Welcome to another weekend of MotoGP. This time in Austria and the home of manufacture KTM. The first of 2 back to back rounds at the Red Bull Ring!
Marc and Pecco are still out recovering from their respective injuries as the roller-coaster 2020 MotoGP Season Story continues.
Last year was a spectacle with final lap 1st place exchanges between Marc and Andrea, with Desmo Dovi continuing the Ducati dominance at the ring. If things go Dovi’s way he will again disrupt the current Yamaha 1,2,3 in the riders championship. Like Brno, Yamaha has struggled here in the recent past.
Of note is the riders from 3rd-8th only have a 4pt spread between them, we are going to see some disruption there this weekend. If Yamaha does poorly we could see one of these riders headway into the top 3.
*Spoilers
It’s looking like an overcast and damp weekend for this GP with rain bouts predicted throughout the weekend. The last rain race MotoGP held was back in 2018 with many of the riders turning very few laps in the rain on their premier class bikes.
FP1
A cloudy day in the 20s for the first session. Racers take to the track for the shakedown. Nothing too crazy with a few off track excursions. Bradley Smith got very squirrelly under braking for turn 4 and low sided his Aprilia deep in the session, he was cleared by medical to continue despite abrasions. Yamaha continues its passionate struggle to keep riders top in the championship. Quartararo and Viñales [1 and 2] not having the best runs here finishing the session in 10th and 11th...
Pol Espargaro puts in the quickest lap of the session with 1:24.193 on the factory KTM followed by last years winner Andrea Dovizioso on a factory Ducati. 3rd going to Takaaki Nakagami on the LCR Honda. Suzuki and Alex Rins with 4th. and top Yamaha Franco Morbidelli in 5th.
FP2
This session was pretty much a bust. Earlier rain caused the top part of the track to be wet creating mixed conditions. A handful of riders tried out rain tires for a lap or 2 most opting to not bother and conserve them. It wasn’t until the last 7 min that the riders took to a mostly dry track with Jack Miller on a 1:26.475; over 2 seconds slower than the best in FP1. The only interesting thing was Petronas Yamaha almost dropping Morbidelli’s bike...
FP3
A wet early morning caused a damp track for the start of the FP3 with all riders out on rain tires to start, up around 8 seconds. The track continued to dry with the sun eventually breaking out causing riders to change to soft slicks with roughly 10min left. This caused an absolute scramble to secure a spot in the top 10 for Q2. Dovi leading the tumbling lap times for a good portion of the end. Top time for FP3 was Maverick Viñales with a 1:24.317 enough to get 3rd in combined. Jack Miller improving for 4th.
Championship Leader Fabio Quartararo had another dismal session, lapping last on rain tires and just barely making P10 for Q2 after exceeding limits on 2 laps towards the end. He could be in big trouble Sunday if the circuit is wet.
FP4
The breaking news was Andrea Dovizioso’s statement of not continuing with Ducati for 2021.
Once again, mostly drama free in terms of riding. The Yamaha crew has picked up the pace a little bit with the warm dry track.
Pol Espargaro on the KTM putting in quick laps throughout for best in session. This despite a low-side towards the end in T9, following his brother Aleix moments earlier on his Aprilia. Dovi and Zarco also having good lap times on Ducatis.
Q1+Q2
The weather has held off on the rain for the circuit. Q1 saw a dominant Zarco go into the 1:23's straight away. A battle for the second spot between Danilo Petrucci and Valentino Rossi developed. Rossi just quick enough over the Ducati to make the spot for P2 to go into Q2.
Q2 was a flurry of action. With just over a half second separating an unpredicted Pole Position of a very strong Maverick Viñales at 1:23.450 and 12th place Valentino Rossi at 1:23.995. Positions exchanged rapidly throughout the session, no one was slow. The first 2 rows holding 2 Yamahas, 2 Ducatis, a KTM and a Suzuki.
Big questions remain: Will we see a damp or wet track tomorrow? Will Yamaha have the pace throughout the race? Will Ducati win here yet again? Will it be Dovi with a big F U? How about Pol Espargaro for another KTM MotoGP win, this time on home turf? Or maybe even a sneak from one of the Suzuki?
Race
*Apologies, my computer bit yesterday so I’m having to do the rest below on my phone...*
Where the hell do I begin with this one? Let’s just say. The rain held off.
The first few laps of the race settled out with Pol Espargaro KTM lead, with Ducati’s and Suzuki’s behind. A mistake by Quartararo puts him into the gravel trap and into last place.
That was until a serious high speed accident involving Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco. With both unmounted bikes screaming at an unknowing Valentino Rossi nearly hitting the 46 in corner twice. This causing a red flag and stoppage of the race. Honestly, you have to YouTube a replay of it. It’s an absolutely crazy scene. MotoGP has it if you make an account. As they wait in the pits, Pol is pissed and Rossi looks like he’s seen a ghost.
After the clean up, things did not settle down. Jack Miller got a great start running on a softs. A well placing Viñales suddenly disappeared, being overtaken by pretty much everyone. The restart was a grace for Quartararo putting him close to the group to hunt but at the back.
The battle for top spots recommenced with Jack Miller, Pol Espargaro, Andrea Dovizioso, Alex Rins, Joan Mir and Migel Oliveria
That is until Pol makes a mistake in a corner running wide and ends up being clipped at the exit by the Tech3 KTM of Migel. This causing both top KTM out of the race.
The race continues with Alex Rins battling 2 Ducatis. Miller’s pace slows ending up 3rd and Dovi takes the lead. A challenging Alex Rins passes Dovi into 1st only to lose the front and drop out.
Thus the Suzuki of Joan Mir steps up into 3rd ready to do battle with Miller. The rookie and winner of last week Brad Binder is somehow snuck into 4th. A shook Rossi in 5th. Nakagami in 6th. And Quartararo has also sneaked up into 8th.
Dovi begins to pull ahead as Miller takes protective lines against Mir. The Suzuki even in slip stream doesn’t have the power to show a wheel. However a last ditch effort puts the Suzuki 2nd before reaching the checker.
The end result being the F U Ducati despite this being their 50th GP victory from Dovi and securing yet another victory for himself at the Red Bull Ring.
Honestly guys, my typing doesn’t do this race justice. This was insane, absolutely insane.
None from me next week, I’ll be at work!