Sunday MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3 and MotoE race recaps from Red Bull Ring

2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round 11 – Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich
Red Bull Ring – Spielberg – Sunday

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) put in a stunning performance at the Motorrand Grand Prix von Österreich to take to the top step and complete the double in style.

The reigning Champion went toe-to-toe with Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) before taking charge in the lead and building a gap, securing his status as Championship leader by five points and taking his 25th MotoGP win to equal Kevin Schwantz in 10th on the list of riders with most premier class wins.

Martin’s second place is still a valuable 20-point haul to keep him in touch at the top, ahead of Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) in third for his fourth podium in five races.

MotoGP Race Report

There was some drama even before the start as Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) had a holeshot device shuffle, unable to get both engaged, getting a slightly slower launch and then getting a nudge from Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) as the two headed wide out of Turn 1. Marquez ended up just outside the top ten and Morbidelli further behind him.

Meanwhile, Martin had taken the holeshot to edge out Bagnaia at the front, but the reigning Champion attacked next time round at Turn 1 and took the lead. Another move came from Martin at the penultimate corner on the same lap, but Bagnaia hit back straight away at the final corner. It remained as you were in the high-speed chess match – meanwhile, Bastianini was holding third, within touch.

A small KTM civil war just behind then saw Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) stalk and eventually get past team-mate Jack Miller, with Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) then pouncing too. Bagnaia led Martin with a gap back to Bastianini, ahead of the Binder-Bez-Miller train that Marc Marquez was, by now, fast tagging onto the back of. He was also literally tagging Miller with 19 to go as his elbow made contact with Miller’s rear tyre, but no harm done as Marc reset and reloaded. He didn’t need to make the move, however, as Miller slid out soon after – able to rejoin but out of the fight at the front.

And so Bagnaia led Martin, with Bastianini a couple of seconds back. And then came what was now a Binder-Bezzecchi-Marquez squabble, with the first fireworks coming from Marquez as he carved through the VR46 rider. Next stop: Binder. At Turn 6 with ten to go Pecco sliced up the inside to take over in fourth, but by now the distance to Bastianini was unlikely to be gulfed.

More fireworks then set off in the next gaggle behind as Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) had a second shot at getting past team-mate Aleix Espargaro after an earlier attempt went awry, and Vinales got it done, leaving Espargaro to fend off Morbidelli, who was on a charge.

At the front, the gap would go up a tenth or two and then back down, but Bagnaia remained in control. The reigning Champion cementing the championship lead, five-points ahead of Martin, who came home second for a nevertheless very valuable 20 points.

Bastianini, despite his quick progress up from a tougher qualifying, came home third and wasn’t able to work his used tyre magic to bridge that gap. He did have enough in hand over Marc Marquez, however, with Marc’s pace – on paper enough to put him in serious contention – going begging after his early dramas. He finished P4.

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Behind, Binder held off Bezzecchi to complete the top five, with the South African and the Italian who followed him home both able to find some key positives in the solid results in Austria. Viñales managed to pull away from his teammate to take P7, and on the very last lap Morbidelli sliced past Aleix Espargaro too, stealing eighth from Aleix.

Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) completed the top ten after duelling and holding off KTM test rider and wildcard Pol Espargaro, who completed an impressive weekend taking some points as well as data. Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing) homed in to within two tenths of that battle too, ahead of a tougher weekend for rookie Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3).

Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) had a notable Austrian GP finish – taking P14 and two points, and as top Honda by some distance. He also made a late attack to get past Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) and hold him off by a couple of tenths.

The paddock has now packed up and is heading for MotorLand Aragon as MotoGP returns to the venue for the first time since 2022. Then, it was an incredible duel between Bagnaia and Bastianini. And in 2021, it was another: Bagnaia vs Marquez, for the first of the 25 MotoGP wins the reigning Champion now has under his belt.

MotoGP Red Bull Ring Race Results

Red Bull Ring MotoGP Top Speeds Across Weekend

MotoGP Championship Standings

Moto2

An eighth different Moto2 winner has emerged in 2024 as for the second year in a row, Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo) bags a 25-point haul at the Red Bull Ring. The Italian was unmatched on Sunday as he converted pole into victory, as Alonso Lopez (Sync SpeedUp) and Jake Dixon (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) earned podium finishes as the latter passes Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) on the final lap for P3.

