2024 Austria MotoGP Race Result: It’s A Fine Line Between Dominant And Dull

By Zara Daniela |

The premier class race unfolded with a baby blue canvas on half of the sky and a bucket of grey paint thrown over the other, but all the talk of rain was nothing more than a scare and Pecco Bagnaia got to enjoy an uninterrupted view of the Styrian mountains over 27 of the 28 laps. At the end of those laps, the reigning world champion celebrated his 7th victory of the season and had to wait around for his podium companions to finish, Jorge Martin over three seconds back and Enea Bastianini four more seconds behind – the podium mirroring the hierarchy in the title fight.

Although he was expecting some trouble at the start due to his thumb injury, Jorge Martin made a solid launch from pole and led the way into the first corner ahead of Bagnaia. A rapid start from Bastianini promoted him from 7th on the grid directly into the top 3, but the Italian was helped somewhat by a nightmare start from Marc Marquez. The Spaniard lined up in third position on the grid but could not engage his holeshot device and a wobbly start led to some paint swapping with Franco Morbidelli and the two went well wide at the first corner. Marquez’s plan to make amends for his mistake in the sprint was instantly spoiled but he did treat us to a recovery ride from 13th place. While he was regrouping, the factory duos of KTM and Aprilia were trying to keep up with the leading Ducati trio, with Marco Bezzecchi, Alex Marquez and Pol Espargaro in the early top 10. 

Back at the front, Bagnaia made his move for the lead at the start of the second lap and although Martin did try to respond at turn 9, Bagnaia kept top spot, with Martin and Bastianini close behind. The only rider matching the trio’s early pace in the 1:29s was Marc Marquez, who was pushing to recover from the botched start. The leading trio only needed a couple of laps to drop the KTM duo of Jack Miller and Brad Binder over a second back, leaving them in the company of Marco Bezzecchi and the two factory Aprilias. Only half a second behind Maverick Viñales were the Marquez brothers, Marc making some early progress to join the top 10, but nearly five seconds behind the leaders. By the time he found a way past Alex on lap six, he found himself almost a second behind the Aprilias but a mistake from Viñales at turn 3 handed him 8th place and then Marquez took 7th from Aleix Espargaro next time around that corner. 

By lap nine, Bagnaia and Martin proved to be one step ahead of even Bastianini, who dropped over a second behind the duo, but with little threat from behind. Binder was leading the pursuit four seconds back and coming under fire from a rapid Bezzecchi, who was making quick progress through the field in the early stages. Not far behind the Italian, Miller was Marquez’s next target, and it was his toughest yet, the Spaniard’s arm rubbing the KTM’s rear wheel in his attempt to stay close. However, a crash from Miller at turn 2 robbed us of some potential entertainment, handing 6th place to Marquez on lap 11 and setting him up for a rematch against Bezzecchi. 

Meanwhile, Bagnaia was still lapping in the 1:29s and Martin struggled to match that pace by lap 13, letting his rival go and dropping over a second behind. The poleman was quite comfortable in second position, with Bastianini two and a half seconds back but with the prospect of a trademark late comeback from the Italian. There were no other challengers for the podium positions by this stage, Binder lingering nearly eight seconds behind the trio by the halfway point of proceedings and with Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez trying to find a gap past the KTM man. Marquez finally made a move stick at the start of lap 17 and quickly gapped Bezzecchi, taking his turn at challenging Binder. His mission was more successful than the Italian’s, as Marquez claimed 4th with 11 laps remaining, but the podium was nearly nine seconds up the road. Four seconds behind the fading Binder and Bezzecchi was the all-Aprilia battle for 7th position, Viñales occasionally trading places with Aleix Espargaro, with Morbidelli trying to catch up after mounting a recovering of his own from 17th place.

Bagnaia started the final 10 laps with the backdrop of dark grey clouds over parts of the track but also a nice 1.7 second buffer over Martin, which nearly doubled by the chequered flag. There were still no signs of the trademark Bastianini late race pace, the Italian stuck five seconds behind the poleman and Marquez seemed to have taken over the baton, making much more of an impression on the gap to third, cutting the gap by three seconds over the next few laps. However, six seconds with six laps left seemed unlikely even for Marquez and much like the rain, he was never a factor in the podium battle, taking the chequered flag still six seconds back. Binder and Bezzecchi maintained their positions in the top 6, with Viñales taking 7th and Morbidelli robbing Espargaro of 8th in the closing stages. Alex Marquez completed the top 10, with a notable mention to wildcard Pol Espargaro in 11th place. 

