When most people picture the landlocked mountains of Austria, the last thing they think of is shark attacks. So imagine our surprise when we saw the Shark gobble up the competition this week at Red Bull Ring, even devouring Jorge Martin whole.
The Shark in question is, of course, Pedro Acosta driving that giant hammerhead of a KTM. He dominated the training on Friday, screwed it up dramatically on Saturday during the sprint and then came back swinging today, earning KTM its first victory on a dry track in half a decade. But how did he do it?
Enter Mat and Peter, who’ve got some theories. See, one thing that makes sharks so special is that evolution doesn’t seem to have changed them much this aeon. They found something that worked a long time ago, and it works still. Only in this case we’re not talking about a Great White’s scary sense of smell or rotating revolver teeth; we’re looking at an oldschool racing bike which still allows you to go completely apeshit on the front when entering corners. Combine that fact with the nature of this track, and it might be accurate to state that this is the first time we’ve seen Acosta on equal machinery.
God knows we’d like to see it more often!
Meanwhile Jorge Martin seems to have taken over from Marquez in the tournament standing, bringing some seriously competitive heat to the next few races. Exciting times, no doubt.
Just watch out for blood in the water, or we might end up needing a bigger boat bike!
*If there was ever a time to quote from Spielberg, wouldn’t it be when racing here?
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BSB battle royale as Redding and Ryde share wins in dramatic Showdown opener.
Scott Redding and Kyle Ryde shared the victories in a dramatic opening round of the 2026 British Superbike Championship Showdown at the TT Circuit Assen, with the final race of the day delivering a hallmark finish at The Cathedral of Speed as Ryde, Redding and Bradley Ray went head-to-head in an intense three-way battle.
The opening race of the day began in dramatic style when Rory Skinner had an oil cooler pipe failure on the Cheshire Mouldings Yamaha during the warm up lap, which sent him crashing out delaying the race start for a clean-up operation.
When the race got underway, Redding instantly hit the front of the pack ahead of Ryan Vickers, Ray and Ryde, but the defending champion was instantly fighting and he made a move on both his rivals on the opening lap.
Redding was again holding off his closest championship rivals, but on lap seven, Ryde was cautious of a change of conditions and Ray seized the advantage to take second. Light rain then began and the race was subsequently red flagged, with Redding, Ray and Ryde claiming the podium positions.
Vickers had another strong race in fourth place for Honda Racing UK with Max Cook completing the top five on the AJN Steelstock bimota.
The stage was set for a race three thriller and the TT Circuit Assen delivered as Ryde retaliated with a sensational victory, beating Ray and Redding to the chequered flag after a thrilling final-lap battle that went down to the wire at the iconic final chicane.
At the start of the race, Vickers had grabbed the lead, but Ryde was determined to return to winning ways and he instantly made a pass to hit the front of the field. The Honda Racing UK rider was then under pressure from Ray and Redding, with the McAMS Yamaha contender moving second on lap fourth.
By lap six, Ryde and Ray were duelling for the advantage, trading places throughout the laps, whilst Redding had his sights on joining the battle after he made a move into third on Vickers on the tenth lap.
Ryde and Ray continued to switch the lead and with five laps to go, the pair were trading blows in the battle for victory, but they then had to contend with Redding. Ray and Ryde had both taken the lead on the penultimate lap and it was going down to the wire in a traditional battle at the TT Circuit Assen.
Kyle Ryde (1) and Scott Redding (45) in Assen. Photo courtesy BSB.
Ryde started the final lap in the lead with Redding then making his move on Ray to claim second position and then with his sights set on making it a treble. The Hager PBM Racing Team rider made a move down the inside into the Chicane and was able to stay just ahead of Ryde, but on the exit, the rear tyre stepped out and Redding had to save it and lost drive.
Ryde was able to reclaim the lead to take the chequered flag first to return to the top step for the first time since race one at Thruxton, whilst Ray seized the advantage on the drag to the line to take second from Redding.
Vickers had another strong points scoring weekend in fourth place with Max Cook completing the top five for AJN Steelstock bimota, after his teammate Joe Talbot retired from the final race of the weekend.
Leon Haslam delivered another gritty performance to finish sixth after starting 22nd on the grid on the Moto Rapido Racing Ducati after he was forced out of race two on the warm up lap.
Skinner also battling through after his dramatic warm up lap crash in race two to take seventh as the BSB Showdown now heads to Donington Park for the penultimate round of the season.
British Superbike Championship, TT Circuit Assen, Race 2 result:
Kyle Ryde (1) and Scott Redding (45) in Assen. Photo courtesy BSB.
Kyle Ryde – Nitrous Coin Nitrous Competitions Racing Ducati:
“I think it was my best start of the weekend in race three! I settled in behind Ryan, well I say settled in, I passed him first lap into the last corner and I got my head down! I tried to not win the race in those first laps, but make it easier for us three to get to the end.
“I did a few fast laps and it was a very fun race to be a part of. I just didn’t want to sit behind for any sort of half a lap because it was obvious Brad was going to be faster than me in some parts and I didn’t want to play cat and mouse.
“As in he would pull two tenths and then catch it back and the Scott catches me, so whenever he passed me I just went back, which made the lap time a lot slower. I just tried to keep fighting to get myself to the front.
