MotoGP Austria Results, Grand Prix - Into the sunset

The Red Bull Ring in Spielberg hosts the Austrian Grand Prix for the eighth year in succession this weekend. Check this page throughout the weekend for Austrian Grand Prix results.

Overview

Grand Prix - Bagnaia storms to 5-second domination over Binder, Bezzecchi

Sprint - Bagnaia dominant as Martin charges to third

Qualifying - Bagnaia on pole as title rivals suffer in Austrian qualifying

Practice - Bezzecchi on top overnight despite late bike problem

FP1 - Strong start for France as Zarco tops FP1 from Quartararo

Grand Prix

Sunny and hot conditions ensured that even if the weather was stable for the MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix, they would not make the race straightforward. Tyre and brake temperature management would be crucial to achieving a good result, and it was Francesco Bagnaia who was able to manage those aspects the best to take his fifth GP win of the season.

As in the Sprint, it was Francesco Bagnaia who made the holeshot and, as in the Sprint, it was Maverick Vinales who was the big loser on the start, dropping to 10th.

Vinales’ loss was Jack Miller’s gain, as he made it a KTM 2-3 on the opening lap. However, he soon had a trio of satellite Ducatis queuing up behind him. The first was Alex Marquez, and then the VR46 Racing pair of Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini.

Marquez made it into third on lap four, and he immediately escaped from Miller, and the VR46 pair were through soon after. Miller's slide down the pack would last the duration of the race, and he ended out of the points in 16th.

It came down to the three Ducati riders to decide the outcome of third place. A couple of failed attempts from Bezzecchi to pass Marquez meant that over three seconds stretched out in front of the Italian up to second-placed Binder by the time he passed on lap 22.

Marquez lost out at the beginning of lap 26 to the second VR46 bike of Marini, dropping him to fifth.

The Spaniard was at least able to hold onto that top five position ahead of Maverick Vinales, whose recovery this time took him up to sixth place.

Jorge Martin was seventh following his long lap penalty for the turn one incident in the Sprint; while Fabio Quartararo (8th, top Yamaha, top Japanese bike), Aleix Espargaro (9th), and Enea Bastianini (10th) rounded out the top 10.

Marc Marquez picked up his first points from a Grand Prix this season as the top Honda in 12th place.

At the front, Brad Binder's challenge for the lead lasted around half the race, from which point Bagnaia's superior tyre life showed, and he cruised to a five-second lead. The Italian did not drop out of the 1:30s until the last three laps, and so a relaxed 1:32 on the final tour was not a problem.

Binder's second place topped off a strong weekend which, in terms of performance, left him in the wake of Bagnaia in qualifying, the Sprint, and the Grand Prix, but which also put him ahead of the entire field by ensuring his KTM future until 2026. 

Full MotoGP results from the Austrian Grand Prix are below.

2023 MotoGP Austria Results | Grand Prix

Sprint

A chaotic MotoGP Sprint in Austria probably seemed anything but from the perspective of Francesco Bagnaia, who cruised to yet another win.

It was a terrible start for Maverick Vinales, who got dragged backwards and into a first corner incident which took out Miguel Oliveira, Johann Zarco, and Marco Bezzecchi. From second on the grid, Vinales ended the first lap in 18th. 

Francesco Bagnaia made the holeshot ahead of Brad Binder, and they began to pull away in the early stages.

While Bagnaia and Binder avoided combat, Jorge Martin was fighting his way through. Luca Marini had found his way past Jack Miller and into third place, and Martin was quick to follow him through. Then, Martin, who by now was under investigation for his role in the aforementioned turn one incident, tried to pass Marini into the 2a-2b chicane. He got right alongside, but also made a small amount of contact with Marini, who went down. For this incident, Martin received no penalty, but the investigation into the turn one incident would not be concluded until after the race.

The contact and pass on Marini put Martin clear in third (on the road at least), almost three seconds behind Binder but two seconds ahead of Alex Marquez in fourth.

