Pedro Acosta crash gifts Jorge Martin win in dramatic Austria MotoGP sprint
Jorge Martin won the Austrian GP sprint after a dramatic race to retake the championship lead
Aprilia’s Jorge Martin was gifted victory in a dramatic MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix sprint race, after long-time leader Pedro Acosta crashed out of a comfortable lead.
Jorge Martin found himself shuffled down to eighth on the opening lap after being forced wide at Turn 2 by chief title rival Marc Marquez.
But he quickly carved his way through the pack to get back up to second on lap eight of 14.
Pedro Acosta was on course for a dominant victory on the KTM, but crashed at Turn 2 with three laps remaining.
With this, Martin inherited the lead and has now taken a three-point advantage in the championship over Ducati’s Marquez.
Martin seized the lead of the race from pole at Turn 1, but ran wide on the exit of the first corner and allowed Marquez to get a run on him into the Turn 2 chicane.
Marquez put on an aggressive overtake, which forced Martin off track and dropped him down to eighth briefly.
But Marquez’s lead was short-lived, as Acosta came through on him at Turn 3 when the Ducati rider himself made an error on the brakes.
Acosta quickly pulled away from the pack behind him, while Martin began his assault back up the order, though he did have a track limits warning hanging over his head.
Martin was back onto the podium at the start of lap seven, after passing Aprilia team-mate Marco Bezzecchi for third.
He then put a hard move on Marquez at Turn 1 next time around to claim second and immediately put daylight between himself and the Ducati rider.
Second looked like all that would be on offer for Martin, but Acosta crashed after an unforced error at Turn 2 on lap 12.
This released Martin into the lead and onward to victory, with Marquez second and Bezzecchi completing the top three.
Ai Ogura was fourth on the Trackhouse Aprilia, while Alex Marquez was fifth on the Gresini Ducati ahead of Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia.
Johann Zarco was seventh on the LCR Honda, with the final points going to Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer and KTM’s Brad Binder.
Acosta remounted after the crash, but pulled into the pits on the final lap to retire.
VR46’s Franco Morbidelli was the only other crasher in the sprint.
