Bagnaia defeats Martin as Marquez cost livens up drab Austrian GP

Reigning MotoGP champion Pecco Bagnaia dominated the Austrian Grand Prix to make himself the only 2024 factors chief once more, in a largely processional 28-lap race on the Pink Bull Ring.

The Sunday morning fog cleared up nicely in time for the premier-class grand prix, and although darkish skies threatened a rain interruption – after an enormous rainstorm had hit the monitor not lengthy after the Saturday dash – it by no means did intervene within the motion.

It means Bagnaia now heads Jorge Martin by 5 factors, with 9 extra grand prix weekends to be run this yr.

Not like on Saturday, Martin fought off Bagnaia firstly regardless of a slightly higher getaway from the latter – however that solely meant it too Bagnaia till the tip of the opening lap to get previous.

And whereas Martin retook the place for a quick second with a lunge at Flip 9, Bagnaia was again forward on nook exit and started to manage the race from there.

A top-three breakaway involving the pair and their Ducati GP24 peer Enea Bastianini rapidly grew to become a two-rider breakaway when it grew to become clear Bastianini could not run the identical tempo.

And whereas Martin saved Bagnaia underneath large stress for the primary 11 laps or so, he then slowed up and dropped to a second off his title rival.

He by no means stood any actual probability of constructing the bottom up from there, ultimately ending 3.2s off.

Bastianini had prevented his opening-lap mistake from Saturday and was as much as third instantly, however merely did not have the tempo of the 2, which means he by no means had an actual probability to utilize his common late-race prowess.

After crashing out of an “simple podium” on Saturday, Marc Marquez’s possibilities to make amends with a Sunday top-three end went out the window firstly.

A tardy begin put him on a collision course with the late-braking Franco Morbidelli within the Flip 1 braking zone, and each of them dropped nicely out of the highest 10 as they ran extensive after the contact.

Marquez’s restoration experience from there included elbowing the rear tyre of Jack Miller’s KTM when he went in too sizzling into the Flip 2 chicane, then having Miller go down proper in entrance of him on the similar a part of the monitor a lap later.

It launched Marquez to go chase after Marco Bezzecchi and Brad Binder, and he ultimately cleared each, taking good care of Bezzecchi with an aggressive divebomb into Flip 2 after which pulling off an audacious transfer on Binder on the quick Flip 6.

Marquez ultimately completed fourth, six seconds down on Bastianini however practically 5 up on Binder – who did efficiently hold Bezzecchi at bay.

After a woeful Saturday outing, Maverick Vinales defeated Aleix Espargaro within the works Aprilia duel, making up for a failed lunge at Flip 3 early on that value him place with an ingenious Flip 9 overtake late on.

It put Vinales out of attain for the recovering Morbidelli, who did work his well past Espargaro for eighth.

Alex Marquez accomplished the highest 10, adopted by KTM’s Pol Espargaro and Trackhouse Aprilia’s Miguel Oliveira.

Pedro Acosta had maybe his roughest premier-class grand prix but, bringing it house in thirteenth, whereas LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami – the most effective of the Japanese producers’ riders – beat Acosta’s Tech3 team-mate Augusto Fernandez to 14th on the ultimate lap.

Raul Fernandez, who ran proper with Trackhouse team-mate Oliveira early on, light through the race and retired within the closing laps. The one different retirement was Honda’s Luca Marini, who pulled up early on for a yet-undisclosed motive.