Similarly, Binder was two seconds behind Bagnaia as the race entered the final three laps, and that is pretty much how it stayed until the flag. 

Bagnaia, in contrast to the relative chaos behind him, was almost faultless at the front as he took his fifth Sprint win of the season.

Brad Binder looked early on as though he would have the pace to challenge Bagnaia, but once the rear tyre dropped he lost the acceleration to stick with the Italian.

Jorge Martin’s eventful ride to third is uncertain to have actually achieved third at the time of writing, but he showed good pace from which he can find positivity thinking about the longer race on Sunday.

Alex Marquez was solid in fourth, ahead of Jack Miller who ensured a double top five for KTM, while Pol Espargaro took an impressive sixth place in his second Sprint, and third race back from injury.

Just behind Pol was his brother, Aleix Espargaro, who struggled to pass. IN comparison, passing was less of an issue for Espargaro’s factory Aprilia teammate, Vinales, who recovered from 18th on lap one to finish eighth. 

The final point went to the top Japanese bike, the #21 Yamaha of Franco Morbidelli; while Marc Marquez was the top Honda, just missing out on points in 10th.

Full MotoGP results from the Sprint in Austria are below.

2023 MotoGP Austria Results | Sprint

Qualifying

Clear skies presented somewhat of a contrast to Friday’s conditions in Austria for MotoGP qualifying. The times were tight, but fastest of all was Francesco Bagnaia who took pole position.

In Q1, Jack Miller seemed to have secured a position through to Q2 with his first run, but he went again anyway and set his first 1:28 of the weekend. Luca Marini took the second spot to advance from Q1 to Q2.

Q2 began with mixed fortunes for Aprilia, mostly. Maverick Vinales was fastest after the first runs, and the only rider in the 1:28s. But, Aleix Espargaro fell on his second flying lap at turn three and, although he was able to remount and get the bike back to the pits, he was 10th after the first half of Q2.

Espargaro’s session did not get much better with his second tyre, and he qualified 11th, meaning if he wants to challenge for victory he will have to come from the fourth row as he did in Silverstone two weeks ago.

For his teammate, Vinales, it was a stark contrast. The #12 held provisional pole for much of the session, and ended up second - well in contention for the podium and victory both later on Saturday and tomorrow.

The only rider to beat Vinales was Francesco Bagnaia. It has often been the case that the Italian could be described as anything but reliable, but when Ducati’s record of 50 consecutive front row starts was on the line it was only the World Champion who could seal the deal for the Bologna marque.

The second best Ducati was that of Alex Marquez in fifth place, while Luca Marini was sixth. Ahead of both of them were the factory KTMs of Jack Miller - who had come from Q1 after a disaster Friday - and Brad Binder, fresh off the signing of his new KTM contract extension. Binder edged out his teammate, Miller, for the front row, but after the Australian was 22nd in FP1 on Friday morning a fourth place qualifying seemed a way away.

Bagnaia’s primary title rivals, Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin, did not have such strong qualifyings. Bezzecchi took seventh place, and Martin had all of his fast laps cancelled for track limits, meaning he will start from 12th, alongside the aforementioned Espargaro (11th) and his Pramac teammate Johann Zarco (10th).

Alongside Bezzecchi on row three will be Miguel Oliveira (8th) and Fabio Quartararo (9th, top Yamaha, top Japanese bike).

Pol Espargaro qualified 13th fastest, but his three-place grid penalty from impeding Marc Marquez in Practice on Friday means he will start 16th in the Grand Prix. That means Enea Bastianini, Franco Morbidelli and Joan Mir all move up a position on the grid on Sunday but not for the Saturday Sprint.

Full MotoGP results from qualifying in Austria are below.

2023 MotoGP Austria Results | Qualifying

Practice

Compared to the relative serenity of FP1, MotoGP Practice in Spielberg was quite intense, partly because of the need for Q2 seeding, and partly because of the threat of rain. In the end, the rain was never heavy enough to require wet tyres, and Marco Bezzecchi set the fastest time, and an new lap record.