“I wasn’t looking at the pit board and before you know it there was three laps to go and I went so defensive everywhere. As Scott said, the physical side was probably not there because the lap time wasn’t there, but it was a great race to be a part of. To beat Scott in one of the races after the weekend he’s had was a good feeling.”
Scott Redding – Hager PBM Racing Team:
“Race two was good, I didn’t feel that good with grip, but it was hard because of the track conditions. I didn’t really want to lead the race when it was changing, but I am just happy to have taken that win. It was a good call on the red flag and then I felt ready to go again in race three.
“Race three physically that was the easiest race for me, mentally one of the hardest trying to overtake! It took me forever to get past Ryan and I kept saying to myself “just be patient, just be patient”.
“I was getting a bit impatient! I just had to try to make unconventional moves and try and do stuff that I wouldn’t really expect myself to do. Everyone was riding so good that it was so hard, and then when Brad and Kyle started battling, I thought “I need to look at this as a three way battle and not a two way battle”.
“I don’t know what happened but I ended up second at the last chicane and I thought “right I’ve got to go”, but Kyle’s bike’s just really good at getting off the corners. On the last lap, I just thought “the championship is on the line, I have to win”.
“At that point I thought the only place I could do it is into the last chicane, but I had a bit of a big slide out of right coming back towards the stadium section and a gap was there. I thought “man, what you gonna do now”. I just went very late on the brakes and just fully committed to it and Kyle was protecting and going wider and wider!
“I said “when he brakes, I just have to brake after” so that is what I did! I went sideways going in and I lost the front. I was so eager to get on the gas, I had a bit of a slide then a wheelie, just thinking “get to the finish line” and then I saw Brad fully lent over!
“To be fair you lose a race like that battling for a championship, I still go home happy, I thought “you know what, we put on a spectacular show and that is what people want.”
The MotoGP Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Austria is in the books, with Pedro Acosta taking his first MotoGP victory ahead of Jorge Martin, while Marco Bezzecchi completed the podium for Aprilia Racing. Read the teams’ post-race PR below.
More, from a press release issued by Red Bull KTM:
Victory! Acosta makes a MotoGP breakthrough with Austrian Grand Prix success.
Red Bull KTM won the 2026 Austrian MotoGP as Pedro Acosta controlled proceedings from early race distance and clinched the first premier class checkered flag of his career and the first for the factory this season. The Austrian Grand Prix provided home ground for Red Bull KTM and was a showcase for the speed and talents of Acosta but also a strong result for Brad Binder in 6th as KTM sealed the Moto3™ Constructors Championship on the same day as the KTM GP Academy registered a podium double.
Highlights and key moments from race day at Red Bull Ring
Pedro Acosta wins at Red Bull Ring. The triumph represents KTM’s third at the circuit and the first in MotoGP since 2022. The Spaniard now has five trophies and three in a row this season and has moved up to 4th in the championship
6th and a hard-won 10 points for Brad Binder as the South African logs his highest classification of the season
Enea Bastianini rides to 11th in Austria as Pol Espargaro takes 16th
2nd and 3rd position in Moto3 as Brian Uriarte finishes runner-up ahead of Alvaro Carpe
Beñat Fernandez is the 2026 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup champion after 4th position in the finale for the series
A sun-kissed Red Bull Ring shone brightly for the last European Grand Prix before the flyway sequence of the 2026 calendar. Red Bull KTM took to the MotoGP grid for 28 laps with Pedro Acosta on the front row, Brad Binder in P11, Pol Espargaro, deputizing for Maverick Viñales for the third race in a row, in P14 and Enea Bastianini in P17.
Acosta, who had been a fraction of a second from Pole Position on Saturday and led the majority of the Sprint, barged into the top three from the second circulation. He hassled the rear wheel of Jorge Martin until he was able to take lead on lap 8 and then managed the distance over his pursuers. Pedro crossed the line a second ahead of Martin to join Miguel Oliveira (2020) and Brad Binder (2021) as KTM RC16 Grand Prix winners in Spielberg. The landmark was also notable for the Spaniard, nearly three seasons into his MotoGP career and after 56 starts on Austrian technology.
Binder scorched to the top six after five laps. The South African then found 5th at mid-race distance and engaged in more battling Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia. Brad persisted with his pace, the only rider with the soft front tire choice and grabbed 6th for his efforts.
Bastianini grabbed a few positions at the outset and pushed all race to try and breach the top ten. He was just 0.3 of a second away at the end and classified 11th. Espargaro was bustled by others on the first lap and lost some time but rallied to 16th and only just missed out on GP points.
MotoGP enters a 2027 test at the Red Bull Ring on Monday before boxing-up for the flyaways to Japan, Indonesia, Australia and Malaysia in the coming weeks.
Pedro Acosta (37) and Jorge Martin (89) in Austria. Photo courtesy KTM.
Pedro Acosta, 1st and 4th in the championship:“The first one is always special, and in front of so many Austrian fans. There were many KTM t-shirts and I’m so happy for the team, they deserve it more than me. I had many good people around yesterday when I f**ked up. This result was amazing.”
Brad Binder (33) in Austria. Photo courtesy KTM.
