Styrian MotoGP with Boris

MotoGP 2021 – Round Ten
Styria Red Bull Ring – Spielberg

The first race back after the summer break is always special. Especially when it’s the longest summer holiday in history. It had been a full five weeks since the last wheel was turned in anger.

And what a return it was. History was being written even before the roller doors went up on the garages, and the last of the crews staggered their way off the planes which had carried them back from Ibiza, Majorca, and St Tropez.

We had been told Cal Crutchlow was being wheeled in to replace Morbidelli for three races. Cool, I thought. Be great to see Cal plough the Styrian gravel again. It’d been a while.

Then I heard Dani Pedrosa was going to have a wildcard ride on a KTM – a marque which owes so much of its success to the Little Samurai, I would not be surprised to see it talk Red Bull into mounting a giant metal version of Dani on that big-arse steel bull that sits in the middle of the track.

It was shaping up to be a fascinating round. We would be privileged to see who had spent their summer break dancing with centrefolds in nightclubs, and who had been cycling mountain passes, and grinding bits of their face off – yes, I’m looking at you, Aleix Espargaro. Mir got married during the break, as did Oliveira, so both of them were still reeking of honeymoon.

Vinales had come back from what might have been some kind of hippy wellness retreat, grinning and waving like a goof-ball. Having parted company rather acrimoniously with Yamaha before the break, he had subsequently apologised to his fans, and had arrived at the Red Bull Ring bon homie incarnate. Come the race, he shat his bed so badly I actually felt sorry for him, but I’ll get to that.

But everyone’s thunder was stolen when Rossi announced his retirement, effective at the end of 2021. Suddenly, and rightly, that was the only story anyone wanted to talk about. No-one cared about Pedrosa Reborn, Crutchlow Redux, Face-scabbed Aleix, or Happy Maverick.

Marquez had also declared himself stronger and fitter and ready to resume being Marquez. But no-one cared about that either. The Doctor was retiring.

The Practice sesssions were intriguing, as everyone got their eye back in. We didn’t see so much as a glimpse of Cal, whose eye might take a few rounds to get dialled back in, but Dani was consistently quick and hanging around 10^th both Friday and Saturday. 

Marquez looked promising, though hardly dominant. Mir appeared very purposeful and consistently fast, and Fabulous kept flubbing Turn Three. Oliveira managed to high-side himself at 40km/h and hurt his hand, which he spent a lot of time icing. And at one stage, Savadori topped the time-sheets, but it was pretty damp, and he’s good in those conditions.

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The Red Bull Ring is terrifyingly fast, and very slippery in the wet – and rain was predicted for race-day. Brembo had brought along some new disc rotors that transferred heat better, and Suzuki had finally fitted ride-height devices to its bikes.

So the stage was set.

Qualifying came along, and just before going out, Petrucci discovered he did not have a job next season when KTM revealed it had signed a deal with Fernandez to once more partner Remy Gardner in 2022. 

Another discovery was being made by HRC at the same time. Marquez was suddenly complaining about his bike set-up. You’ll recall that not once in his entire career with HRC has Marc ever even mentioned his bike, or what it might be lacking. Well, he’s doing it now. And he even crashed to show he was serious.

But out of nowhere, Jorge Martin hurled his Pramac Ducati around the track in 1:22.994, setting a new record and plonking himself on pole. Fabulous was on a faster lap, but had his time cancelled when he exceeded track limits. He found himself in third on the grid, just behind a fast and confident Bagnaia.

The Ducatis of Miller (4^th) and Zarco (6^th) sandwiched Mir between them on the second row – and everyone else was where they now usually are. All indications looked like it being another Ducati fiesta – but if you’ve been watching, you’ll have seen that whatever straight-line advantage the Bologna Bullets had, is not so evident anymore. 

I had expected KTM to make more of a showing, but Oliveira could only manage 12^th and Dani had his play-bike tucked in 14^th. Binder was back in 16^th, and Petrucci, who had run out of shits to give, was chatting with Cal at the back of the grid. 

The promised rain had not arrived, the race was declared dry, and after a bit of argy bargy where Marquez viciously forced Aleix Espargaro off the track in the first corner, Martin was leading, followed closely and then passed by Bagnaia, and Mir, who was suddenly as aggressive as I’d ever seen him. Marquz was in fourth, Fabulous in fifth, and Vinales in sixth.