Although the session started dry, the rain began to fall - lightly - with around 25 minutes to go. The rain never really stopped after that, but it also never got wet enough to reduce the grip. That meant the final 10 minutes was an especially intense time attack.

The intensity was illustrated by the lap times. After FP1, only Johann Zarco was in the 1:29s, but the final 10 minutes of Practice mandated a 1:29 in order to be in Q2 directly.

In fact, the top five we all inside the 1:28s, and of those Marco Bezzecchi was the fastest, despite a late technical problem that forced him to stop at turn four.

Marc Marquez’ hopes of getting through to Q2 were arguably ruined at the same corner, when he was blocked on the entry by Pol Espargaro. Each of Marquez’ subsequent laps were ruined by his own errors at turn three, with the Honda simply not providing sufficient rear grip to get stopped for the corner.

That was  not such a problem for Maverick Vinales, who finished FP2 in second place on the leading Aprilia. His teammate, Aleix Espargaro, ended the afternoon in seventh, ensuring a strong Friday for the Noale brand in one of the circuits least suited to its RS-GP.

Francesco Bagnaia had a solid afternoon in third place, ahead of KTM’s Brad Binder who climbed 10 places from 14th to fourth between FP1 and Practice.

The Pramac Ducati duo of Johann Zarco (5th) and Jorge Martin (6th) completed the top six, while Alex Marquez slotted in behind the aforementioned Aleix Espargaro in eighth place on his Gresini Ducati.

Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo put his #20 YZR-M1 in ninth place to be the fastest Japanese bike on Friday, while Miguel Oliveira rounded out the top 10 on the RNF Aprilia.

Full MotoGP results from FP2 in Austria are below.

2023 MotoGP Austria Results | FP2

FP1

MotoGP FP1 in Austria took place in dry conditions, despite some fears overnight due to some storms in the area. Its now-untimed nature made the first session of the weekend a relatively relaxed affair, but it was Johann Zarco who set the fastest time as the only rider inside 90 seconds.

The session started out almost immediately with difficulty for Silverstone Sprint winner Alex Marquez, who had a problem with his front forks which forced him to abandon his first run early. He recovered well, though, and ended the session fourth fastest.

Just behind Marquez in the standings was Marco Bezzecchi, in fifth place. Bezzecchi had been in front of Marquez when his early issue first occurred, and the Italian ended up having issues for himself, running on multiple times, including at the 2a-2b chicane.

The Aprilias also struggled with getting stopped, with - on one occasion - Miguel Oliveira and Aleix Espargaro running on in unison at turn four. Espargaro’s session ended in ninth place, while Oliveira was 17th. For Maverick Vinales, on the #12 RS-GP, the session went much better, and he finished third.

Honda's Marc Marquez had comparable problems to the Aprilia riders in getting stopped for turn four. He ran on once into the gravel, and soon after he crashed there. Marquez finished FP1 in 18th.

The top-placed Honda was that of Takaaki Nakagami. He was running once again with the new Honda fairing that debuted in Silverstone, as was Marquez. The Japanese rider said in Silverstone that he hoped the additional front downforce brought by the new fairing would show its benefit in Austria, where there are many hard braking and acceleration ones. Certainly, with Nakagami in seventh place after FP1, it seems the fairing is working better in the stop-start of the Red Bull Ring than the fast flow of Silverstone.

Nakagami’s RC213V was the meat in a Ducati Desmosedici sandwich. Behind the Japanese was Francesco Bagnaia in eighth, and ahead of him was the second Gresini bike of Fabio Di Giannantonio who had his best session of the season in sixth place. Jorge Martin also rounded out the top 10 for Ducati, while the Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo was the top Japanese bike in second place.

Full MotoGP results from FP1 in Austria are below.

2023 MotoGP Austria Results | FP1

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