After a dominant weekend in Austria, Bagnaia takes proper control of the championship standings, 5 points ahead of Martin and 61 over Bastianini. Marquez loses some more ground, now a distant 83 points behind his future teammate. 

Results:

Pos No. Rider Bike Time/Diff
1 1 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati 42:11.173
2 89 Jorge Martin Ducati 3.232
3 23 Enea Bastianini Ducati 7.357
4 93 Marc Marquez Ducati 13.836
5 33 Brad Binder KTM 18.620
6 72 Marco Bezzecchi Ducati 21.206
7 12 Maverick Viñales Aprilia 24.322
8 21 Franco Morbidelli Ducati 27.677
9 41 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 28.829
10 73 Alex Marquez Ducati 30.268
11 44 Pol Espargaro KTM 30.526
12 88 Miguel Oliveira Aprilia 30.702
13 31 Pedro Acosta KTM 33.736
14 30 Takaaki Nakagami Honda 36.310
15 37 Augusto Fernandez KTM 36.522
16 42 Alex Rins Yamaha 37.571
17 36 Joan Mir Honda 40.432
18 20 Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 43.788
19 43 Jack Miller KTM 44.134
20 32 Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia 44.576
21 5 Johann Zarco Honda 54.126
22 6 Stefan Bradl Honda 54.923
Not Classified
  25 Raul Fernandez Aprilia 41:38.834
  10 Luca Marini Honda 07:58.359
2024
11
MotoGP
Spielberg, Austria
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Comments

MM is really the main thing I'm watching these days. The Pecco/Martin battle has settled into sniping a few points back and forth, which I feel maybe the story for the rest of the season.  I think MM being 4th overall on a new bike and following some really bad seasons of injury and the gimpy Honda is really impressive.  When he doesn't bin it, he's as far up the pointy end as anyone can be with the top two being so far ahead of the rest of the field.  

14th to 4th. Not too shabby and done pretty cleanly too.  A few elbows, but they were clean elbows, if that is an actual thing.  In the past he'd have bashed everyone out of the way to salvage a comeback like that.

Rest of the race?  I wish when the top two or three have cleared off they would just show them in a window and follow the rest of the race in the main screen until something interesting happens at the front.

I don’t read too much into either the Yamaha or Honda results these days. Mir said he and Raul Fernandez bumped into one another and he (Mir) lost four places. But he also said that he struggled all weekend with the new engine and a difficult track for the Honda. Quartararo occasionally pulls off a miracle, but even he can’t work magic with a mediocre bike. It’s a bummer, but it’s probably going to be this way for both factories well into next year. Maybe even until 2027. :-(

Agreed, it was a rather dull affair at the front. The good thing is the TV footage gave us an opportunity to appreciate some ferocious fighting further adrift of the GP24 Ducati's. Marquez' charge through the field...the Miller, Binder, Bezzechi battle...the Aleix, Maverick cut and thrust and last but not least, Pol sticking it to the Gas Gas duo. There was plenty of entertainment, alas, not in terms of the bigger picture, which is where MGP finds itself right now. Binder, Miller, Vinales, Espargaro on GP24 Ducati's would without a doubt be fighting for the title. I should add Mir and Quattararo in the same breath, but their respective winning DNA is largely in line 4 based. I wonder if Acosta is regretting his long term KTM deal. They may get back in the hunt with new rules for 2027, but its hard to see anyone challenge Ducati until then. I expect Martin, Bezzechi and Bastianini are in for reality check at the Valencia test at the end of this season on their new steeds.

New technical regulations for 2027. I would love to see new rules for riders too. My first would be that both hands and both feet must be in contact with the motorcycle at all times. This big leg dangling thing looks ridiculous. Martin and Bastianini  must be closing in on 90 degree angle to their hip approaching the corner into turn 1 today. I know the technique does work for most riders. However, it is an obstacle to a clean pass in a tight situation. It also enables a later braking execution than would be the case with 'feet on the pegs'. Ban the practice and see more overtaking I reckon, across all classes. Introduce the rule for 2027. Make it known. That will give all from Red Bull Rookies to Premier time to adjust to the new reality that you may not use your leg as a parachute or obstruction as of race 1 in 2027. Just my opinion. Much more pleasing on the eye too. Lorenzo then and Binder now seem to be the only two in decades to keep 'locked into the bike', so to speak.  I remember Mike Hailwood never even stuck a knee out and Kenny Roberts probably pioneered the knee slide technique to perfection. The feet were always on the pegs though.

