Bagnaia in a class of his own as he dominates the Austrian MotoGP

MotoGP world champion Francesco Bagnaia completes an Austrian double after leading every lap en route to victory in the Grand Prix.
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati MotoGP Red Bull Ring, Austria 2023
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati MotoGP Red Bull Ring, Austria 2023

Making another brilliant start, Bagnaia led the way ahead of Binder who was very close to the MotoGP champion throughout the opening lap.

But it was a disastrous start again for Vinales, who after a much better start, was again mobbed into turn one as Alex Marquez came flying through under braking.

Trying to pass Bagnaia and avoid the same front tyre pressure problems he suffered in the sprint, Binder pushed hard to take the lead but the world champion was proving difficult to catch. 

After receiving a Long Lap penalty for his role in the turn one incident in the sprint, Jorge Martin took his penalty and dropped down to 13th as a result.

Further forward, Marquez finally made his way through on Jack Miller for third before both Mooney VR46 riders did the same on laps five and six.

There was an early finish to the Grand Prix for Miguel Oliveira following a front wheel issue.

After spending several laps trying to pass Millet, Vinales’ recovery continued with an overtake at turn one on lap 11.

It then got worse for Miller as Aleix Espargaro went through on the Australian at turn one. 

As Miller continued to drop down the order as Martin and Bastianini also made their way through, the gap out front was growing as Bagnaia finally put a second between himself and Binder on lap 14. 

In the battle for P3, Bezzecchi lined up a move on Marquez just after mid-race distance, but the Italian was too hot into turn one as he ran off circuit.

Bezzecchi lost eight tenths in the process which he struggled to close down initially. 

After several laps behind the Gresini rider, Bezzecchi thought he made the move stick at the start of lap 20, however, the three-time MotoGP winner ran slightly wide again which allowed Marquez to cut back across him. 

After trying to ride around the outside of Marquez at turn 2 with seven laps remaining, Bezzecchi finally made the move stick at turn nine.

Marquez eventually lost out on fourth when Marini passed the Spaniard into turn one. 

From that point forward the top five remained unchanged as Bagnaia secured one of his most dominant wins in MotoGP. 

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