MotoGP has had a second race at the Red Bull Ring suspended in two weeks, after Maverick Vinales’ Yamaha crashed heavily into the Turn 1 barrier.
Vinales ran sixth from the start of the Styrian Grand Prix, but began to struggle with what looked like a technical issue that got worse and worse as he plummeted down the order.
He was running 13th when he approached Turn 1 on the 17th of the scheduled 28 laps and appeared to be unable to slow as he approached the sharp right-hander at around 180mph.
Imagine having the presence of mind and bravery to jump off your bike at 140mph 😳
Maverick Viñales' quick-thinking kept him from harm.
Nothing but respect for these guys 👏#AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/oKWLuWoDxF
— MotoGP on BT Sport (@btsportmotogp) August 23, 2020
Aware he couldn’t get the bike stopped, Vinales hopped off and his M1 went straight into the outside air fence, making a hard impact and catching fire.
With the air fence demolished, the race had to be red-flagged, a week from the Austrian Grand Prix suspension caused by the massive incident involving Johann Zarco and Franco Morbidelli.
Once the air fence was repaired, another 12 laps were run after the restart.
Suzuki rider Joan Mir had established himself as the runaway leader before the red flag came out, having headed Takaaki Nakagami by nearly two and a half seconds as he chased his maiden MotoGP win.
But in a wild second half, Tech3 KTM’s Miguel Oliveira ended up snatching a shock victory at the final corner.
