Bagnaia converts sprint pole to sprint win in Austrian GP
19th August 2023Ducati Lenovo’s Francesco Bagnaia dominated the Austrian sprint race to convert the pole position into the race win as a number of riders crash out at turn one.
How the race unfolded…
It was a great launch off the line from Ducati Lenovo’s pole sitter Bagnaia as Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales fell into the clutches of the pack with a poor start. This left Red Bull KTM’s Brad Binder to fight over first place with the race leader, Bagnaia.
However, there was a massive melee in the mid-field as a number of drivers crashed out at the opening corner. In the first corner collision, Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac), Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo), Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac), Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team) and Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46) were all involved.
Only Quartararo, Bastianini and Martin could continue on – Bezzecchi also continued with the race but quickly pitted to retire. The incident was set to be reviewed after the race.
LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami was the next driver to crash out in the opening sectors, on lap three, which brought out a yellow flag between the first and second sectors as the tr
It was a well-behaved few laps as the riders continued on without issue. However, on lap seven, Martin found himself in another incident as he collected the right side of Mooney VR46’s Luca Marini at the turn two chicane. Martin continued on, with a shake of his helmet, as Marini climbed out of the gravel trap.
On lap six, Quartararo was given a long lap penalty for ‘irresponsible riding.’ This came as the Frenchman dived down the inside of Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori of which the Italian fell into the gravel trap. Augusto Fernandez soon joined Quartararo with a long lap penalty but it was for exceeding track limits.
For the rest of the race, Bagnaia dominated the last few laps as he cruised to the chequered flag unchallenged and without any mistakes. Binder and Martin rounded out the top three respectively.
Sprint Podium:
- Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Lenovo Team
- Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM
- Jorge Martin, Prima Pramac Racing
That’s it for the article; !
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
