Austrian GP Sprint Race reports/results/points + Moto2/3/E

MotoGP 2023

Round Ten – Red Bull Ring, Spielberg

MotoGP Sprint Race Report

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) converted pole position into Tissot Sprint victory number four of 2023 as the Italian fended off an early Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) challenge at the CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich.

Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) picked up P3 but the Spaniard was heavily involved in the drama that unfolded right from the get-go, as well as another dose later in the Sprint.

Francesco Bagnaia got away well from pole well with Binder – as always – launching like a rocket ship from the outside of the front row as well. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) got a sluggish start from P2, however, and dropped like a stone as Turn 1 played host to high drama.

Martin was on the inside line, he made contact with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), which then started a domino effect.

Viñales was involved as he was sandwiched between Quartararo and Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), and the latter went down along with Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) and Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team).

Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) was also caught up in the incident.

Martin was later given a Long Lap penalty for Sunday’s race after being found to have been riding irresponsibly.

Back at the front, Bagnaia led from Binder. By the start of Lap 5 the duo were over a second up the road from Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), with Martin running in P5.

On Lap 6, Miller went from P3 to P5 as Marini and Martin pounced though, and more drama involving Martin then unravelled – this time at Turn 2A. Martin was up the inside of Marini but contact was made as the duo tipped it into the apex, with the latter crashing out unhurt.

Meanwhile, Bagnaia’s lead was up to a second over Binder, who in turn had three seconds in hand to Martin.

With six laps left, Pecco was 1.3s ahead of the leading KTM, and the gap kept on climbing.

Binder was a safe second, the #33 was 2.7s up the road from Martin, and Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) was a lonely P4 as we got confirmation that no further action would be taken regarding the Martin-Marini clash.

Bagnaia made no mistake to bring his Ducati home for Austrian GP Tissot Sprint victory to extend his title lead, with Binder claiming P2 in KTM’s backyard.

Martin took the bronze medal from P12 on the grid. A spirited – albeit slightly controversial – comeback ride.

Alex Marquez held on to fourth, with Miller taking P5.

With a host of other expected frontrunners further down the order facing a fight back after that huge Turn 1 shuffle, there was plenty going on there, including a charge from GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3’s Pol Espargaro. He took an impressive P6, highly commendable as the Spaniard competes in just his second Tissot Sprint of the season.

Aleix Espargaro finished P7, 0.144s further back, and had some serious pressure from team-mate Viñales. Maverick produced a great fight back to take P8 and nearly, nearly pounce on the final lap.

Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) held off Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) for the final Saturday afternoon point.

Meanwhile, Quartararo had some extra drama to add to the turn one incident he was caught up in. Quartararo clashed with Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia Racing), and was given a Long Lap to serve in the Sprint, which he completed.

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MotoGP Sprint Race Results

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MotoGP Rider Quotes

Francesco Bagnaia – P1

“I’m very happy with how things went today; I knew how important it was to be in front at the first corner because it’s always a mess being behind at this track. I just tried to do my best and then pushed like hell to remain in front. Sincerely I was expecting my rivals to be stronger. We made a slight change for the race from qualifying, and in any case, it went perfectly. We are always improving, we already know that the 2023 bike needs more work, but it also has more potential, so every time we start from a bit far behind, I and my team work perfectly. They know exactly what to give me when I ask, so big thanks to them, they are a great team. Tomorrow, it will be a completely different race, there will be a group of three or four riders, and you can’t manage the tyre like today.”

Brad Binder – P2

“Very happy with how it turned out. Qualified well and went with the leader but just struggled to make everything stick. I did my best and brought it home in 2nd and now we have this evening and the morning to tweak a few things and find improvements for tomorrow. We’ve made a massive step compared to where we were at this track last season so I have to say big thanks to my team and all the bosses for their continued support.”

Jorge Martin – P3

“I need to review it still. I was on a good line, on the inside line, I didn’t touch anybody, I just feel somebody touch me as I was going into the corner, from the outside, so I feel it is not my fault.”

Alex Marquez – P4

“Track conditions were really difficult today, with a lot of heat. I knew straight away that the track would have been challenging and I made a few too many mistakes. I would have liked to push to get back to Martin, but it was really hard and I chose to seal fourth place and find some good points also as a confidence boost for tomorrow.”

Jack Miller – P5

“Not a bad day, not a great day: just a day! The bike worked quite well and we made some steps overnight. We graduated out of Q1 and into Q2 and then putting it on the second row was a bonus. I had a good start but after about five laps I was struggling with drive and was trying to make it up in the braking zones but that pushed up the tire pressure. It was hard to stop after that and I had a few moments locking the thing. We gained a lot of knowledge today about what we can do to try and improve for tomorrow. We got some points on the board and we’re looking forward to having a go again on Sunday.”

