Marc Márquez finally conquers the Red Bull Ring

Silvia Cojocaru
4h
3 min read

Written by Silvia Cojocaru

Marc Márquez celebrating his first win in Austria | Credit: motogp.com

Marc Márquez breaks the curse to win the Austrian Grand Prix for the first time in his career as Fermín Aldeguer celebrates his best result of the season.

Grand Prix Results

Marc Márquez, Ducati Lenovo Team, 42:11.00
Fermín Aldeguer, Gresini Racing MotoGP, +1.118
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, +3.426
Pedro Acosta, KTM Factory Team, +6.864
Enea Bastianini, Redbull KTM Tech 3, +8.731
Joan Mir, Honda HRC Team, +10.132
Brad Binder, Redbull KTM Factory Racing, +10.476
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Lenovo Team, +12.486
Raul Fernandez, Gresini Racing MotoGP, +15.472
Álex Márquez, Gresini Racing MotoGP, +15.537
Franco Morbidelli, Pertamina VR46 Team, +16.185
Johann Zarco, Honda LCR Team, +16.241
Luca Marini, Honda HRC Team, +18.478
Ai Ogura, Trackhouse Team, +18.491
Fabio Quartararo, Monster Energy Yamaha, +25.256
Àlex Rins, Monster Energy Yamaha, +30.316
Miguel Oliviera, Yamaha Pramac Team, +34.008
Jack Miller, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP, +37.478

OUT. Fabio DiGiannantonio, Pertamina VR46 Team

OUT. Jorge Martín, Aprilia Racing

Sprint

After an underwhelming qualifying, Marc Márquez was set to start from 4th on the grid. Still, the Spaniard managed a great start and recovered to second before the end of Lap 1.

In contrast, after an amazing result in qualifying for Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi, the Italian was unable to fend off Álex Márquez at the start.

It was not long until Pedro Acosta also recovered from 7th and overtook Bezzecchi, following the Márquez brothers .

Despite out-qualifying his teammate, Francesco Bagnaia’s sprint race came to an unfortunate end. A failed start knocked him down to 12th on Lap 1 and he was unable to recover, continuing to lose positions.

With just six laps remaining, Bagnaia retired from the sprint, struggling to control his bike.

As the Márquez brothers were starting to distance themselves from the rest of the field, with five laps remaining, Álex made a mistake which opened the door for Marc to take the lead, which he held on to until the end of the race.

Acosta celebrating a home podium for KTM | Credit: motogp.com

Acosta kept Bezzecchi behind to round out the top three, celebrating a home podium for KTM. The Austrian team had a great Saturday, with Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini also scoring points.

Grand Prix

Despite taking part in Friday’s sessions, it was announced that due to pain in his shoulder prevailing, Maverick Viñales would have to withdraw from the rest of the weekend.

Off the line, Bezzecchi managed to remain in the lead while Álex lost two positions to Bagnaia and Marc. The two Ducati factory riders fought for position, with Márquez briefly overtaking Bagnaia at Turn 3 before the Italian claimed his position back.

On Lap 2, Márquez finally managed to pass his teammate, but Bezzecchi already started to distance himself from the rest of the grid.

Acosta and Álex had a short battle behind Bagnaia, before Álex decided to complete his long lap penalty on Lap 4. Afterwards, the runner-up in the championship returned in 11th place.

After great efforts to return in this year’s championship, Jorge Martín unfortunately crashed out of the Austrian Grand Prix at Turn 7 of Lap 15.

Acosta and Aldeguer battling in the sprint | Credit: motogp.com

The fight for the last step of the podium began when Bagnaia ran wide on Lap 18 and Acosta and Fermín Aldeguer both passed him. Just two laps later, Aldeguer passed Acosta and started to close in on the leading duo while Bagnaia continued to lose positions.

Lap 19 saw Márquez make his first attempt at passing Bezzecchi, but the Italian took back the lead at Turn 6. Márquez was able to make another pass one lap later, this time remaining at the front.

With just five laps remaining, Aldeguer continued his impressive run by passing Bezzecchi and even closing the gap to Márquez.

It was unfortunately too late for the rookie to challenge the championship leader, but his efforts earned him his best result so far, and his second podium of the season.