Bagnaia wins Austria sprint skewed by huge first-lap pile-up

Reigning MotoGP champion Pecco Bagnaia won the Austrian Grand Prix sprint at the Red Bull Ring, one punctuated by a multi-bike shunt in the first corner of the opening lap.

A dreadfully slow start by Maverick Vinales in the middle of the front row combined with Jorge Martin lunging down the inside of the first corner meant Fabio Quartararo was sandwiched between the two, with contact between him and Martin sending him into Vinales and creating a huge mess.

The bottleneck collision through the tight right-hander knocked Marco Bezzecchi off his VR46-run Ducati on the outside, and also dropped Martin’s Pramac team-mate Johann Zarco and RNF Aprilia’s Miguel Oliveira from their bikes, while hugely compromising the likes of Ducati rider Enea Bastianini and Tech3 Gas Gas rookie Augusto Fernandez in addition to Vinales and Quartararo.

HUGE knock-on effect at the front! 😮@FabioQ20, @JohannZarco1, @_moliveira88 and Bezzecchi are ALL OUT! 💥#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/jagpIdLmgU

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 19, 2023

Out front, championship leader Bagnaia held the lead from pole despite the two traditionally fast-starting KTMs lining up behind him.

And having fought off a hint of early pressure from Binder, Bagnaia ultimately had a very straightforward ride to his fourth sprint win.

Binder likewise rode steadily en route to second, 1.9s off the win, but despite picking up third off the start team-mate Jack Miller did not have the pace to put a second KTM on the podium.

Miller was overtaken by Luca Marini into the first corner on the sixth tour, then ran wide at Turn 3, Remus, while trying to keep up with Marini and let Martin through.

He would swiftly regain one of those positions though, as Martin was involved in another incident – lunging at Marini into Red Bull Ring’s MotoGP-specific chicane and making contact after entering the corner just ahead on the inside, with Marini crashing out.

😱 @Luca_Marini_97's GONE!

There's contact as @88jorgemartin goes up the inside! 💥#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/0Mqq6Qoxkk

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 19, 2023

The incident meant Martin consolidated third – and he was cleared of wrongdoing by the stewards in the Marini collision – but he remains under investigation for his role in the opening-lap crash.

However, it is Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez who would stand to inherit the podium if Marin is handed a time penalty, with Marquez having gone past Miller on the eighth lap.

Miller did hang on to fifth, soaking up late pressure from Pol Espargaro, who picked up his first points of the season after his long injury absence.

His brother Aleix was right behind him at the chequered flag, and Vinales, 18th on the opening lap, recovered to eighth place, just 0.024s behind his Aprilia team-mate.

Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli fought off Honda’s Marc Marquez for the final place in the points-scoring top nine.

His team-mate Quartararo was caught up in another incident after the opening-corner melee, with Quartararo knocking tester Lorenzo Savadori off his Aprilia coming through Turn 4, Schlossgold, and being rewarded with a long-lap penalty.

A crash for LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami added to the attrition. He was taken to the medical centre with pain in his right foot but described by his team as “fine, nothing broken”.

Sprint Qualifying Results