Great cinema from Bagnaia in the Spielberg thriller

Pole position, superior victory on Saturday in the sprint race and then, as the icing on the cake, yesterday’s triumph and the repetition of last year’s victory at the Austrian Grand Prix – Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia delivered great cinema and a great performance in Spielberg’s motorcycle crime thriller absolutely world class performance. The only one who was able to stay in his slipstream, at least to some extent, was KTM factory driver Brad Binder, who gave the Innviertler two excellent second places at their home race, while teammate Jack Miller, who complained about the lack of grip, only finished 15th.

For the 26-year-old “Pecco” Bagnaia it was the fifth success in the tenth race of the season, the 26th triumph and the 50th World Championship podium, for Ducati the eighth victory in Styria since the return of the Red Bull Ring in the racing calendar in 2016. “I’m very, very happy right now, but I don’t want to think about the world championship,” said the defending champion, who, like on Saturday, was in an outstanding manner in the sprint. Which is why the 28 laps in the Styrian Murtal were relatively unspectacular this time.

Nevertheless, it was a successful weekend for Binder. “Brad fought like a lion, Pecco is just in top form,” praised KTM team manager Francesco Guidotti. The South African had already signed a new contract with the oranges on Saturday, which binds him to the plant until 2026. The 28-year-old should continue to tackle the “World Champion title” mission. Because World Championship organizer Dorna KTM is now finally not giving a fifth and sixth motorcycle for 2024, the course for the future has also been set for the GasGas team of two. Pol Espargaro, who is improving after a serious injury, and Augusto Fernandez will have to compete for the rest of the season for second place alongside 19-year-old promoted Pedro Acosta. This puts a lot of pressure on both of them.

Ex-industry leader Valentino Rossi finally had reason to celebrate on Sunday. His VR46 protégé Marco Bezzecchi made the anger of the day before forgotten when he was cleared in turn one in the mass crash through no fault of his own. Yesterday, third place looked possible for the young Italian. With six laps to go, he passed Ducati colleague Alex Marquez.

Marquez Poker worked out

Speaking of Marquez: His brother Marc saw the checkered flag of a Sunday race for the first time since Malaysia 2022 in twelfth place. The former world champion was the only one in the field who dared to drive with the soft rear tyre. At least a small partial success for the dissatisfied Honda star.

Dramatic Moto3 race at Öncü

• But a KTM home win: 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 often decisive last corner. 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. The two MotoE races became the prey of the Italian Mattia Casadei.
• Points and falls: In the two rounds of the World Championship talent factory Red Bull Rookies Cup, there was light and shadow for the two Upper Austrian drivers in the elite field. Linzer Jakob Rosenthaler placed his KTM on Saturday as 14th in the points, on Sunday he went down after just two laps. A little later Leo Rammerstorfer from Mühlviertel, who was 21st in the first race, was also out of the race.

High celebrity density and a KTM drummer

The atmosphere at the Red Bull Ring naturally reached its boiling point yesterday on Grand Prix Sunday, and it wasn’t just the air temperature of over 34 degrees that was to blame. According to the organizers, exactly 173,017 spectators attended the motorcycle festival in Styria this year, including many celebrities.

Actor Tobias MorettiSinger Chris Stegerex-ski racer Hans Knauss fascinated the event with the fastest two-wheeler pilots in the world as well as the former surfing world champion Robby Naishmotocross legend Heinz Kinigadnerspeedway hero Frankie Zornsnowboard champion Benjamin Karlex-ÖSV sports director Tony Giger as well as success coaches Ferdinand Hirscher and with Helmut Marko also the Red Bull eminence in Formula 1 matters.

They also found the wild stunts of bike trial riders breathtaking Fabio Wibmer, who regularly reaches millions of viewers on YouTube with his daring videos. As usual, the race organizers also left nothing to be desired in terms of music. The Folkshilfe heated up the audience, as well as a KTM factory pilot Jack Miller picked up the drums, the atmosphere boiled over. Singer Alexander Eder performed the rocking version of the national anthem before the start of MotoGP yesterday.

By the way: The Red Bull Ring will remain the hub of the motorcycle world this coming weekend. Then the 20th Rupert Hollaus Memorial Race, organized by IG Formula Classic from Behamberg, takes place, and many former world champions step in.