ROUND 11 – SPIELBERG

Andrea Dovizioso has taken a thrilling victory after a last-corner shoot-out with Marc Marquez at the Austrian GP

The Mission Winnow Ducati rider hadn’t won a race since the opening round in Qatar, as Repsol Honda’s Marquez made hay with the championship, taking wins and second places. At the deceptively simple drag-strip/hard-braking 4.318-km track outside Spielberg, the pair spent the full race distance inches apart.

After trailing Marquez for the majority of the race, Dovizioso powered past on the front straight on lap 19 of 28. Marquez slotted in behind poised to mount his challenge. Marquez made his move on the start of the final lap, regaining the lead. Dovizioso waited until the final corner before diving up the inside of Marquez.
They were so close though the final corner that the Honda’s brake-lever protector hooked onto the Ducati, and “I went with him for a bit,” said Marquez, who expected they would both crash … before luckily it snapped off. That incident pushed Marquez wide, and he was unable to try for a final sprint over the line.

Rookie Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha), who led the first five laps, and then gapped the pursuing factory Monster Yamaha of Valentino Rossi to take third.

Maverick Vinales (Monster Yamaha), qualified fourth, had dropped to seventh by lap two. He was ahead of Rins by the sixth and brought the Suzuki with him as he steadily worked away at catching Rossi. For the final nine laps, Rossi had his hands full fending off his team-mate. Vinales got to within a couple of tenths, but by the finish, Rossi was almost a second ahead, helped because the Spaniard was busy defending a last-lap attack by Rins, only two hundredths adrift over the line.

Pecco Bagnaia (Pramac Ducati) was seventh, the Moto2 champion’s best yet in his first MotoGP season almost caught over the line by an equally best-yet rookie performance from Miguel Oliveira’s on the Red Bull KTM. Close behind was Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati) in ninth, followed by Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha) in tenth.

Pos.     Points Num.  Rider  Nation Team  Bike    Km/h  Time/Gap

1          25        4          Andrea DOVIZIOSO           ITA     Ducati Team  Ducati 183.2  39’34.771

2          20        93        Marc MARQUEZ    SPA    Repsol Honda Team Honda 183.2  +0.213

3          16        20        Fabio QUARTARARO       FRA    Petronas Yamaha SRT         Yamaha          182.8  +6.117

4          13        46        Valentino ROSSI      ITA     Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha          182.6  +7.719

5          11        12        Maverick VIÑALES            SPA    Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha          182.6  +8.674

6          10        42        Alex RINS     SPA    Team SUZUKI ECSTAR   Suzuki            182.6  +8.695

7          9          63        Francesco BAGNAIA         ITA     Pramac Racing          Ducati 182.0  +16.021

8          8          88        Miguel OLIVEIRA  POR    Red Bull KTM Tech 3         KTM  182.0  +16.206

9          7          9          Danilo PETRUCCI  ITA     Ducati Team  Ducati 181.9  +17.350

10        6          21        Franco MORBIDELLI        ITA     Petronas Yamaha SRT         Yamaha          181.7  +20.510

11        5          30        Takaaki NAKAGAMI         JPN     LCR Honda IDEMITSU     Honda 181.5  +22.273

12        4          5          Johann ZARCO        FRA    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing      KTM  181.3  +25.503

13        3          6          Stefan BRADL         GER   Repsol Honda Team Honda 180.8  +31.962

14        2          41        Aleix ESPARGARO            SPA    Aprilia Racing Team Gresini          Aprilia            180.6  +34.741

15        1          17        Karel ABRAHAM   CZE    Reale Avintia Racing           Ducati 179.6  +48.109

Words Michael Scott

Pics GnG