Pol Espargaro – P6

“In general it has been a good weekend. The bike reacts very well around this circuit and I’m normally pretty fast here. It means it’s positive to be at Red Bull Ring right now with how I feel. I can catch back some good feelings. I’m not ‘back’ because I still need to adapt more to the bike but we are getting there. I got close to Jack [Miller] despite starting further away on the grid and that was great to see. Tomorrow will be tricky for me. I knew the half-distance would be my time right now. But we’ll give it a go.”

Aleix Espargaro – P7

“It was a complicated race for various reasons. I did not start very well, and then the front tyre pressure went up quickly, causing problems in braking and making it hard for me to overtake. I’m not making excuses, though. Maverick had a much faster pace than I did today, so all we can do is analyse the data and try to improve ahead of tomorrow’s GP. We are actually not far off. If we can solve these issues, I think we’ll be able to battle for the top five and take home some good points.”

Maverick Vinales – P8

“The start compromised the race. Immediately after the start I was no longer in the right conditions to be able to battle at the top. It’s a shame. We could have aimed for the podium today because we had an extremely good pace. That’s the positive aspect of this race. I was fast and able to make up ground on the riders ahead of me and overtake in a short time. We have the speed – there is no doubt about that – and I feel stronger than ever on this bike, but an effective start is essential in order to bring home the result.”

Franco Morbidelli – P9

“I think it was a good Sprint from our side. I got some free space in the beginning because of the Turn-1 incident, and that was a gift that I took. And then the pace was not so bad. I was catching up with the group from fifth to seventh, but it wasn‘t enough. I wasn‘t strong enough to catch up completely. I had a battle with Marc Marquez, I had fun! It was a Sprint in which I was engaged and in which I could extract the maximum potential from the package we had.”

Marc Marquez – P10

“It was an interesting Sprint, when I tried the new aero yesterday I knew more or less what would happen in the Sprint – and it did happen. So it was good in a way to understand this new aero more. We’ve been working with a lot of different setups over the weekend, but we have a clear idea for what to do tomorrow. We benefitted a lot from the falls of others, we have to be honest. Without this we would have been in 15th position more or less. We keep on working and see what we can achieve in tomorrow’s main race.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio – P11

“The goal was to finish close to the top ten and we did it. We had a very similar pace to the second group (from fifth to tenth) and it’s a shame we had to start from so far back. I rode well, even though it was hard to manage the tyre pressure matter. All in all it was a positive Saturday.”

Joan Mir – P12

“I think today we were able to make a step over what we have had. I had a bit of trouble in the first corner with the problems in front so I lost all the positions I made at the start. After this I settled into my race and I was able to recover many positions, keeping a similar pace for the riders fighting for fifth to tenth. This shows we have had some improvements and I was able to be faster, let’s see what happens tomorrow.”

Enea Bastianini – P13

“After the start, I was on the outside, I tried to brake hard, but then when I came back, I had to pick the bike back up because I saw other riders were touching. I had to go straight on, I was lucky not to crash, but after the contact, I lost a lot of time. Then after that, my race was quite flat, I did some overtaking, but my priority now is to understand what the problem is because I think this is not the position that reflects me. In the end, I did my maximum, trying to understand my sensations on the bike to report back to my team. We have made a lot of changes on the bike, but every time it is the same, we must continue to work, let’s see if we can improve a bit tomorrow morning to do a normal race.”

Raul Fernandez – P14

“We made a bigger step, I am starting to feel good with the bike again. We’ve changed a lot of things and in FP2 and Qualifying, I was trying to understand it better. The Qualifying was actually quite ok as I improved my lap time, but the mistake was in the race. When Takaaki (Nakagami) crashed, I was in the group, so everyone had to brake hard, I went wide and lost a lot of time. It’s difficult in these temperatures to manage the front tyre, and with the slipstream, you have a lot of problems to stop and it’s something that we need to work on. When I was on my own on the track, the pace was amazing. We were very competitive. In one moment of the race I saw Alex (Marquez) and was trying to catch up but in the end, he was too far. We have a good bike and need to manage all these areas and tomorrow, I believe it will be an interesting race.”

Fabio Quartararo – P15

“Everyone could see what happened in Turn 1, so I have nothing to add to that. All I can say is that I gave my 100% in the Sprint. I think that our pace was pretty good. Many things happened during this Sprint, but I can say that in general I‘m pretty happy with how I‘m riding. I don‘t know how I didn‘t crash in Turn 1 today on the opening lap, I was lucky. As for the incident with Savadori: Augusto Fernandez overtook him and I released the brake a little. I was riding on the limit, and I touched him a little bit. I have to ride aggressively to overtake, so this is something that can happen. Let‘s see what happens tomorrow, but I think we gained good experience in this Sprint. The Race is longer. I think the pace will be a bit slower tomorrow because of the tyre degradation. Hopefully we can do a great race and have a bit more luck.”

