SPIELBERG, Austria — Italy’s
Francesco Bagnaia maintained his magnificent run of form
winning the Austrian MotoGP on Sunday for his third successive victory although
series leader Fabio Quartararo limited the damage.
اضافة اعلان
Bagnaia led from
start to finish on his Ducati — their sixth win in the seven MotoGPs since the
race returned to the program — but world champion Quartararo battled gamely on
a circuit that does not favor Yamaha to finish second.
The Frenchman
extended his lead over second-placed
Aleix Espargaro — who rode with a broken heel
— to 32 points with Bagnaia 44 adrift with seven races remaining.
“It was a very
very long race, very tough,” said 25-year-old Bagnaia, who was winning his
fifth race of the campaign.
“However, I am
very happy it was tough at the end for the last two laps I tried to be as calm
as possible so I did not make an error.
“My tyres were
almost totally worn out and Fabio was gaining on me all the time.
“However, I am
delighted with the end result as we have gained another five points.”
Bagnaia, though,
said he hoped he would further eat into the lead in the San Marino MotoGP in
Misano in a fortnight.
“Fabio is not my focus it is gaining more points to
eat into the deficit.”
Quartararo never
let up constantly harassing Bagnaia’s team-mate Jack Miller in second and
finally bore fruit with four laps remaining.
“That was one of
my best races,” said the 23-year-old.
“It was so
difficult out there and I could have fallen several times.
“I am though
super happy.”
‘Fantastic run’
Quartararo’s consistency this term has kept him ahead of the pack in
the world title race.
He has just
three victories but has also finished on the podium four times in 13 races and
only failed to finish in one race whereas Bagnaia has four retirements to his
name.
“Consistency is
important and we have done well here,” said Quartararo.
“We stayed
strong and have secured a very good result.”
Miller held on
for third helped when Jorge Martin (who soldiered on to finish 10th) came off
his bike on the penultimate lap.
“That was lucky,
though, not for Jorge!” said Miller.
“It was a
fantastic run but I had run out of everything by the end of the race,” the
Australian added with a grin.
Bagnaia’s
compatriot
Enea Bastianini’s miserable run of form since winning his third race
of the season in mid May continued.
Having secured
his first ever pole position he saw Bagnaia pass him and although still in
contention he rode off into the gravel with 23 laps remaining.
The race had
been overshadowed over concerns for young French rider Amaury Mizera.
He remained in a
hospital in Graz — around 80km from the circuit — after being taken there on
Saturday evening following a collision on a lap of honor with Hungary’s Soma
Gorbe following the Red Bull Rookies Cup.
The 15-year-old’s
condition was not known but comes less than a month after eight-year-old French
rider Mathis Bellon died during a race in Italy.
Gorbe was
treated on site.
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