It was all still messy and vicious as the second lap started. Mir had just been passed by Martin for second place, and set off after Bagnaia in first. Mir ran wide two corners later, and was passed by Marquez, then Fabulous passed them both, and Vinales took this to mean he could bitch-slap Marquez wide in Turn Four.

And it was Bagnaia, Martin, Fabulous, Mir, Vinales and Marquez just starting their third lap, when two bikes exploded behind them and the race was red-flagged. 

Pedrosa, occupying a solid 12^th, crashed in Turn 3, and Savadore rocketed into his KTM, it all went “WOOF!” and everyone went back to the pits.

Austria being full of Austrians – one of whom was driving a magic truck – had the track washed, swept, dried, and ready to race on again in less than half-an-hour – a truly wondrous feat. 

A fast restart was on, and everyone (except Savadori, who had a broken ankle) went back to their original grid positions. 

Which is when Vinales stalled his bike. The rest of the field set off on its warm-up lap, and Maverick desperately pushed his bike into pit-lane. He then tried to ride out of pit-lane, presumably so he could start at the back of the grid, but was stopped by an official and told he was going to start from pit-lane, like the rules said. I think that’s when he stopped grinning and waving.

The rest of them carried on, made a start, and Marquez once again forced Aleix wide into Turn One. Post-race handbags would be deployed in due course. 

Miller quickly solidified himself as leader, hotly pursued by Martin and Mir, with a half-a-second back to Fabulous, Zarco, and Bagnaia.

Karma, or a voodoo doll in Aleix’s garage, forced Marquez wide in Turn One, and he found himself in 14^th. And it looked like Bagnaia was working his way back to him. He was dropping through the field like a stone. Peco later said it was his tyre choice in the re-started race that ruined it. He started the first race with a soft rear, then threw another soft rear on for the re-start. And it didn’t work.

What was working was Jorge Martin. He quickly took the lead off Miller, and was followed by Mir, with Jack now back in third, pursued by Fabulous and Zarco.

Alex Marquez and Taka Nakagami were chasing the top five, and Binder was in a solid eighth.

But no-one was going to catch Martin. The rookie was head down and in the zone, with Mir determined not to let him get away. Fabulous was not gonna take this lying down, got past Miller, who instantly fought back. Fabulous was not to be denied. He took third again and kept it. 

By this stage, Martin and Mir were a second ahead, and Mir looked hell-bent on hunting the rookie down come what may. And bit by bit, the pair eked out their lead over Fabulous, Miller, and Zarco to almost two seconds.

Vinales’s day got worse. He got handed a long-lap penalty for either exceeding track limits or being the angriest man in Austria. I’m not sure.

The two in front just kept widening the gap. With 11 laps to go, Martin and Mir were now three seconds clear of Fabulous and Miller – and Miller knew he could sure do with a podium, so he wasn’t letting Fabulous out of his sight. And then he was, because his front-end folded and he added another DNF to his season.

Martin was now almost a second clear of Mir, and they were both almost four seconds clear of Fabulous in third. 

Somewhere, far behind them, Pol Espargaro also got a Long Lap Penalty, while Pedrosa continued to impress by hanging hard onto 10^th – not bad for a bloke who hasn’t raced since 2018.

Rossi, relaxed and looking forward to retirement, was flubbing about with his brother Luca and the Beast in 13^th, while Vinales was offering his fans his second last-place-in-three-races. 

Binder managed to get past Nakagami and Zarco at the death, while Mir decided he was not going to catch Martin, and settled for second. Rins actually finished a race, in seventh. Oliveira retired, and Aleix was just too angry with Marquez to continue in any meaningful way.

Bagnaia must have been pissed too. He was handed a three-second penalty at the end of the race for not completing his Long Lap Penalty, and ended up in 11^th, behind Dani Pedrosa – ironically, the bloke who caused the fire which stopped the first race.

A “stronger and fitter” Marquez finished in eighth just ahead of his brother, Alex, but still almost 18 seconds behind the winner, so all is not well at HRC – and won’t be for some time, I’m thinking.

There is now one week of wound-licking, ego-stroking, and general re-setting, before they once again form up at Red Bull Ring, and do it all again.

And once again, there’s not a chance anyone can predict who is going to win. 

2021 Assen MotoGP Race Results

2021 MotoGP Standings

2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar

(Subject to change)