Iker Lecuona – P16

“I did a good start; I overtook several riders, and I felt good during the first laps of the Sprint. I felt fast, but then we started to have some problems with the front end, which made me lose positions. We’ll try to do better tomorrow!”

Augusto Fernandez – P17

“A hard weekend so far. We’re struggling a bit on this track. Braking has been my weak point so far this season and this place is all about braking! I took the Sprint as a test to try a few things to see if we can improve and we need to analyse the positives and negatives. We’ll keep working and see if we can have a better race tomorrow.”

Takaaki Nakagami – DNF

“I was following the rider I had in front, and I lost the front. It was a huge impact, but luckily, I’m fine. Tomorrow’s race will be demanding, although, after the Sprint, we’ve gathered some information that should help us improve”.

Luca Marini – DNF

“A different ending to what I was hoping for, we found a good compromise in the final free practice and we were very fast in Q1. In Q2, with just one tire, we did very well. P6 on the grid isn’t bad and today the sprint at the start was almost perfect, a start to be repeated tomorrow as well to be able to compete with the strongest guys for a good result. The contact then changed everything, I’m sorry, from my point of view, the real problem is that in some points the rule isn’t clear, even in terms of penalties. Perhaps we should all discuss this together.”

Marco Bezzecchi – DNF

“It’s a bit difficult to consider this a race, after 300 metres I just felt a big hit and four bike behind me. A real pity, we didn’t need such an aggressive start. I hit on my shoulder and the back and I hope it won’t hurt too much tomorrow. I have only two things to complain about: I didn’t collect data, crucial for tomorrow, and I could have done more in qualifying. I made a mistake on my best lap and I wasn’t perfect on my other attempts. Let’s go back to the data for tomorrow’s race.”

Miguel Oliveira – DNF

“In my perspective, it’s really hard to understand, I was hit from each side, I nearly crashed and couldn’t do more as I was sandwiched in that situation. It’s a shame. Today was for sure a difficult one with the hot temperatures in the afternoon, you would need to manage the front pressure to stop the bike. I really wanted to get a feeling of what I will get for tomorrow, unfortunately we couldn’t. So, there’s no way we can prepare better for tomorrow, we just need to be open minded and give it all on the track. I’m all good physically, there are no injuries and I’m ready to try again tomorrow.”

Lorenzo Savadori – DNF

“It was certainly not a great day for us from many points of view. In the Sprint Race, I chose the soft at the rear. I had a good feeling and I was making up positions. Unfortunately, Quartararo hit me and I was unable to avoid crashing. It’s a pity because it is always important for us to finish the race and take home as many points and as much data as possible.”

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Team Managers

Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager

“A good Saturday: both riders in Q2, both on the first two rows and Brad on the front. We were very confident for the Sprint and Brad did a good job to take 2nd but was struggling a little with grip after half-distance so we will look at that for the full race tomorrow and see if he can fight for the win. It was still a nice improvement from 2022. Jack had the same issue and was sliding a lot. He made good progression after yesterday and P5 was a good result. We know he can do better though, and we need to support him to make it.”

Nicolas Goyon – GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 Team Manager

“An emotional Saturday for the team. Pol did a super-strong qualifying with a very good pace but was just cut short at the door of Q2. In the Sprint this afternoon he gave the crew our best result so far on a Saturday. He had a good start, consistent pace and kept the gap. He was very tired but he had a good reward! Congratulations to him; it was great for the whole team to see him coming home in that position. On the other side of the box Augusto suffered a lot today and is still looking for the right rhythm. He understands his weak points and hopefully we can help him be stronger for tomorrow; he is usually producing his best performances in the race so let’s see.”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“The Sprint was again quite the chaotic spectacle, especially the first corner, where Martin, who started from the fourth row, made an overly ambitious attempt to overtake. It compromised the Sprint of five riders. Franky managed the situation well, and that bore fruit. After a disappointing qualifying for him, he tried something new for the Sprint which paid off quite well, resulting in him collecting a championship point. He improved his pace, and this bodes well for tomorrow. Fabio‘s Sprint got ruined before he even entered the first corner. Luckily, he managed to stay on the bike. It‘s a shame, because he had the race pace to get some good points today. The long-lap penalty also didn‘t help. Of course, it was never Fabio‘s intention to touch Savadori. It‘s difficult for us to understand why Fabio‘s action was penalised when a similar incident by Martin wasn‘t. We will have a do-over tomorrow in the Race and look forward to getting better results.”

