MotoGP 2023
Round Ten – Red Bull Ring, Spielberg
Francesco Bagnaia – P1
“Sincerely, I’m very happy. I had a very good start, got in front immediately and tried to manage as much as possible. In the first phase, I was just trying to figure out how many riders could stay at that pace in the low 30s, and I tried to be a little slower than what was possible. The last few laps were very difficult for the rear tyre because it no longer had any traction and was spinning a lot. We managed to do an incredible job all weekend, the engineers and my team gave me everything I asked for, and this was the result. For sure, the second part of the season will now be very tough, but we will try to be calm and enjoy every moment like we did this weekend. If we can continue like this, we can have some good results.”
Brad Binder – P2
“I knew from yesterday that we were looking for drive grip but I did everything I could; protect where I could and push where I could on the brakes. I tried to keep him [Francesco Bagnaia] honest in the first half of the race but there was a moment where the rear grip just said ‘goodbye…’ and I knew I had to be clever and just bring the bike home. The team made another huge step from yesterday to today and I could brake so much later and so much harder. We still have a bit of work to do but I cannot thank them enough. It is awesome to be on the podium twice here in Austria and at their home Grand Prix.”
Marco Bezzecchi – P3
“I’m very happy: after yesterday and after Silverstone we all needed it! For me, the Team, they do an incredible job, for my parents who are both here and then also for Vale who came to see us and I wanted to make a podium in front of him. Today Celestino (Vietti) also won in Moto2, one of my greatest friends on and off the track, so it was an almost perfect day. I didn’t get off a bad start, overtaking Alex was really difficult, plus I knew the last 10 laps were going to be tough and I did everything I could to conserve and manage the tire. My tactic was elastic: I gained, I lost, I let the tire get air and then I tried it and it went well. I was very strong in braking and when I got in front I felt better and I opened the gap a bit in the final stages. A busy weekend, in qualifying I was not perfect, while the recovery gave me extra charge, I’m really satisfied.”
Luca Marini – P4
“I’m very happy, even if the podium was so close. I tried, but it wasn’t easy to climb up to the fourth place. I have only one regret, after the start I was third, but I lost the rear tire, I was about to high side, and Miller, Marquez and then Marco overtook me. I lost a lot of ground, but I didn’t give up. After Assen and Silverstone, we needed a solid race. A good weekend overall, but let’s not stop working, KTM and Aprilia will be competitive in Barcelona. We have to take a step, the bike slides a lot at the rear, then I brake hard, but I also lose a lot on exit compared to the other Ducati.”
Alex Marquez – P5
“It was a really long race and it’s a shame I couldn’t get on the podium… We tried in every way possible. Maybe we missed something at the start as losing touch with Binder’s group penalised us. I had to race by myself without any chance to save tyres. The goal today was to push hard but also find some consistency of results and after yesterday’s fourth place, today’s top five leaves us with a good taste in our mouth, even though we always want more.”
Maverick VInales – P6
“The start today was better than in the Sprint Race, but it wasn’t enough to maintain my position on the grid and I consequently lost more ground in the melee on the first corner. I squeezed the maximum from the bike for the entire race, making up ground and overtaking several times, but then I couldn’t close the gap behind the riders battling for the podium any further, which was already more than 2 seconds at that point. Right now, our priority is to improve the start. We have the potential to battle at the top and some circuits that are more favourable to us are coming up, so we need to be ready to seize every opportunity.”
Fabio Quartararo – P8
“Unfortunately, on the first three laps I was missing a lot of grip. I couldn’t fight for the position I had hoped for. But, like I said on Thursday: if I give my 100%, I will be happy with the race. This is what I did. We know where the points of improvement are for our bike, but today it was great to do laps behind our competitors so I could really see and give great feedback to the engineers. This year I‘m working on two things. I am trying to finish in the best place possible. I‘m trying to learn and be focused and calm. But I‘m also trying to prepare for next year, which I think will be super important. I want to give the best feedback to Yamaha as possible, to make the best bike as possible.”