It was a good start from the front row trio as Canet led the opening lap, but Vietti pounced back on Lap 2 as Lopez sat right behind the top two in P3. Sergio Garcia (MT Helmets – MSI) was P4, a second up the road from Dixon.

Lopez then passed Canet for P2, with Garcia just over a second back from the top three on Lap 4 of 23, with Dixon, Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) and Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing) tucked up behind the title chase leader. Not for long though, as both Dixon and Arbolino passed Garcia on Lap 5.

Seven laps in, Vietti stretched his lead to 1.1s over Lopez and Canet. Dixon was 1.6s behind the latter duo, with the Briton having Arbolino in tow. On Lap 9, Vietti then made a mistake into Turn 3, which slashed his advantage from 1.4s to 0.4s as the top three were now split by 0.8s.

The fight for P2 began with nine to go, with Canet and Alonso trading places at the final corner. The small amount of squabbling allowed Vietti to extend his lead back to a second, as Dixon started to ramp up his case for a podium finish. With five laps to go, Vietti was 1.7s clear, as Dixon locked himself onto the back of Canet to make it a three-rider fight for P2, as Garcia was handed a Long Lap penalty for exceeding track limits, and that dropped the Spaniard to P13 from P6.

Heading onto the last lap, Vietti boasted a 2.7s penalty. Dixon dived up the inside of Canet at Turn 1 but exceeded track limits on the exit. Could the #96 then pass Lopez? Not quite. The latter held onto P2 as Vietti bagged his first win in Red Bull KTM Ajo colours, with Canet crossing the line behind Dixon in P4 and because both riders exceeded track limits on the final lap, the results stood – Canet crossing onto the green at the final corner cost him a rostrum.

Arbolino was a lonely fifth, with Ramirez taking sixth ahead of Darryn Binder (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) and Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia). Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing) squeezed inside the top 10 in P9 to claw some crucial points back on Garcia, as Filip Salač (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) rounded out the top 10.

The returning Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took a superb P11 in his first race back since the Italian GP, as Izan Guevara (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) and Manuel Gonzalez (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2™) bagged P12 and P13. Then came Garcia as the Championship leader was unable to fully capitalise on teammate Ai Ogura’s injury absence, as that LLP cost the Spaniard a decent chunk of points. Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) was the final point scorer in P15. Meanwhile, Fermin Aldeguer’s (Sync SpeedUp) lacklustre weekend ended with the Spaniard finishing P20.

Senna Agius had gone into the eleventh race of his rookie season with high ambitions. The Red Bull Ring did not make it easy for the 19-year-old youngster, especially as it is quite difficult to make up positions by overtaking on the stop-and-go circuit. Nevertheless, the Australian managed to make up three places from his eighteenth starting position. The reigning European Moto2 champion takes one point with him from Austria and hopes to regain his old strength in Aragon from the 30th of August to the 1st of September.

Senna Agius – P15

“To take points home is always the first goal but this weekend that was not the performance or the feeling we’ve had in the previous races. We lost some of our strong points, so we need to work to get those back soon. Happy to leave here with something in my hands and a big thanks to the team, they never stopped working. We didn’t achieve what I wanted but we all worked for it…and I hope we’ll get near to our ambitions again soon.”

Vietti reigns at the Red Bull Ring for the second year in a row, as Garcia extends his lead to 20 points heading to Aragon – but it could have been so much more.

Moto2 Red Bull Ring Race Results

Moto2 Red Bull Ring Top Speeds Across Weekend

Moto2 Championship Standings

Moto3

It’s seventh heaven for David Alonso (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) at the Red Bull Ring as the World Championship leader wins again – but this time he did so after taking a Long Lap penalty. The Colombian beats David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) by 0.121s as the Spaniard, in turn, edges out Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) as the trio climb onto the Moto3 rostrum in Austria.

