Dani Pedrosa, who returned to MotoGP with KTM after about three years, had a highside exiting the third corner during Lap 1, followed by Savadori running into his motorcycle
It was a spectacular performance by Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin that handed him his very first race win in the premier class at the Styrian GP. MotoGP is going through a change of guard as the new talent takes stands at the front of the championship. Martin was followed by Suzuki Ecstar’s Joan Mir and Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo. The delightful race result comes after a substantial delay to the race after an accident between Dani Pedrosa (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) at the third corner during the very first corner.
Dani Pedrosa, who returned to MotoGP after about three years, highsided at Turn 3 during Lap 1, followed by Savadori running into his loose motorcycle. This resulted in the Italian’s RS-GP going up in flames along with a bit of the tarmac as fuel spilled. Both riders walked away okay. Earlier on, there was more drama just after lights out as there was contact between Marc Marquez and Aleix Espargaro at Turn 1.
Back online with a race start, Martin who started from P1 sealed his position up front soon and kept at it throughout the race. Jack Miller who had been in the leading pack for most of the race had an incident chasing Quartararo for P3, resulting in another DNF.
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Top 10 results:
1.Jorge Martin (Ducati)
2.Joan Mir (Suzuki) +1,548
3.Fabio Qoartararo (Yamaha) +9,632
4.Brad Binder (KTM) +12,771
5.Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) +12,923
6.Johann Zarco (Ducati) +13.031
7. Alex Rins (Suzuki) +14,839
8. Marc Marquez (Honda) +17.953
9. Alex Marquez (Honda) +19.059
10.Dani Pedrosa (KTM) +19.389
The future is now!!! ????@88jorgemartin is a #MotoGP winner in his rookie season! ????#MART1NATOR | #StyrianGP ???? pic.twitter.com/agcvbbOneF
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) August 8, 2021
On the final lap, Zarco, second in the title race, sat in P4, but hot on his heels were Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu). By the time they had all taken the checkered flag, the Frenchman had dropped to P6, conceding two positions and some crucial ground in the title race.
Elsewhere, Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) worked his way through the field from a P13 start to finish seventh, while Marc Marquez couldn’t match his bustling start from the first lights out to get into race contention, though he salvaged an eighth- place finish ahead of brother Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol).
It was a hugely disappointing day for Bagnia, who started from P2 on the grid, but got swallowed up on the restart. The Italian was handed a three-second penalty for failing to comply with a long lap penalty and demoted to P11 consequently, meaning Dani Pedrosa finishes in the top 10 in his first race since 2018.
Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama), Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT), Luca Marini (SKY VR46 Avintia) and Iker Lecuona (Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing) round out the riders among the points.