Brad Binder, 6th and 13th in the championship: “Overall, I’d say a successful weekend here in Red Bull Ring and I’m happy to have got my best finish of the year. I would have liked to have been a bit further up the grid but I did my best. Happy with the pace we were able to put together and happy with the work by the team. Well done to them, and also to Pedro on his first victory; I’m sure it’s the first of many.”
Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Super-special day. We had some challenges this summer and if we think about the last two years there have been hard moments and good moments and I cannot say how grateful I am for everybody who is in the process. We have such a good project with many great, passionate and professional people around…and when you have a rider like Pedro, this is what you can expect. From Friday we could see the bike, the track and maybe the tire compound suited us – both riders – and we went to the maximum. We had some disappointment yesterday but today we took our chance. Pedro was a 16-year-old when I started working with him and we won Moto3 in the first season. It’s been a great road since. I feel there is the chance to learn from every rider and we’re thankful to him and that kind of talent.”
Pit Beirer, KTM Motorsports Director: “Big emotions. We have come out of some tough moments since 2024. The company is back in shape…but we also had our issues on the track this summer: we responded from those with 2nd in Aragon, 3rd in Misano and then winning our home Grand Prix. It is something we could not have imagined a few weeks ago. I’m so happy for the team, for the factory and I also want to give this as a present to all KTM because we all fought to come out of a crisis. We are back. This is what we are fighting for. I am the happiest man and this is the happiest team on the planet. Thanks to KTM, thanks to them and thanks to Pedro who is an amazing rider.”
More, from a press release issued by Aprilia Racing:
Double podium for Aprilia Racing for the long race in Austria.
The weekend in Austria ended with another podium for the Aprilia Racing factory riders after the one they earned in the sprint race.
Jorge Martín had an outstanding start from pole position, maintaining first place when the red lights went out. The Spanish rider then rode his RS-GP26 to a second-place finish when the chequered flag came out. With his win in the sprint race on Saturday, Martín had taken back the championship lead, and at the end of the Austrian GP, he remains at the top of the standings with 286 points.
Marco Bezzecchi also had an extraordinary start from the fourth spot on the grid, moving into second place straight away. The Italian rider then finished third, finishing up a weekend of podium placements after taking third in the sprint race.
Finishing fourth was Ai Ogura, with the SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team, back after his injury to repeat the result of the sprint race. This gave Aprilia three RS-GP26 machines in the top four positions.
Aprilia Racing closes out the weekend in Austria with their first double podium ever on the Spielberg track, both in the sprint race and in the long race, as well as another significant result – four consecutive pole positions taken in Silverstone, Aragón, Misano, and Austria – a milestone which the Noale-based manufacturer had never before.
Jorge Martin (89) in Austria. Photo courtesy Aprilia.
Jorge Martin: “It was a great weekend. Getting back to this level of speed and having good fitness after the doubts in Misano make me extremely happy. I wanted to fight for the win, but battling with Pedro was quite difficult, although I tried all the way to the end.”
Marco Bezzecchi (72) in Austria. Photo courtesy Aprilia.
Marco Bezzecchi: “We truly achieved the maximum, and I’m pleased with the way I improved throughout the weekend. My performance wasn’t bad on Friday, but I wasn’t on par with the leaders. Saturday, we managed to remediate, even with a bit of luck. In the race, on the other hand, I think it was truly a good result. At the end, I got very close to Jorge. I may have missed the opportunity to try and overtake on turn 1 because of a small mistake, but in any case, I gave it one hundred percent.”
Massimo Rivola – CEO Aprilia Racing: “Congratulations to Pedro and KTM for their first win. I know how satisfying it is to achieve that in a home race. It was a great weekend for us, where Marco demonstrated growth and consistency, and Jorge showed us – especially on Saturday – a ride truly worthy of a World Champion. The road is still long, and our rivals are extremely strong, especially for the next round in Motegi, so we had better get to work straight away. We have an important test tomorrow with the Pirelli tyres on the 850cc and we also need to work to be competitive on a tough track.”
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Lenovo Team:
Marc Márquez and the Ducati Lenovo Team secure fifth place in Austria. Francesco Bagnaia finishes seventh.
The Ducati Lenovo Team completed the Grand Prix of Austria, host of the fifteenth event of the season. At the Austrian Ring, Marc Márquez finished the race in fifth position, while Francesco Bagnaia was seventh.
Márquez, after a good start, lost three positions on the opening lap to find himself in fifth place. He then managed to get up to speed a few laps later, moving up to fourth position. On lap ten, however, he ran wide, which made him lose his rhythm momentarily as he dropped down to seventh. Marc ultimately managed to bounce back to a fifth-place finish. Bagnaia moved up one place at the start and showed a good pace in the early stages. After dropping down to eighth, Pecco finished seventh.
As the fifteenth Grand Prix of the season comes to a close, Marc Márquez is second in the championship standings with 294 points. Francesco Bagnaia is ninth, 138 points in arrears of his teammate. The Ducati Lenovo Team is second in the teams’ standings (450 points), while Ducati is also second in the constructors’ championship (432 points).
The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action on Friday, October 2nd, for the opening day of the Grand Prix of Japan at Motegi.
Marc Márquez (93) in Austria. Photo courtesy Ducati.
Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 5th: “We struggled a bit this weekend. We still managed to be quick but unfortunately today in the race, already from lap one, I had some issues under braking, which made everything more complicated and prevented me from being consistent. In the end we were able to secure a fifth-place finish and I’m happy, because there was a moment in the race when I was very close to retiring. This weekend our opponents were quicker than us. We simply need to learn from it and make sure we’re ready for Motegi.”
Francesco Bagnaia (63) in Austria. Photo courtesy Ducati.
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 7th: “Overall it was a good race, especially in light of the results from the previous three Grand Prix. It wasn’t easy, because conditions were different and we couldn’t find the right traction while losing a lot of grip at the same time. After five laps I decided to slow down my pace by half a second in order to arrive at the end in the best way possible. This allowed me to bridge the gap with Aldeguer and Binder in the final stages. Unfortunately, around lap six I started to have a small braking issue, which didn’t help in slowing down correctly. I still managed to react the proper way and finish in a crescendo.”
More, from a press release issued by BK8 Gresini Racing:
Fermin Aldeguer comes back, Alex Marquez crashes at Spielberg.
RACEDAY
ALEX MARQUEZ NC
FERMIN ALDEGUER 8º
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ALEX MARQUEZ 8º (158)
FERMIN ALDEGUER 10º (115)
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
BK8 GRESINI RACING 6º (282)
Alex Marquez on the grid in Austria. Photo courtesy Gresini.
Alex Marquez: “It’s a shame because, despite a difficult weekend, we had managed to find something that was helping me during the race. Unfortunately, I lost some time in a few battles and then made a mistake that compromised our Sunday. Now we have a week to recover, and then we’ll start thinking about Japan.”
Fermin Aldeguer (54) and Marc Marquez (93) in Austria. Photo courtesy Gresini.
Fermin Aldeguer: “We have to be satisfied. We made a good comeback after starting from the fourth row. We were fast, had a good pace, and fought with Marc for the position of best Ducati… As always, our weekends start off so-so with qualifying and then often improve. If we had started further up, who knows, but today we did well.”
More, from a press release issued by VR46 Racing Team:
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team ends Sunday’s race at Spielberg in ninth place with Fabio Di Giannantonio while Franco Morbidelli is eighteenth.
The Austrian GP – which marks the end of the European races before the Overseas – ended with a Top10 for the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team thanks to Fabio Di Giannantonio’s ninth place. Franco Morbidelli crossed the finish line of the Spielberg race in eighteenth place.
Di Giannantonio had a good start from the third row which allowed him to gain a position. Fabio showed a good rhythm and fought with determination to stay in the first ten places. Despite the Spielberg circuit not being particularly well suited to him, the rider from Rome was able to hold his own, crossing the finish line in ninth place. Di Giannantonio is fifth in the World Standing with 230 points.
A difficult start from the seventh row forced Morbidelli to recover some places after losing two positions. Despite the difficulties which led him to the twenty-second place, Franco bounced back crossing the finish line of the Austrian GP in eighteenth place. Morbidelli is now sixteenth in the World Standing with 56 points.
The Austrian GP marks the end of the European leg of the season, and the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team is back on track in two weeks for the Japanese GP, which will kick off the MotoGP Overseas from the 2nd to the 4th of October.
Fabio Di Giannantonio (49) in Austria. Photo courtesy VR46 Team.
Fabio Di Giannantonio: “Overall, it was a tough weekend, but this morning we made a change to improve the feeling of the rear grip and we made some steps forward for the race. This helped us, and in the first laps I was quite competitive, but then I started to struggle. We’re having some difficulties now, but the potential is very high and we are fast. We stay positive because we know we can come back to the top.”
Franco Morbidelli (21) in Austria. Photo courtesy VR46.
Franco Morbidelli: “It was a difficult race and a tough weekend overall. I was expecting more and I wasn’t as fast as I wanted. It’s hard to accept that, but this result will be useful to keep working even more deeply both with the Team and with Ducati to come back to the performances we can have. Anyway, I am lucky beacuse I have a special team, we try to work to come back in front and giving our best even more.”
Pablo Nieto: “Our weekend was harder than usual, but we knew it because we’ve always struggled here at Spielberg. However, I think we’ve been working well throughout all the weekend and we must understand what went wrong to avoid having the same issues. Anyway, in thie European leg there were many positives, we learned a lot and made steps forward. Now the Overseas is just around the corner, I think we can perform well there and we will be able to understand how to improve even more until the end of the season.”
More, from a press release issued by Castrol Honda LCR:
Castrol Honda LCR rider Johann Zarco finished 10th at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Frenchman Zarco struggled at the start and had to fight his way through the field to make progress.
Zarco managed to overtake several rivals and set his own pace while defending his position.
The rider crossed the finish line in 10th place, securing valuable points and gathering important data.
Johann Zarco (5) in Austria. Photo courtesy Honda LCR.
Johann Zarco 10th: “It was a great weekend overall. Today, 10th was the best we could do. The first lap was tricky, so I lost some positions trying to avoid contact. From there, I managed the tyres and tried to find the pace and make some overtakes. We did a good job, and I’m happy!”
More, from a press release issued by Red Bull KTM Tech3:
Eleventh for Bastianini in intense Spielberg duel.