Aleix Espargaro – P9
“It was an extremely demanding race physically. It was very hot and at the beginning I pushed as hard as I could to try and stay with the leading group. Then my performance dropped because I began to feel a drop in the rear tyre and I also had to manage fuel consumption. In any case, I’m fairly satisfied. Throughout the weekend, our performance improved and at the end of the day, I wasn’t too far behind Maverick, who rode at an extremely high level here. We knew that this track doesn’t suit our bike and particularly my riding style, but we took home some good points in the end. We’ll keep working, as always, to improve.”
Enea Bastianini – P10
“I have to say that we did a good job this morning, I immediately felt at ease with the change we made; instead, this afternoon, it didn’t happen in the race because the sensations were very similar to yesterday. The front blocked a lot, unfortunately, my grip dropped immediately after two laps. I couldn’t do anything anymore, I got to the end, and the tyre was finished. I feel we are on the right track, the potential is certainly there, this morning, I made the lines as I wanted, and I had grip. The problem is that things that happen that you don’t understand always lead to a bad result, so it was the same today.”
Franco Morbidelli – P11
“It was a tricky race. I was starting a from a bit further behind, so I had to recover some positions. It was a fun race, anyway. I was in good form, and I could recover quite some positions. I felt strong, I felt that I had a good pace. But unfortunately the starting position is still an issue. We will try to improve that and improve other areas as well, for sure.”
Marc Marquez – P12
“The result of this Grand Prix was a culmination of the new approach we are taking as in Silverstone. We are trying to understand many things with the bike and avoid falling, finally we finished a race. At one point in the race my times were quite good, but I was the only one with the soft rear. It’s good to finish a race but obviously we are aiming for more and we need to keep on working. It’s been a busy weekend here in Austria and now we see what’s possible in Montmelo.”
Augusto Fernandez – P13
“I was happy to be in the fight, more so than yesterday. We found some pace and I could have a more competitive race with better lap-times. I raced with Pol and Jack [Miller] and was happy for that. We finished with a few points, and this was not always a guarantee during the weekend! Positive, and now I’m looking forward to my home GP.”
Jack Miller – P15
“That was definitely not the Sunday we wanted here at the home Grand Prix … I’m very disappointed for myself and for the team at KTM’s home race. It was just a struggle and I don’t know why or how yet, but I was suffering with missing grip from the very beginning and the last eight laps were about trying to survive out there. We probably need to go back to the drawing board, to be honest.
“We made some changes a few races ago in Assen and it doesn’t seem like it’s been working great, so now we try to maybe take a step back and evaluate the changes that we’ve made to attempt to go forward. Today I just struggled with missing grip, started really suffering on the (corner) exits straight away. I started getting into trouble with guys passing me on the straight, my top speed was down simply because the exit wasn’t there out of the corners. Braking felt good – the bike in the front-end was actually pretty stable and I was able to catch back up in the middle part of the lap but into all the straights, I just couldn’t accelerate.
“It was a weekend that started and ended not great, but the middle was decent. Friday, for practice, I didn’t have a great feeling with the bike in the morning session at all, I felt pretty terrible. The afternoon was better at first and the pace improved, but I was still missing a little bit and that’s why we ended up in Q1.
“Then on Saturday, things were pretty positive with getting into Q2 through Q1 and then end up finishing fifth in the Sprint. Wasn’t like it was some great day or anything, but it wasn’t bad either – decent, you could say. I felt like we had some work to do for the race and gained some valuable information, so the goal was to find a bit more drive without compromising anything else. With a small step it felt like we had podium potential … and then Sunday came and that was all she wrote.
“Sunday was definitely a shame because it’s a big, big home event for KTM here. I’ve observed this race with the support and the orange flags from the other side before, but it’s different when you’re on this side of the fence. You could only imagine what it would be like to win at home for KTM … it’d be pretty special, that’s for sure. I generally enjoy it here too – in the past it’s gone a lot better than today did with some podiums for me here – and a lot of that I think is because it’s such a different track compared to all the others, there’s not really anywhere we go to that’s like here. I actually enjoy it with the new chicane as it’s a lot less stressful, a little bit more technical, and the elevation changes are quite cool.
