SPIELBERG, Austria — Francesco Bagnaia raced to a third straight victory in the MotoGP World Championship series during Sunday afternoon’s Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.
Bagnaia, riding for the Ducati Lenovo Team, led the race from start to finish, crossing under the checkered flag with a mere 0.4-second gap over reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo in second.
Jack Miller, Bagnaia’s teammate with Ducati, took the final spot on the podium after battling closely with the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP of Quartararo during the final laps of the race.
With eight laps to go, Bagnaia held almost a full second gap over Miller as the two Ducatis sped their way around the circuit. Luca Marini was making a pass on Aleix Espargaro for fifth place, Jorge Martin was settled in fourth and Quartararo was on the move toward second.
With only four laps to go, the Frenchman carved his way past Miller for second and began chipping away at Bagnaia’s lead, but was ultimately unable to make the pass.
“I feel that we got the best result possible for us today. We were missing a little bit for the win, but I’m super happy about my race,” Quartararo said. “I feel like we fought off our main competitors all weekend, and especially in the race, I fought like a lion.”
Lion or not, nothing could stop Bagnaia from dominating the Austrian Grand Prix.
Fourth-place Marini took home his best career result in the premier class. Johann Zarco rounded out the top five after making a late-race pass on Aleix Esparago.
Currently second in points, Esparago now heads to the next round at Rimini Riviera Grand Prix on Sept. 2-4 32 points behind Quartararo.