Enea Bastianini managed to gain six places at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday to finish eleventh, while Pol Espargaró recovered from contact with another rider to come home in 16th.
A modest attendance of 46,298 showed up at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday to watch Round 15 of the 2026 MotoGP™ World Championship, with the main event held over 28 laps.
Aiming for a place inside the top eight, Bastianini immediately gained ground in the early exchanges, moving from 17th on the grid to sit twelfth at the close of lap one.
Locked in a fight for ninth with Fabio Di Giannantonio, Johann Zarco, Fabio Quartararo and Raul Fernandez, ‘La Bestia’ didn’t have the confidence with the front end to make his usual Sunday fightback. In the end, he came home eleventh, less than two tenths off the final spot in the top ten.
Espargaró’s race was conditioned by an early moment at Turn 4. The Spaniard had gained a place to sit 13th on lap one, but a move to avoid Fernandez under braking on the third lap pushed him wide. Contact with another rider exiting the corner lost him further time. From there, the 35-year-old rose up from 18th to cross the line in 16th, just 0.2s off the points.
Red Bull KTM Tech3 now has a well-deserved weekend off before the Japanese Grand Prix (2-4 October), which marks the beginning of the flyaway tour.
Enea Bastianini (23) in Austria. Photo courtesy Tech3.
Enea Bastianini: “It was more or less like yesterday. I’m a bit surprised because this morning my feeling was better than the race. Looking at the data, we were comfortable with the soft front tyre but with the medium we suffered. It’s the first time we’ve really worked well with the soft, because usually it doesn’t work so well with our bike. But here, it was good for us. Unfortunately, it was impossible to use it in the race because once you are in the slipstream, it starts to move and becomes very critical. I was expecting a little more from the race, but it didn’t happen for us this time. But it happened for Pedro, who did an incredible race. I wish to say congratulations to him.”
Pol Espargaró (44) in Austria. Photo courtesy Tech3.
Pol Espargaró: “The start was actually good, but then I started fighting with the guys. Going into Turn 4, Raul (Fernandez) moved across under braking and I got caught in the slipstream, which pushed me almost onto the gravel. Then I was hit and the side of my aero was damaged, so I lost a lot of time. I lost around six seconds overall. My pace was actually very good and I had the rhythm to fight around P10 or P11, but I was already six seconds behind. I managed to overtake the Yamahas and catch the Hondas, but it was too late. I’m annoyed because I think we had the pace for a really good race, but everything changed in the blink of an eye. Pedro’s victory was very deserved. I think he could have won much earlier, but he built up his speed and finally got the result.”
Nicolas Goyon, Team Manager: “It was a difficult end to the weekend for both riders here in Austria. Enea finished 11th in the Sprint yesterday, and we know the main race is usually a little quicker, so we were hoping for a strong top-ten finish. Unfortunately, we ended up 11th again. On the other side of the garage, Pol finished 16th and just missed out on scoring points. He actually had a good race and was up in 13th early on, but battles with the other riders dropped him back. It leaves a bitter taste in our mouths, but Pol still had a strong weekend overall. I’d also like to congratulate KTM on a great job and Pedro Acosta on this fantastic victory. There was certainly potential for more from us this weekend, so we can only keep our heads down, continue working and try to improve for the next race in Japan in two weeks.”
More, from a press release issued by Honda HRC Castrol:
Sunday surge in Spielberg for Nakagami to lead Honda HRC Castrol home.
The cobwebs were blown off Takaaki Nakagami as he charged into the points at the Austrian GP, taking 13th and besting Luca Marini who ended the Grand Prix a place behind.
An intense weekend of work for the Honda HRC Castrol team came down to 28-laps on Sunday afternoon in the Austrian hills as both Honda RC213Vs lined up for Round 15 of the 2026 MotoGP World Championship. With both Takaaki Nakagami and Luca Marini having built steadily over the weekend for this moment, their targets were clear.
Takaaki Nakagami’s weekend has followed a clear trajectory throughout: upward. This progress would not halt on Sunday as the #30 put in a commendable ride from 18th to 13th, finishing just a tenth shy of Raul Fernandez. Having spent the vast majority of his time with the new 850cc project this year, the Austrian GP weekend’s performance demonstrates Nakagami’s deep connection with and understanding of the Honda RC213V having spent his entire Premier Class life with the machine. These are Nakagami’s first MotoGP points since he scored a sensational sixth at the French GP in 2025 held in mixed conditions. A perfect foundation for his home wildcard coming up in Motegi.
Sunday would be much more complicated than anticipated for Luca Marini, the Italian tangling with several riders in the first lap and losing important time early on. Keeping calm, he shifted his attentions to hunting down his rivals later in the race when they began to struggle with tyre life. This late charge saw Marini pass fellow Honda rider Diogo Moreira, the Italian trying to catch his teammate for the weekend Nakagami but ultimately unable to close the gap with just a handful of laps to go. Despite continuing his run of point-scoring finishes, Marini’s ambitions remain much higher than 14th place.
The Honda HRC Castrol team will remain at the Red Bull Ring for a one-day private test ahead of the new era of MotoGP starting in 2027. Afterwards, the MotoGP paddock will head for the Japanese GP – Honda HRC’s home race.
