2022 Austrian MotoGP, Red Bull Ring – Race Results

* Rookie

Francesco Bagnaia has taken his third victory in a row at the 2022 Austrian MotoGP, while world champion Fabio Quartararo fought his way past the other Ducatis for a hard-earned second place.

Bagnaia’s factory team-mate Jack Miller completed the podium, with Quartararo’s closest title rival Aleix Espargaro salvaging sixth after a last-lap accident for Pramac’s Jorge Martin, who ed while trying to pass Miller for third.

Bagnaia’s victory was Ducati’s seventh from the last nine races at the Red Bull Ring.

• CLICK HERE for the new 2022 MotoGP world championship standings

The all-Ducati top four of debut Gresini pole starter Enea Bastianini, factory riders Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller and Pramac’s Jorge Martin continued at turn 1, but with Bagnaia passing Bastianini for the early lead.

Bastianini was shuffled back to fourth over the subsequent laps, the Bastianini vs Martin duel having extra spice due to their ongoing battle to be Bagnaia’s team-mate next season.

Yamaha’s world champion Fabio Quartararo, who has led the Ducati opposition all weekend, didn’t make the swift progress he hoped for from fifth on the grid, briefly slipping to sixth behind Maverick Vinales.

A mistake by the Aprilia rider handed the place back to Quartararo, who then took fourth from Bastianini on lap 6 of 28. Worse was to follow for the Italian, who ran wide several times before spearing off into the gravel and retirement with some sort of front-end technical issue.

Bastianini’s exit meant Quartararo now had title Aleix Espargaro directly behind him, in fifth. The Aprilia rider struggled to engage his front holeshot device at the start and briefly dropped outside of the top ten before carving back up the order.

Up front, Miller began pressuring Bagnaia for the lead, the Australian making several unsuccessful lunges. Fueling the Australian’s urgency was a fast closing Martin, using the same medium rear tyre as the red bikes but with a hard – rather than soft – front ryre.

But the Desmosedicis were no longer alone.

Using hard front and medium rear tyres, Quartararo’s Yamaha began to reel in the trio of Ducatis at the halfway stage, then was handed third place when Martin ran wide at the new Turn 2 chicane.

When the Spaniard briefly raised his hand there were concerns of a Bastianini-type technical issue in the Pramac Ducati garage, but the 2021 race winner was able to hold pace with Quartararo ahead.

While Bagnaia had gained breathing room by the final laps, Miller, Quartararo and Martin were nose-to-tail in the battle for the remaining podium places.

Quartararo surprised Miller with a clever pass for second through the new chicane, but Martin’s attempt to pass Miller at the start of the last lap ended in disaster when he fell at Turn 1.

That mistake moved Luca Marini to fourth for VR46 Ducati, followed by Martin’s team-mate Johann Zarco (who recovered from a bad start) and Aleix Espargaro, the only rider in the top eight on the soft rear tyre.

Team-mate Maverick Vinales, returning to the track where his Yamaha career ended one year ago, was in the early podium hunt but also seemed to suffer on the soft rear and brought his RS-GP home in 13th.

Suzuki’s Joan Mir fell from sixth on the opening lap. Rookie Darryn Binder produced a stunning first lap to climb from 21st to the edge of the top ten before later ing out. LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami also joined the DNF list while Martin remounted for tenth.

The San Marino MotoGP at Misano, also the last grand prix appearance for Andrea Dovizioso, takes place on September 2-4.

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