Spandex composite gussets for the crotch area must be a big deal for race suit manufacturers these days ! Cheers.

He also recovered 9 positions from 17th -> 8th and remains in tie for points with Bezz in GP24 vs GP23 rivalry over NOT being the last Ducati.  

Beast also pulling bit further away from Marc in their GP24/GP23 vie for 3rd.   Pedro acting normal  and Brad surpassing the 'rookie' and taking a few points from Mav for 5th.

 

It was the tail end of a race at a track notoriously tough on both tyres and fuel. Frankie’s tyres would have been well stuffed by that point and more than likely with an ECU/dash screaming at him to save fuel. And he still got the job done. My hat goes off to him….not forgetting Mav qualified the Aprilia 2nd on the grid last year.

 

I started watching MotoGP in early 2022. This was the first race I fast forwarded through. I just couldn’t take another snooze fest. And Dorna’s almost complete inability to pay any attention to riders further down the grid (with the except Fabio Quartararo’s chest), makes it even more difficult for me to stay engaged. That’s one things I’m hoping Liberty Media can teach Dorna. Every rider in the premier class deserves to be highlighted every weekend, no matter how difficult their current circumstances are.

Having the GP videopass was worthwhile this weekend. I went back to watch the ends of all the previous Austria races.

Last lap drama in '17 (Dovi-Marc #1), '18 (JLo-Marc), '19 (Dovi-Marc #2), '20#1 (Olivera pips Jack and Pol also featuring Maverick's T1 scary crash), '20#2 (Dovi-Mir also featuring the horrible T3 crash thus giving us the T2 chicane), '21#2 (Binder's rain miracle), and '22 (Martin crashes out of 3rd on last lap). All worth watching again!

Only '16 (Iannoni) and '21#1 (Martin) didn't have last lap excitement, but that racing was much closer. Pecco has dominated the last 2 years and made fast-forwarding necessary (as others have noted).

On to Cincinnati... er, Aragon!

Bagnaia lopped over 11 seconds off his race-winning time from last year. All three podium finishers yesterday finished under his time from last year. Marquez would have also if he had not muffed the start and ran wide at turn 1. Binder? He finished just over one second slower than his race time from last year. Yeah, he qualified twelfth this year vs second last year, but by the end of lap one of both races he was already in his race-finishing positions. KTM seemingly have not made progress at their test track during race conditions. And the Ducati GP24s are definitely from another planet. Probably Mars. 

The reason it was a dull race is because the protagonist was happy to settle for second.  

He needs to realise that due to the sharing of data, the factory bike is going to make changes at the last moment to win the sprint on Saturday and then you won't believe this....I know, i know, it's amazing BUT, on Sunday the factory team are going to keep on discovering last minute stuff again!  

The acceleration improvement of Pecco's bike on Sunday was visible.  A satellite team will always be behind the factory on stuff like this.  They have less staff for a start.  

Why Jorge's fault?  Because he knows Pecco can make mistakes, plenty of them too in the past so he needs to disrupt Pecco.  On lap 3 he had to come back like Valentino Rossi used to.  In-yer-face racing.  I don't think Pecco would like it at all?  Then we could watch Davide Tardozzi throw all his toys out the pram when Pecco bins it.  

It's up to you Jorge.  but you won't win a straight fight between you and Pecco, it can only go one way.  Do you wanna lose with yer boots on?  Or wimper out......

One for David.  Over three days of TNT and Motomatters I noticed one telling point hasn't been used against Trackhouse.  At Silverstone, their bikes were in USA/American colours with the previous 11 Grand Prix and MotoGP winners adourning the bike.  The MD then gets away with; 'we're a multinational company' when discussing the Ogura/Roberts choice?  I'm very surprised given that Silverstone was THE LAST ROUND, that is wasn't thrown back in his face.  

I remember 2016 and Rossi beat the pants of Lorenzo in Jerez. Post race it was the tyres fault, bad tyre, deliberately bad tyre, bike problem, deliberate bike problem blah blah. In the end it was less tech and more rider in the right hand. Grip was low, spin was huge. Less anti-spin seems the wrong way, or at least it seems to be a more difficult way to achieve no better a result. I think Pecco's superior acceleration was the same. Less tricks or the trick was less trickery. Instead I read on the socials about conspiracy.