Takaaki Nakagami (30) in Austria. Photo courtesy Honda HRC.
Takaaki Nakagami: “A great result today, I am of course really happy with how we have worked as a team this weekend. In the Sprint we got some good information for today and made some changes, especially on the electronics side, to help us manage. 28 laps were really tough with the direction that we went, I had to be super precise, but I knew that in the second half of the race I would have more tyre. I wasn’t expecting to finish ahead of some of the riders I did, so we have to be pleased. Let’s keep raising the level in Motegi with the Test Team. Tomorrow, I go back to my ‘normal’ job – a very busy period now.”
Luca Marini (60) in Austria. Photo courtesy Honda HRC.
Luca Marini:“I had a lot of contact on the first lap, and I lost a lot of time, so I just focused on staying calm and managing everything for the last laps. Unfortunately, most people managed the situation, and we could not make as big of a late comeback as I was hoping for. We’ve worked a lot on the bike all weekend, right up until the race to try and find more grip in the rear. It didn’t work as we expected and it has been a tough Sunday. Congratulations to Taka, he showed his speed and put together a good weekend.”
More, from a press release issued by Pro Honda LCR:
Pro Honda LCR rider Diogo Moreira finished 15th at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Brazilian Moreira was determined to bounce back from yesterday’s setback and give his best in the race.
Although he felt good during the morning warm-up and had a positive feeling on the bike, the rider admitted he did not have the same sensation during the race, struggling with the front end.
Battling until the very end, Moreira crossed the finish line in 15th place, securing one championship point.
Diogo Moreira (11) in Austria. Photo courtesy Honda LCR.
Diogo Moreira 15th:“The good feeling I had this morning wasn’t there during the race, even though we didn’t change anything. We are now trying to understand why I felt this way. In any case, I tried to overtake my rivals, push as hard as I could, and at least finish in the points. We learn from every situation, and we’ll try to come back stronger and do better in the next race.”
More, from a press release issued by Monster Energy Yamaha:
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Engage in Challenging Austrian Grand Prix Race.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins faced a difficult Grand Prix of Austria Race at Spielberg today. Quartararo spent nearly half of the 28-lap contest fighting inside the top 10 before tyre degradation gradually dropped him to 17th at the finish, while Rins wrapped up an overall tricky weekend with a 19th place.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo showed promising pace in the first half of the 28-lap the Grand Prix of Austria Race. He battled hard inside the top 10, while Álex Rins recovered positions after a difficult start. However, neither rider was ultimately able to challenge for points, with Quartararo finishing 17th and Rins crossing the line in 19th place.
Quartararo started from ninth on the grid and moved up to eighth on the opening lap. However, he was judged to have exceeded track limits in Turn 1 and gained an advantage, resulting in an instruction to drop one position. Losing another place in that same lap 2, the Frenchman fell to tenth before overtaking Fabio Di Giannantonio on lap 4 to reclaim ninth. Quartararo defended the position strongly for much of the race but lost out to the Italian on lap 14. As tyre degradation began to take its toll, he gradually slipped down the order and ultimately finished in 17th, 30.140s from the race winner.
Rins lined up in 20th and found himself in 22nd place in the early stages before passing Franco Morbidelli on lap 3. Overtaking Jack Miller four laps later moved him back into 20th position, and he gained another place when he passed Toprak Razgatlıoğlu on lap 9. With a sizeable gap to the riders ahead, the Spaniard focused on maintaining his rhythm. Álex Márquez’ crash on lap 13 promoted him to 18th, though Morbidelli later found a way through on lap 20. Rins continued to push until the chequered flag, taking 19th place, 34.413s from first.
After today’s Race, Quartararo remains 15th in the championship standings with 61 points, while Rins stays 20th with 24 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are 10th in the team classification with 85 points, and Yamaha hold 5th place in the constructor standings with 84 points.
The MotoGP paddock will now enjoy a one-week break before travelling to the Mobility Resort Motegi for the Grand Prix of Japan, taking place from 2-4 October.
Fabio Quartararo (20) in Austria. Photo courtesy Yamaha.
Fabio Quartararo:“I tried to stay with Pecco [Bagnaia] in the first laps, but I knew I was going to use a lot of my tyres and that it would be difficult to be inside the points today. Overall, I was happy with my qualifying this weekend, but in the Sprint – and also today in the Race – we had a lot of wheelspin. I tried my best. I preferred to push to the limit in the first ten laps, and I enjoyed the race until [Fabio] Di Giannantonio overtook me.”
Alex Rins (42) in Austria. Photo courtesy Yamaha.
Alex Rins: “I had two options in the beginning of the race: burn through the tyres and overtake the riders ahead of me and try to go, or wait to mid-race to overtake them and do my own pace. Our pace was not as expected. When I saw that Morbidelli was catching me, I was trying to analyse his riding and ride in a good way, but I couldn’t stay with him. So, overall, it was just a hard weekend for us.”
