Today Marc Marquez scored a hard-fought second place at a sunny Red Bull Ring, sharing the podium with race-winner Jorge Lorenzo and third-place rider Andrea Dovizioso.

Marc ultimately missed the win by only 0.130”, and definitely not for lack of trying. After taking the lead on the second lap, he tried to pull a gap at the front, but Lorenzo and Dovizioso closely chased him for most of the race. An inevitable battle was looming.

It began on lap 19 and had all of the 92,955 spectators on the edges of their seats until the last lap. At that point, it was duel between the two fellow countrymen, as Dovizioso had fallen slightly behind.

Although he still has yet to tame the Red Bull Ring, Marc leaves the track with an increased advantage in the points standings (+59 over Valentino Rossi) and the enjoyment he always feels after having given it his all in a race battle.

Dani Pedrosa also made some good overtakes today that allowed him to cross the finish line in seventh place, despite a mishap soon after the start having dropped him from a ninth-place grid spot to 14th at the end of the first lap.

The Repsol Honda Team is now leading the Team standings, Honda the Constructor and Marc Marquez the Rider Standings.

Marc Marquez

2nd

“Today I enjoyed the race a lot because I finished second but really gave it everything. In Brno I didn’t have enough confidence, while here, I tried. I started to push hard from the beginning as I had chosen the hard rear tyre with the target of trying to open a gap early on, because I knew that Dovi and Lorenzo would be very fast at the end of the race, when the tyres dropped. That was our strategy today and for a short while I believed I would be able to carry it out, but soon they caught me again. It was a great battle. I tried to defend, to change my lines, but it was impossible. This is a track where they’re very strong, especially on the straights. In these situations we try to manage at our best, and we also have our very competitive points; we were very strong on braking and entering the corners. For sure we will use those strengths and have our say at other tracks. So far we’ve always been right there, always on the podium, and that’s the most important thing. We lost only five points on Lorenzo and gained more on Valentino, who’s second in the standings. We’re happy with this result; we’ve done a great job here.”

Dani Pedrosa

7th

“After the start, turn one was a bit messy but okay, but after a couple of corners, something happened with Smith, Rossi, Zarco, and I don’t know who else, and I went off the track, losing five or six positions. I found myself very far back in the pack. As usual, in the beginning I also struggled with the feeling and grip, so it took me some time before I was able to get into a good enough rhythm. When I felt more comfortable, I started making some passes, and the situation became better and better. This is something we need to solve because by the time I start to be fast, the race is gone.”

MotoGP 2018
Race Round 11   Austria

Race Results

Sunny
Humidity
41%
Track Temp
43°C
Air Temp
27°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Lorenzo Jorge 99 SPA 25 Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 39'40.688
2 Marquez Marc 93 SPA 20 Repsol Honda Team Honda 0.130
3 Dovizioso Andrea 4 ITA 16 Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 1.656
4 Crutchlow Cal 35 GBR 13 LCR Honda Honda 9.434
5 Petrucci Danilo 9 ITA 11 Pramac Racing Ducati 13.169
6 Rossi Valentino 46 ITA 10 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 14.026
7 Pedrosa Dani 26 SPA 9 Repsol Honda Team Honda 14.156
8 Rins Alex 42 SPA 8 Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 16.644
9 Zarco Johann 5 FRA 7 Pramac Racing Ducati 20.760
10 Bautista Alvaro 19 SPA 6 Angel Nieto Team Ducati 20.844
11 Rabat Tito 53 SPA 5 Esponsorama Racing Ducati 21.114
12 Vinales Maverick 25 SPA 4 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 22.939
13 Iannone Andrea 29 ITA 3 Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 26.523
14 Smith Bradley 38 GBR 2 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 29.168
15 Nakagami Takaaki 30 JPN 1 LCR Honda Honda 30.072
16 Syahrin Hafizh 55 MAL 0 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 30.343
17 Espargaro Aleix 41 SPA 0 Aprilia Racing Aprilia 31.775
18 Miller Jack 43 AUS 0 Pramac Racing Ducati 34.375
19 Morbidelli Franco 21 ITA 0 EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 40.171
20 Redding Scott 45 GBR 0 Aprilia Racing Aprilia 53.020
21 Abraham Karel 17 CZE 0 Angel Nieto Team Ducati 53.261
22 Luthi Tom 12 SWI 0 EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 54.355
23 Simeon Xavier 10 BEL 0 Esponsorama Racing Ducati 18 laps
Location Information

The Red Bull Ring in Spielberg is located beautifully in the Murtal-region of Styria, Austria. The circuit was originally built in 1969, then known as the Österreichring. In 1996 it was rebuilt with the track-layout it still had when, in 2011, it was reopened as the Red Bull Ring and… read more.

Length 4.3 km / 2.68 miles
Width 13 metres
Left corners 3
Right corners 7
Longest straight 626 m / 2053.81 ft
Constructed 1969
Modified 1996

Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Steiermark, Austria - View in Google Maps

www.projekt-spielberg.com/en

Records

Pole Position 1m28.772s (176.3 Km/h) Enea Bastianini (Ducati, 2022)
Race Lap 1m29.854s (174.2 Km/h) Jorge Martin (Ducati, 2022)
Race Time 42'14.886 (172.8 Km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2022)
2022 Race Winner Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati)