Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia wins a third-successive victory at the MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix as Fabio Quartararo took second at the Red Bull Ring.
A victory at Buriram’s Chang International track next month would put the Ducati man right back in the race.
91 points down on Quartararo in the championship after a fourth DNF of the season in Germany, wins at Assen, Silverstone and now Red Bull Ring have put Bagnaia just 44 points behind in the standings.
Bagnaia, who only lost the lead briefly in a fight with team-mate Jack M before controlling from the front, becomes the first Ducati rider since Casey Stoner in 2008 to win three-successive grands prix.
Bagnaia snatched the holeshot off the line from second on the grid as poleman Enea Bastianini slotted into second on his Gresini Ducati ahead of the sister factory team Desmosedici of Miller.
Miller would come through on Bastianini into Turn 3 on the fourth lap of 28, with Jorge Martin on the Pramac Ducati in fourth engaging with the Gresini rider through Turns 5 and 7.
Both vying for Miller’s seat at the factory team, Bastianini held firm into Turn 1 at the start of the fifth lap but would lose out again at the final corner.
A second braking issue into Turn 4 forced Bastianini off into the gravel before he pulled into pitlane on lap six with suspected damage to his front wheel rim.
The battling between Martin and Bastianini put 1.3s between third place and Miller in second, who was shadowing Bagnaia by around four tenths at the start of lap six.
Miller launched a raid on the lead into Turn 9 on the following tour, but ran slightly wide and allowed Bagnaia to come back through into the lead.
At the front, Bagnaia extended his lead over Miller to over a second in the latter stages as Quartararo ate into Miller’s lead over the Yamaha rider.
Martin rallied in the closing laps of the race and was right on the back of Quartararo at the start of lap 25 when the reigning world champion took second with a stunning pass at the chicane.
Quartararo threw his Yamaha to the outside of Miller in the first part of the chicane, which gave him the inside line for the second part.
The Yamaha rider resisted retaliation into Turn 3 as Martin failed to also find a way through on Miller.
Martin’s opportunity would come into Turn 1 on the final lap, but he crashed as he went up the inside of Miller battling for third.
Quartararo, meanwhile, ripped half a second out of Bagnaia’s lead, but could do nothing to overhaul the Ducati rider as the pair crossed the finish line split by 0.492s.
Miller was left in a comfortable third following Martin’s crash, the Pramac rider remounting to finish 10th.
Source: Autosport.com