“Sunday was one of those days that you want to forget about pretty quick, but the weekend itself … you would have seen that KTM gave me my 2014 Moto3 bike over the weekend here, that was a super awesome surprise because I thought they only did that if you won a world championship for them. Maybe it was because I was a nice guy! But no, it was an awesome gesture by those guys and it brought back some good memories, that’s for certain.
“That 2014 season is a big reason why I’m still here now – it changed my career, you might say. I’ve always said since coming back here this year that KTM felt like family, like a homecoming for me, and I’m massively grateful for that. I’d always talked about getting some parts and maybe building a replica one day, so to get the real thing … I was not expecting that one bit. That bike changed my life for the better, so to be able to have that …
“I got pretty emotional about it all, probably not a surprise for me. Ruby’s back in Australia now getting ready with the baby and everything, so I moved the bike into the motorhome on Friday night … I half-contemplated putting it in the bedroom with me, I’m not gonna lie!”
Pol Espargaro – P16
“Well, it was a tough day today, and I expected it. I was already in trouble with the longer race distance and my physical condition is not the best at the moment. I tried to manage the last laps but ended up being penalized by two positions for touching the green track limits, which I didn’t even realise! We gained more experience with the bike, I worked on my body and each weekend is going to be a bit better.”
Fabio Di Giannantonio – P17
“I had a great start and a great turn one, but at the first esses I had to basically stop to avoid crashing and from then on, it was an impossible comeback, especially with due to the track conditions. We lapped again in the top-ten times, but we couldn’t have done any better given our starting position.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P18
“Today, we’ve tried different things to help HRC, because we are in a difficult situation and want to find a solution. Of course, we are disappointed as we haven’t scored points, but taking data was crucial to take further steps. I mainly struggled with the rear grip, so let’s keep working and try again in Barcelona”.
Lorenzo Savadori – P19
“I started rather cautiously in order to save my tyre and be able to make up ground in the second half of the race. Unfortunately, while I was keeping up with the group battling for points, I also had to manage fuel consumption, which limited my performance a bit. In any case, we were able to move forward with our scheduled testing programme and that is the most important thing.”
Iker Lecuona – P20
“I had fun at the first stages of the race but five laps to the end the situation got difficult due to tyre temperature, as today was hotter than yesterday. In the end, I’ve given my maximum and I’ve tried to help as much as possible the team. I’d like to thank LCR and HRC for the opportunity”.
Miguel Oliveira – DNF
“I was fast for the weekend, but we had a little issue during the race, a strange issue to be honest. It was a very simple detail but it made me retire, the weights to caliper the front wheel came off and as an effect, I could not hold enough pressure on the brakes because of the vibration and I had to retire early due to that.”
Raul Fernandez – DNF
“Today we were unlucky. The pace from yesterday was impossible to manage because I had no rear grip from the beginning. I lost a lot of time from the start, I couldn’t do any late braking, there was a lot of spinning and I kept going wide. The issue with the rear grip was really hard to handle. Then on the last lap, I tried to brake again and I went wide, so I decided to stop the race.”
Joan Mir – DNF
“I’m not happy about today, I felt that we were doing a solid weekend for our situation. It’s a shame to fall and miss out on more laps. I had something with the brakes, which can always be a critical point here, and then I went wide and lost the front. When you’re riding on the limit and have a small problem, it’s difficult to stay on a bike. The positives are that I was able to fighting with Marc across the weekend and I was not as far behind as previous races. We improved our confidence too so we need to carry this feeling into the next races.”
Team Managers
Luigi Dall’Igna – Ducati Corse General Manager
“Pecco was superb here, he didn’t do anything wrong. For everything else, he repelled the attacks in the first laps, and then he was simply superior. As for Enea, it is clear that he still needs more time and more races to get back to the form that he showed last season. The road is still very long until the end of the season; we have just completed the tenth of the twenty races we have to do, and, as was demonstrated last year, we must never say it’s over until the end.”
Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Team Manager
“Another good result for Brad and a second podium here. At the moment we are not able to catch the world champion who is in his best form but Brad fought like a lion, as usual. Second place was hard-won because the conditions were tough but he managed the race so well. Another brick in building our future. We are very confident after the last few grands prix. With Jack we suffered again in the second half of the race and we need to understand what is happening and how we can help him because he cannot ride like he wants. He can be better and we have to give him the support for that potential. We’ll enjoy our podium today but we’ll look towards round eleven and the next GPs for more.”
Pablo Nieto – Mooney VR46 Racing Team Manager
“We are delighted! A truly absurd Saturday, disastrous for the whole Team and today another podium and a very solid result for the whole group. Well done everyone, Marco and Luca and the guys deserve it. An incredible step since yesterday, they were able to put everything behind them and react in the best way to yesterday. And then everything in front of Vale, even more special! Overall a very difficult race, with temperatures and tires to manage. Pecco had an incredible pace, we did everything we could from P6 and P7 and I’m really satisfied and proud.”
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director
“Warm Up showed that the riders‘ feelings with the bike are good, but we hadn‘t had a session as hot as today‘s Race during this GP weekend. The Spielberg track is hard on the tyres and also on the brakes. Tyre pressure and tyre degradation played a key role, and on top of that the riders‘ concentration and fitness. During races like these, the sting is always in the tail. While our riders did a good job managing the situation towards the final stages, gaining positions, we weren‘t strong enough at the start of the race to challenge in the front group. Still, our overall performance was not too bad at a track that doesn‘t suit us much. Now we look forward to the next round in Montmeló. It‘s another Monster Energy sponsored GP and a track that is more up our alley.”
Nicolas Goyon – GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 Team Manager
“A tough Sunday for us and the GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 team; it was hot out there and the track was greasy and both riders had issues during the race. Augusto was looking for grip and trying to stop the bike but rode with a clever pace and with his head. He managed to solve his issues and took two points, so we thank him for this. Pol struggled with his physical condition and lacked strength in the heat but he showed the high level of his motivation and pushed all the way to the end. This was great to see. The Grand Prix here was amazing with all the fans and now we look forward to Barcelona!”
Razlan Razali – CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team Principal
“We approach this weekend with a lot of enthusiasm and confidence, coming from the back of the grid during the weekend in Silverstone and to be able to do what we did there. But unfortunately, it didn’t turn out the way we wanted it. Of course, we were upset that Miguel crashed in the Sprint race yesterday, and we know that we could do better in the main race. But again, due to a technical issue with the front wheel, Miguel had to retire early and same goes for Raul who could not finish the race. It’s disappointing, it hurts to have another double DNF, especially when both riders are 100% fit. But we need to consolidate our will, our strength and chin up and come back to Barcelona stronger.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team Manager
“We had two very disappointing races. Of course, Miguel was taken out in the first corner yesterday, Raul actually had a good pace but finished 14th. He was feeling well with the bike but completely lost his feeling during the main Race on a Sunday, he had no rear grip. Also, we had a huge issue with the front. The wheel became so hot that the weights came off because the glue melted. Miguel had a lot of vibration and he could not ride anymore because he had no brakes and also Raul struggled a lot. The Red Bull Ring is a special track with a lot of heat, especially too much heat on the front and we need to manage that. We learnt a big lesson, so we will look at the details on what happened here and learn from it for Barcelona.”