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MotoGP Championship Points

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MotoGP Qualifying Results

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Moto2 Qualifying

It was a pole position to remember for Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) as the Championship leader stamped some authority on Moto2, bouncing back from an early crash to grab pole position for KTM and Red Bull’s home race. The Spaniard’s 1:34.040 was enough to deny previous Spielberg winner Ai Ogura (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia), with Celestino Vietti (Fantic Racing) alongside Ogura and Acosta on the front row as the Italian bagged P3 in Q2.

It was a plot twist early on as the favourite for pole, Acosta, hit the deck. After smashing the lap record in Practice 3, the Championship leader wasn’t going to let a small off affect his confidence. After getting his machine back to pit-lane and heading back out onto the circuit, the Spaniard went straight to the top of the timesheets with no one able to better the untouchable pace of the #37.

Jake Dixon (Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team) has been there or thereabouts all weekend and will head row 2 at the Austrian Grand Prix in P4. Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) showed strong form in Practice but was unable to quite put the same together in Qualifying, and the Thai rider will start from 5th ahead of Silverstone winner Fermin Aldeguer (CAG SpeedUp) and second overall, Tony Arbolino (Elf MarcVDS Racing Team).

Moto2 Qualifying Results

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Moto3 Qualifying

Colin Veijer’s 1:41.486 was enough to fend off Championship leader Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3), who secured an important front-row for Sunday’s race, with Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) well in the mix as always in P3.

As ever the times began to tumble in the final couple of minutes of Moto3 Q2. Holgado was leading the way in the closing stages, but red sectors came flying in from the likes of Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing). Masia lost a lot of time in the final sector though and with just 13 seconds on the clock, the rookie Veijer snatched the top spot.

On the second row, it’s Masia who took P4 with Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) joining him in 5th and 6th.

Silverstone victor David Alonso (GASGAS Aspar Team) was looking strong but a late-session crash limited the Colombian’s progress to P7. Joining the rookie on the third row will be Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) and Joel Kelso (CFMoto Racing PrüstelGP) in 8th and 9th, with David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) rounding out the top 10.

The timesheets don’t tell the full story for Kelso though. The young Aussie was on course for a front row start on the final lap but then late in the lap his charge was halted by traffic that saw that lap go away from him in the final sector.

Moto3 Qualifying Results

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MotoE Race One

Zannoni got the perfect launch from pole and Granado quickly gained a place into P2 at Turn 2A, with Casadei slipping to P3. That soon changed to P2 though for the latter as the Italian carved his way up the inside of Granado at Turn 1 on Lap 2, with Zannoni’s early 0.5s advantage vanishing on the second lap.

The lead changed for the first time at the end of Lap 3 as Casadei shoved his way up to P1 past Zannoni, and the polesitter went P1 to P4 in the blink of an eye as Granado and Ferrari came charging past too. Ferrari then grabbed the lead after Casadei had a rear-end moment on the exit of Turn 8 a lap later.

With two laps to go, Ferrari boasted a 0.6s lead over Casadei with Granado a further six tenths down in P3. The Brazilian was holding Zannoni at bay, while Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE) fancied a bit of the podium action in P5.

0.6s was Ferrari’s lead heading onto the final lap, Casadei’s gap to P3 had grown to 0.8s, as a fierce three-way fight for P3 unravelled. Then, at Turn 7, drama unfolded. Ferrari was down and out on the final lap while leading, which in turn handed Casadei a somewhat unexpected victory. Granado held off Zannoni and Garzo for second, as the latter misses out on a rostrum by just 0.084s.

MotoE Race One Results

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MotoE Race Two

Zannoni took the holeshot, and immediately had Casadei and Eric Granado (LCR E-Team) for company. Before the end of Lap 1 though, Casadei decided it was time push his way past into the lead. A group of eight riders formed at the front in the early stages with Championship leader Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) making moves at the back of the group. The Spaniard was unable to cling onto the riders ahead, however, and Casadei began to stretch out the field with five laps to go as Ferrari got the better of Granado to put himself inside the top three, too.

Disaster then struck for Granado with two laps to go as the Brazilian asked a little bit too much of his front tyre and hit the deck, rider ok but leaving a three-rider and all-Italian fight at the front.

By the last lap, Casadei led Zannoni led Ferrari, but Ferrari parked it perfectly up the inside to take over in second as they barreled towards the final sector. There was one move between the number 11 and a redemptive win, but into the iconic final corner, the Gresini rider didn’t make a lunge for it. Casadei held him off and crossed the line to complete an awesome weekend worth 50 points, but Ferrari did take that 20-point payday for second as Torres came home in sixth.

Zannoni made it two podiums with another P3, with Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) beating Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE) to fourth ahead of Torres in sixth.

With that, it’s now Casadei second overall, 15 points off the top, and Ferrari in third with a deficit of 16 to Torres. Next up for MotoE will be the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya.

MotoE Race Two Results

MotoE Championship Points Standings

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Austrian Grand Prix Schedule
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2023 MotoGP Calendar