Bagnaia repeated last year’s triumph in Spielberg

For the 26-year-old “Pecco” Bagnaia it was the fifth success in the tenth race of the season, the 26th MotoGP triumph and the 50th podium, for Ducati the eighth victory in Styria since the Red Bull Ring returned to the racing calendar in 2016. The second KTM rider, Jack Miller, didn’t get rolling at all on Sunday and after a good start he dropped back many positions to 16th place. Honda superstar Marc Marquez finished in a main race for the first time this season, but the Spaniard had to settle for twelfth place.

Bagnaia extended his World Championship lead to 62 points at the halfway point in the season. With 251 points, the defending champion and last year’s Spielberg winner is well ahead of his Ducati colleagues Jorge Martin (189), who finished seventh, and Bezzecchi (183). As fourth in the World Cup, Binder now has 160 points.

In the smaller classes, KTM celebrated a dramatic double victory in Moto3. Turkey’s Deniz Öncü won after a photo finish by five thousandths of a second ahead of World Championship leader Daniel Holgado from Spain. The Japanese Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna) was still in the lead before the last corner and had to settle for third place. In Moto2, Spaniard Pedro Acosta, who already has a MotoGP contract with KTM in his pocket for next season, finished second, just missing out on another home win as Italian Celestino Vietti won.