We still remember Jorge Martin’s victory at the Red Bull Ring, but we have to turn the page and think of the Austrian GP, which starts on Friday. Two consecutive races on the same track were introduced last year due to the Covid emergency and are not particularly popular with drivers, but these days we have to be content with what we can get. Also because the number of double head rounds this season is currently reduced to a minimum.
You’d think a second race on the same track a few days later would have few surprises in store, but that’s not the case, or at least it hasn’t been in the past. Of course, all riders have the time to get their bikes up and running so the gaps are kept to a minimum, but on the other hand, conditions can change and everything can break up wide.
From last year until today there have been 5 races in a row and only once has there been the same winner in both events. It was last year in Jerez when Quartararo won on both Sundays, an isolated incident that has not happened since then.
In Austria, Dovizioso won the first race in 2020, Oliveira won the second, in Misano Morbidelli scored first, while Vinales was first in the following GP. Same story in Aragon and Valencia, with Rins and Mir winning the first race and Franco the second on both occasions. The only double headed ball of 2021 was in Qatar, seeing Vinales first and Quartararo second.
Despite the winner’s change, one aspect caught the eye: in two consecutive races, identical bikes always prevailed when it came to the engine. Last year in Austria, first a Ducati, then a KTM, two V4s, in the other cases either two Yamahas or a Yamaha and a Suzuki, both with inline 4 cylinders, triumphed.
Following this logic, either a Ducati or a KTM or a Honda should win on Sunday. The conditional is a must because (luckily) there are twists and turns around the corner in MotoGP and in sport there are statistics only to prove otherwise.
However, Ducati still has another great chance to win, and not just with Martin, who will definitely make it to the Austrian GP with his recent win. Bagnaia had shown after the first start that he had the right pace, Miller and Zarco were not far from the best and a few more days of practice could help them.
At the moment the ranking list for the men in red is not particularly happy, with Johann 40 points behind Fabio, Pecco 58 and Jack 72, this is the last resort for Ducati …