There was drama from the off as polesitter Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets – MSI) had a problem pulling up to the start line, with the Spaniard having to start the race from pitlane. A disaster for the #48, with Alonso’s chief Championship rival 12 seconds off the lead at the end of Lap 1.

The early race leader was Joel Kelso and the Australian had BOE Motorsports team-mate Muñoz, Alonso and Holgado close for company, with the Colombian diving into the Long Lap penalty loop on Lap 2 – as did Angel Piqueras (Leopard Racing) right behind the #80.

This left Alonso in P10, 3.7s off the lead with 17 laps to go. Meanwhile, Ortola was setting fastest lap after fastest lap as he picked his way through the pack to get up to P18 by Lap 6. On the same lap, Alonso was now P6 and closing in on the lead group that consisted of Kelso, Muñoz, Holgado, Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) and Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – the latter duo hovering half a second behind the top trio.

With 11 laps left, Alonso – with Piqueras in tow – had bridged the gap. We had a front group of seven now, with Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) a second adrift in P8 as the Spaniard threatened to make it a 16-wheeler. On Ortola watch, the polesitter was P16, eight seconds behind the leaders and had points-scoring places well within his reach.

On Lap 14 of 20, Alonso led for the first time. Ortola was now up to P9 but the group ahead of him was the leading eight, who were locked together in the fight for the win – 5.4s up the road. Three laps later, Alonso still held the lead, but it was far from a comfortable one as Muñoz, Holgado, Veijer and Piqueras were prowling.

But it was as you were heading onto the final lap. Alonso led the chasing quartet, as Muñoz ran wide at Turn 1 to go from P2 to P4. Turns 2A and B passed by, and so did Turn 4. Time was running out as Holgado fended off Piqueras before Muñoz shoved it up the inside of the Leopard rider at Turn 7. Would a move come in the final two corners? No. Alonso defended expertly to claim a stunning win in Styria, as Muñoz pipped Holgado to P2 by the barest of margins – 0.005s.

The impressive Piqueras claimed P4 ahead of Veijer in P5, with Fernandez, Rueda and Kelso completing the top eight. Ortola produced a fine effort to climb his way to P9, but it’s crucial ground lost in the title chase on a Sunday that promised much more.

Joel Kelso – P8

“A tough pill to swallow. After such a great weekend, we struggled from lap one to match the feeling and pace we showed during the practice sessions. A few factors out of my control really dampened what looked to be a promising weekend. But we brush our selves off and keep moving forward! Time to reset and go again in two weeks time.”

Riccardo Rossi (CIP Green Power), Matteo Bertelle (Kopron Rivacold Snipers Team), Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI), Jacob Roulstone (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) and Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) pocketed the final points-paying places in Austria.

From his fifteenth position on the grid, Jacob Roulstone had stuck within his group at the race start, and gained three positions in 3 laps to sit very close to the top 10. The Australian was in a group alongside Ricccardo Rossi, Xabi Zurutuza, Stefano Nepa, and Matteo Bertelle, as they battled it out for the head of the group, the 10th position. As ten laps remained, Jacob was in 11th as he made a move on Nepa. A few laps later, the rookie made his top 10 entrance, getting the better of Yamanaka. The group ahead was 5.5 seconds away, so the focus at that time remained in trying to hold that lead on the group. However, Ivan Ortola, pole sitter forced to start from the back following an issue on the grid, had made a huge comeback and overtook the whole group. Jacob dropped to 11th again, and shortly after we saw him drop to P15. A late penalty from another rider meant that he saw the chequered flag in 14th.

Jacob Roulstone – P14

“Overall happy to finish the race and get some points. I felt quite strong and was working my way to the front of the second group but then into Turn 3 I was passed sillily by a rider and lost positions there. I couldn’t quite come back from that. More experience after not finishing the last two races. Thanks to all the team.”

Even a Long Lap penalty couldn’t stop Alonso from taking a seventh win of the campaign, as the Aspar star heads to Aragon 71 points clear of Ortola. Can the momentum be stopped at MotorLand?

Moto3 Red Bull Ring Race Results

Moto3 Red Bull Ring Top Speeds Across Weekend

Moto3 Championship Standings