“Super fast” MotoGP rookie lost Sprint podium chance

Fermin Aldeguer began the Austrian MotoGP with a synchronised wheelspin behind Francesco Bagnaia from sixth on the grid.

But he ended it faster than everyone but Marc Marquez during the second half of the race.

That searing pace, which included being 0.4s faster than the rest of the field on lap 12 of 14, helped the Gresini rookie recover to sixth at the chequered flag.

The young Spaniard was 6.032s behind race winner Marquez but less than three seconds from Pedro Acosta and the final place on the podium.

Aldeguer had lost around two seconds on the opening lap alone, after the start-line chaos.

“I'm happy," Aldeguer told MotoGP.com.

"Maybe without the slide at the start we would have fought for some more, maybe the podium because in the last laps I was super fast.

“I recovered a lot of time but it's like this.

“I improved a lot today. A good qualifying, pushing until the end to stay in the second row and then a good sprint with good fights.”

Team-mate Alex Marquez led much of the race on his way to second place.

Bagnaia, meanwhile, suffered more rear grip woes after his sideways start and eventually retired.

Aldeguer has taken two previous Sprint podiums this season, at Le Mans and Aragon, as well as a grand prix rostrum in France.