Massimo Meregalli – Team Director: “Today was a difficult race for us. Fabio had a strong first half and was fighting inside the top 10 despite losing positions early on after the track-limits penalty. He managed the situation well and was able to fend off Di Giannantonio for a long time, but tyre degradation became a significant factor in the second half of the race and prevented him from maintaining that position until the finish. Álex’ Race was similar to the Sprint: he lost some positions at the start. Though he made up places throughout the race, the final results do not fully reflect the effort from neither the riders, nor from the team this weekend. We will use the data gathered here to continue our work and prepare for Motegi – Yamaha’s home GP.”
More, from a press release issued by Prima Pramac Yamaha:
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP closes its most difficult weekend of the season.
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP endured a challenging Austrian Grand Prix, with Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and Jack Miller struggling with the balance and tyre performance of the YZR-M1 throughout the weekend and finishing 20th and 21st respectively.
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP experienced its most difficult weekend of the season so far at the Red Bull Ring, with both riders facing a series of issues from the opening sessions that prevented them from extracting the full potential of the YZR-M1. Despite the continued efforts of the technical team to find solutions and provide both Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and Jack Miller with a more consistent package for the race, the difficulties experienced throughout the weekend remained.
Both riders struggled from the early stages of the Grand Prix, with a significant drop in tyre performance becoming apparent within the opening laps and making it difficult to maintain a competitive pace. As a result, Razgatlıoğlu and Miller were unable to make the progress the team had hoped for and eventually crossed the finish line in 20th and 21st position respectively.
The result brings a difficult weekend to a close, but the information collected throughout the sessions will provide further data for the ongoing development of the YZR-M1 project. The team will now analyse the findings from Austria and continue working towards the next round of the championship, the Japanese Grand Prix at the Twin Ring Motegi in two weeks‘ time, with the objective of turning the lessons learned into further steps forward.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu (07) in Austria. Photo courtesy Pramac Yamaha.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu: “I’m very frustrated because I still don‘t understand what happened today. Normally, with a new tyre, the first laps are when you have the most grip and can really push, but from the beginning I had almost no rear grip. I was already struggling in the first few laps, and every time I opened the throttle I was just spinning. It was very difficult to understand how I could manage the bike like that. Usually, if the tyre starts to drop after several laps, you can understand what is happening and adapt your riding. Today, I had the problem from the beginning, so I lost a lot of time straight away and could never find a good rhythm. I was basically just trying to finish the race because I was not enjoying riding the bike at all. I think it is not just one thing. We are missing a little bit of everything at the moment – physical grip, power delivery and electronics – and when you put all those small problems together, it becomes a much bigger issue. We need to understand exactly what happened because we cannot accept having this level of tyre performance from the first laps. It was a very difficult day, but now we need to analyse everything and understand how to avoid this situation again.”
Jack Miller (43) and Franco Morbidelli (21) in Austria. Photo courtesy Pramac Yamaha.
Jack Miller: “It’s honestly a pretty frustrating one, and I‘m disappointed with how the race went. I was able to hang in there reasonably well in the first part of the race, but from around lap 13 or 14 the tyre performance really started to drop and I struggled a lot with the rear. Once that happened, there was not much I could do. I was trying to pick the bike up and manage the acceleration, but I was still getting a lot of spin and losing time. It became more about trying to get the bike to the finish than fighting for the positions we wanted. It’s particularly frustrating because we have experienced something similar earlier in the season, so we need to understand why this is happening and what we can do differently. There are things we need to look at from this weekend, and we‘ll go through the data carefully and try to make sure we learn from it.”
Gino Borsoi:“It is clear that this has been the most difficult weekend of the season for us. We have struggled quite a lot from the first day, and unfortunately we were not able to make the improvements we were looking for. The combination of the problems we faced and the characteristics of this track exposed some of the difficulties we are still working through with this new project. We knew that engine performance would be one of our limitations here, but during the weekend we also understood that there are other areas we need to work on. Both Jack and Toprak suffered from a significant drop in tyre performance during the race, which made it very difficult to maintain a competitive pace. We have to take this weekend as an opportunity to learn. Now it is important to analyse the data carefully, understand exactly what we need to improve and find solutions for the next races. If we can make these steps forward, they can give us a significant improvement with this project. We are not going to get discouraged; we will learn from the difficulties we faced here and come back stronger.”
More, from a press release issued by BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha:
Izan Guevara Dominates Spielberg to Secure Crucial Austrian Grand Prix Victory.
BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2’s Izan Guevara delivered a commanding performance at the Grand Prix of Austria, securing his second victory of the 2026 season and the third Moto2 win of his career. Acting as the team’s sole representative after Alberto Ferrández was ruled out with a broken right collarbone, Guevara did so with flying colours, reducing the gap to the championship leader with a brilliant ride at Spielberg.
The BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2 team enjoyed a memorable Sunday at Spielberg as Izan Guevara claimed a vital victory in the Grand Prix of Austria. Coming into the weekend 47.5 points adrift of the championship leader, the Spaniard knew the importance of maximising every opportunity in the title fight and converted his strong pace throughout the weekend into an outstanding win.
Guevara had a great launch from fifth on the grid and immediately joined the battle at the front of the field. The Spaniard quickly worked his way into second place before making a decisive move on Iván Ortolá at the start of lap 2 to take the lead. Once in front, Guevara steadily pulled clear of his rivals and established a comfortable advantage. A big moment at Turn 9 on lap 17 briefly threatened to derail his charge, but the 2022 Moto3 World Champion responded with a spectacular save. Regaining his rhythm almost immediately, he reeled off a series of consistent mid 1’33s laps to keep his pursuers at bay and secure a magnificent victory by 1.728s. The triumph marks Guevara’s second win of the season and the third Moto2 victory of his career.
