Spielberg: Bagnaia triumphs in the sprint

The World Championship leader from Italy was unbeatable in the short 14-lap race on Saturday, followed by South African KTM rider Brad Binder (+2,056 seconds) in second place, an excellent result for the local motorcycle manufacturer. The Spanish Ducati rider Jorge Martin came third (+5,045). Martin could still get a penalty after two accidents.

The second KTM factory rider Jack Miller came fifth, behind him Pol Espargaro in the GasGas factory team for KTM was able to celebrate sixth place after a race to catch up. Honda superstar Marc Marquez crossed the finish line in tenth place and missed out on the world championship points from the top nine. Bagnaia extended his championship lead to 46 points after his fourth sprint victory in the tenth race. Last year's winner is clearly ahead of his Ducati colleagues Martin (226) and Marco Bezzecchi (180) with 167 points. As fourth in the World Cup, Binder now has 140 points.

“It was hard, I tried everything. Hats off,” said Binder in the finish area of the Red Bull Ring. “We will try to get him tomorrow,” added the 28-year-old, who had previously extended his KTM contract by two years until 2026, with a view to the main race on Sunday (14.00 p.m.). Binder is on the front row of the grid for only the second time this season. The victorious Bagnaia was also satisfied: “I am very happy with the result, tomorrow it will be a different story.”

Brad Binder finished second. © APA/afp / JURE MAKOVEC

Bagnaia secured pole position for the fifth time this year on Saturday morning, just ahead of Aprilia driver Maverick Vinales, who fell back to eighth place in the sprint after a bad start. By finishing third and fourth, Binder and Miller had secured an excellent starting position for the 28-lap Austrian GP. The two KTM hopefuls are looking for their first win of the season at the home race of the orange racing team from Mattighofen on Sunday.

During the sprint, there was a crash in the first corner in summer conditions on a dry track. In front of the eyes of superstar Valentino Rossi, who retired at the end of 2021, four drivers were involved in a crash; the race ended early for Rossi's protégé Bezzecchi. A little later, Martin was responsible for another collision; he pushed Luca Marini, Rossi's half-brother, who was in third position, off the track. “It was an emotional race, a lot happened,” said Martin.

Pol Espargaro sprinted up seven positions from 13th on the grid and made an impressive comeback after his horror crash. The 32-year-old GasGas rider who works for KTM had significantly hindered Marquez in Friday training and will therefore be moved back three starting places in the race. Pol Espargaro had a serious fall at the season opener in Portimao in March and only celebrated his comeback at the previous race in Silverstone.

Football

Italy

International leagues

International

Hockey

Tennis

Winter sports

Learn More

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Events

Favorites

Spielberg: Bagnaia triumphs in the sprint

MotoGP world champion Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia celebrated a confident start-to-finish victory in the sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg.

Comments (0)