the elusive championship lead.

The fog on Sunday morning cleared out in time for the premier-class grand prix and rain never actually interfered with the racing after a strong downpour hit the track shortly after the Saturday sprint

While Bagnaia once again got off to the best start from the front row of the grid, he was unable to overtake polesitter Martin, who managed to maintain his lead through the first right-hander and the demanding Turn 2 chicane.

The factory Ducati rider made another attempt at the beginning of the second lap and successfully passed Martin at Turn 1 to take the lead. The Pramac rider attempted to fight back into Turn 9, but he went wide into the turn, allowing Bagnaia to maintain his lead.

The duo raced within a few tenths of each other for virtually every lap of the first half of the race, with Bagnaia always managing to pull ahead whenever Martin upped his pace.

However, Martin began to lose power on lap 14 , with the Spaniard’s lap times falling into the 1m30s range. On the other hand, Bagnaia continued to maintain his blistering pace resulting in a lead of more than a second.

The reigning world champion cruised all the way to the finish line, picking up his seventh victory of the season and a five-point lead in the championship as the late danger of rain never materialized. Meanwhile, his title rival had to settle for second place, 2.2 seconds behind his Ducati stablemate.

Enea Bastianini made a quick getaway to get up to third on the first lap, but the factory Ducati rider couldn’t muster his trademark late-race pace and finished 7 seconds behind teammate and race winner Bagnaia.

Gresini Ducati’s Marc Marquez recovered to finish in fourth place following a sluggish start from third due to front holeshot gadget issue. Marquez lost his footing before the braking zone and collided with Franco Morbidelli’s Pramac Ducati which sent him off Turn 1 and rejoined the track in 13th position.

Nevertheless, the six-time champ managed to maintain a consistent lap pace in the 1m29s range throughout the race, recovering by lap 18 to finish fourth.

Meanwhile, KTM’s Brad Binder made a strong comeback from 12th on the grid to secure a comfortable fifth-place finish on KTM’s home course, but the RC16 was too slow to contend against the Ducatis for the win.

VR46 Ducati’s Marco Bezzecchi finished in sixth place while Maverick Vinales marked the leading Aprilia in seventh place after overcoming teammate Aleix Espargaro at Turn 9 on lap 19. Morbidelli later relegated Espargaro to ninth and finished in that order.

Alex Marquez on the sister Gresini Ducati rounded out the top 10, as KTM wildcard Pol Espargaro and Trackhouse rider Miguel Oliveira followed in 11th and 12th place respectively. Meanwhile, Tech3 GasGas’ Pedro Acosta finished the race in 13th place after missing out on the second qualifying round for the first time in his MotoGP career.

LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami and Acosta’s team-mate Augusto Fernandez rounded out the points in 14th and 15th respectively.

2024 Austrian MotoGP Race Results