MotoGP Race Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Francesco BAGNAIA | DUCATI | 42m23.315 |
| 2 | Brad BINDER | KTM | +5.191 |
| 3 | Marco BEZZECCHI | DUCATI | +7.708 |
| 4 | Luca MARINI | DUCATI | +10.343 |
| 5 | Alex MARQUEZ | DUCATI | +11.039 |
| 6 | Maverick VIÑALES | APRILIA | +11.724 |
| 7 | Jorge MARTIN | DUCATI | +12.917 |
| 8 | Fabio QUARTARARO | YAMAHA | +19.509 |
| 9 | Aleix ESPARGARO | APRILIA | +20.231 |
| 10 | Enea BASTIANINI | DUCATI | +20.729 |
| 11 | Franco MORBIDELLI | YAMAHA | +21.527 |
| 12 | Marc MARQUEZ | HONDA | +23.027 |
| 13 | Johann ZARCO | DUCATI | +24.259 |
| 14 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | KTM | +25.365 |
| 15 | Jack MILLER | KTM | +25.475 |
| 16 | Pol ESPARGARO | KTM | +28.073 |
| 17 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | DUCATI | +28.998 |
| 18 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | HONDA | +32.316 |
| 19 | Lorenzo SAVADORI | APRILIA | +42.392 |
| 20 | Iker LECUONA | HONDA | +46.239 |
Max Speeds Across Race Weekend
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Speed |
| 1 | Brad BINDER | KTM | 315.7 |
| 2 | Luca MARINI | DUCATI | 315.7 |
| 3 | Marco BEZZECCHI | DUCATI | 315.7 |
| 4 | Franco MORBIDELLI | YAMAHA | 315.7 |
| 5 | Enea BASTIANINI | DUCATI | 315.7 |
| 6 | Francesco BAGNAIA | DUCATI | 315.7 |
| 7 | Lorenzo SAVADORI | APRILIA | 315.7 |
| 8 | Jorge MARTIN | DUCATI | 314.4 |
| 9 | Maverick VIÑALES | APRILIA | 314.4 |
| 10 | Pol ESPARGARO | KTM | 314.4 |
| 11 | Aleix ESPARGARO | APRILIA | 314.4 |
| 12 | Fabio QUARTARARO | YAMAHA | 313.0 |
| 13 | Raul FERNANDEZ | APRILIA | 313.0 |
| 14 | Iker LECUONA | HONDA | 313.0 |
| 15 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | HONDA | 313.0 |
| 16 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | KTM | 313.0 |
| 17 | Johann ZARCO | DUCATI | 313.0 |
| 18 | Alex MARQUEZ | DUCATI | 313.0 |
| 19 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | APRILIA | 313.0 |
| 20 | Joan MIR | HONDA | 313.0 |
| 21 | Marc MARQUEZ | HONDA | 311.6 |
| 22 | Jack MILLER | KTM | 311.6 |
| 23 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | DUCATI | 311.6 |
MotoGP Championship Points
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | Bagnaia | 251 |
| 2 | Martin | 189 |
| 3 | Bezzecchi | 183 |
| 4 | Binder | 160 |
| 5 | Zarco | 125 |
| 6 | Marini | 120 |
| 7 | Espargaro | 117 |
| 8 | Miller | 96 |
| 9 | Marquez | 92 |
| 10 | Viñales | 86 |
| 11 | Quartararo | 73 |
| 12 | Morbidelli | 65 |
| 13 | Fernandez | 51 |
| 14 | Rins | 47 |
| 15 | Oliveira | 40 |
| 16 | Di Giannantonio | 37 |
| 17 | Nakagami | 34 |
| 18 | Bastianini | 24 |
| 19 | Marquez | 19 |
| 20 | Fernandez | 14 |
| 21 | Pedrosa | 13 |
| 22 | Savadori | 9 |
| 23 | Folger | 9 |
| 24 | Espargaro | 8 |
2023 MotoGP Calendar
| Rnd | Date | Location |
| 12 | Sep-03 | Catalunya, Catalunya |
| 13 | Sep-10 | San Marino, Misano |
| 14 | Sep-24 | India, Buddh (Subject to homologation) |
| 15 | Oct-01 | Japan, Motegi |
| 16 | Oct-15 | Indonesia, Mandalika |
| 17 | Oct-22 | Australia, Phillip Island |
| 18 | Oct-29 | Thailand, Chang |
| 19 | Nov-12 | Malaysia, Sepang |
| 20 | Nov-19 | Qatar, Lusail |
| 21 | Nov-26 | Valenciana, Valencia |
