Pecco Bagnaia has taken a flawless Sprint Race win at the Red Bull Ring today. This puts him level on points with Jorge Martin, but gifts him the lead in the title race thanks to count back.
Today was Pecco Bagnaia’s third Sprint Race win of the season, as he took the gold medal at the Spielberg race track. He took the lead in to the first corner of the race and managed to hold on despite an early challenge from pole sitter, Jorge Martin.
He spoke after the race about his “need to be calm”, which proved crucial as his nearest rivals all made mistakes around him.
If you use the shortcut you have to lose 1 second when rejoining the circuit🧐
As @88jorgemartin didn’t do it he was handed a LLP! ⚠️#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/rN1LHjMPcx
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 17, 2024
The first mistake came from pole sitter Martin – whilst temporarily in the lead, he had a huge moment when under pressure form Bagnaia. He went off the track but was then slapped with a long-lap penalty for not losing enough time when he rejoined the circuit.
Next was Marc Marquez who looked set for a podium finish before crashing out at turn 3 on lap 10. At the point in the race, he was 2nd and chasing down Bagnaia but the front of his bike washed out as he pushed his Gresini bike a little too hard.
His brother, Alex Marquez, also faced a similar fate today as he crashed out on the first corner of the first lap. Whilst he was able to rejoin the field, he finished the day down in 20th.
And just like that the silver medal slipped away from @marcmarquez93‘s hands! ❌
The 8-time World Champ crashed out at T3 when he was in second position! 💥#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/nMVelKSEWt
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 17, 2024
Ultimately, the final podium position was taken by a thrilled Aleix Espargaro who managed to keep his nose clean and capitalise on the mistakes infront of him. He celebrated like it was a race win as the soon-to-be-retired Aprilia rider soaks up his final season as a MotoGP rider.
Behind him, there were a number of great battles between Enea Bastianini, Jack Miller, Franco Morbiedlli and Brad Binder who eventually came home in 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th respectively. It was a solid recovery ride for Miller who has a huge wobble off the start line and nearly went down in the opening moments of the race.
The final point was taken by Pol Espargaro, who finished in 9th. The Spaniard is here as a wildcard for KTM to test some new parts for them – he will be undeniably thrilled with a points finish.
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Championship Standings
Despite being level on points, Bagnaia has stolen the lead in the standings from Martin, thanks to 6 his race wins, versus Martin’s 2 wins.
Feature Image Credit: MotoGP