MotoGP Austrian GP: Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia Dominates at Red Bull Ring for Fifth Race Win of 2023 Season

Francesco Bagnaia of Ducati Lenovo won the Sprint Race and the Main Race in the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, at the Red Bull Ring. As he prepares to defend his world championship title in the 2023 season, he has increased his advantage at the top of the rankings. Brad Binder of KTM finished in second place. Bagnaia, who had just established his sixth pole position of the year with a time of 1:28.539 in the morning qualifying session, received an excellent start to lead the pack into the tight first turn at the top of the hill. In spite of an early challenge from Brad Binder, Bagnaia cruised to victory in Austria, finishing more than five seconds ahead of the KTM rider to claim his fifth grand prix win of the year. Having completed his third sprint/grand prix double of the season, Bagnaia is currently 62 points ahead of Jorge Martin in the standings. 

After a sad DNF in the sprint race, Marco Bezzecchi finished third to complete the podium. The top five also included Luca Marini and Alex Marquez. Bagnaia's main challenger for the championship, Jorge Martin, came in ninth after receiving a time penalty for triggering a multi-rider collision.

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MotoGP Austrian GP: Race Result

On Sunday's grand prix, Yamaha factory rider Franco Morbidelli finished 11th, one spot ahead of Honda's Marc Marquez, who was the only rider to use the soft rear tyre. This was Marquez's first race finish of the season in a Sunday grand prix. Johann Zarco, riding a Pramac Ducati, finished in 13th place, behind rookies Augusto Fernandez of Tech3 and Jack Miller.

Pol Espargaro (Tech3) fell out of the points and into 16th place after receiving a three-second time penalty after neglecting to comply with a long lap penalty for breaching track limits too many times. Fabio Di Giannantonio of Gresini, Takaaki Nakagami of LCR, Lorenzo Savadori of Aprilia, and Iker Lecuona of LCR rounded out the field. In addition to Joan Mir race crash, both RNF Aprilias (sporting Barbie-inspired liveries on Sunday) also failed to cross the finish line.

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MotoGP Austrian GP: Marc Marquez Finishes Sunday Race

Finally completing his first Sunday race of the year, Marc Marquez finished 12th in the Austrian MotoGP. The Repsol Honda racer has had an injury-plagued 2023, and he enters this weekend's race at the Red Bull Ring having never finished a grand prix. In the context of the 10th round of the MotoGP season in Austria, Marquez successfully finished a race without any notable incidents, thus adding to the rebuilding of his confidence. For the first time since the 2022 Malaysian MotoGP, he finished the day with points.

However, his teammate Joan Mir cannot make the same boast. Since the opening weekend in Portimao, he has not finished a grand prix and his most recent DNF was in Austria. In his despair, Mir had even considered retiring at the young age of 25 over the summer. After his Silverstone setback, Marquez promised to spend the rest of 2023 regaining confidence and perfecting his bike in preparation for the next season.

With 19 points (some of which he earned in sprint races), Marquez is now 19th in the MotoGP standings. Among the full-time riders, Mir has only five points, which places him 26th overall.