Guevara remains second in the championship standings with 210 points and has cut the deficit to the series leader to 35.5 points. Ferrández sits in 21st overall with 17.5 points, while the BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2 team holds third place in the team standings with 227.5 points.
Alberto Ferrández was unable to take part in the race after being declared unfit following a diagnosis of a broken right collarbone sustained on Saturday. After arriving in the hospital in Spain this morning he left a message to the team saying he was cheering on his teammate. Ferrández has since undergone surgery. He is doing well and is now focused on the next stage of his rehabilitation. The team wish him a speedy recovery and hope to have him back in the box soon.
The Moto2 paddock will now enjoy a one-week break before travelling to the Mobility Resort Motegi for the Grand Prix of Japan, taking place from 2-4 October.
Izan Guevara (28) in Austria. Photo courtesy BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha.
Izan Guevara:“I started the race trying to get to the front and push with a strong pace. I had spoken with the team before the race, and the target was to stay around the 1’32s–1’33s range throughout the race, which I felt very comfortable doing. I had a big moment at one point, but fortunately I managed to save it and stay focused on the race.
“We also decided to use the development front tyre. I had a really good feeling with it throughout the weekend, and compared with the standard tyre, it gave me more stability and good performance over the distance. That was important because it allowed me to reach the final laps with a tyre that was still working well and ready to fight.
“There are still a lot of races to go, so now it’s time to enjoy this moment and keep recovering points in the championship. I really like the next circuits as well, so the goal is to continue in the same way, enjoy the races, and keep fighting.”
Alex De Angelis – Team Manager: “First of all, I want to send a big hug to Alberto. We know that his surgery to repair the collarbone fracture went well, which is great news, and on behalf of myself and the whole team I want to wish him a very quick and complete recovery. We are all looking forward to having him back with us soon.
“As for Izan, today he did something truly exceptional. Once again, he managed to surprise us, and I think this is one of his greatest strengths. We know he is fast and we believe in him, but every time he manages to do something that even we didn’t expect. We knew we had a good package, that he likes this track, and that the heavy braking areas could suit him, but to see him win with such a gap to the others was something we could never have predicted.
“The pace he had was incredible, and he brought home some extremely valuable points for the championship. So, congratulations to the technicians, to Izan, and to everyone in the team. Alberto’s team were also on the grid today supporting Izan’s crew, which once again shows that we really are one big family.
“A big thank you to Pramac and Yamaha, and hopefully we can continue like this. Finally, I want to wish Izan a lot of fun tomorrow when he gets the opportunity to ride the MotoGP bike.”
LOS ANGELES – The penultimate race of the 2026 Monster Energy SMX World Championship saw the series return to Southern California for Playoff 2 inside Dignity Health Sports Park, where abundant sunshine provided drastically different track conditions from last weekend’s rain-drenched postseason opener. Double points were on the line, providing an opportunity for a shakeup in the Playoff standings. What followed was a truly memorable afternoon and evening of racing, from which Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado prevailed with his first postseason victory following a captivating battle in the 450SMX Class, adding to his points lead. In the 250SMX Class, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Julien Beaumer made it a sweep for the Austrian brand with a decisive win.
Jorge Prado Prevails with Memorable Playoff 2 Victory After Captivating Battle in Los Angeles
The premier class started its first 20 Minutes + 1 Lap moto with Prado out front for the holeshot ahead of the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing pair of Cooper Webb and Haiden Deegan, while Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki’s Ken Roczen slotted into fourth. Prado inched away to assert his hold of the position while the trio behind him swapped spots, with Roczen able to get by both Yamaha riders to take control of second as Deegan slotted into third. Behind them, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Eli Tomac moved into fourth.
Prado and Roczen proceeded to trade fast laps through the first half of the moto, with the lead hovering as just over a second. Then, just before halfway, Roczen made his move with an aggressive and decisive pass on the Spaniard to seize control of the lead. Once out front, the Supercross Champion quickly opened an advantage of more than two seconds. The lead stabilized until inside the final five minutes when Prado was able to close back in on the German native as they navigated lapped riders. Deegan put in a charge as well to close in from third.
The lead duo was separated by less than a second to begin the final lap. The international champions duked it out, to the thrill of the crowd, but Roczen held off Prado to take the moto win by 1.3 seconds. Deegan finished in a close third, with Pro Motocross Champion and Honda HRC Progressive rider Hunter Lawrence fourth. Webb rounded out the top five.
The final moto saw Lawrence emerge with the holeshot but he was soon passed by Prado. Moments later, a bobble by the Spaniard allowed the Australian to reclaim the lead. Behind them, Webb slotted into third, while Roczen charged up to fourth ahead of Deegan. Lawrence was able to move out to a lead of more than a second over Prado, as Roczen made the move on Webb for third. As the opening five minutes drew to a close, Lawrence’s lead grew to more than three seconds. Prado fended off heavy pressure from Roczen to maintain his hold of second, while both Webb and Deegan remained within striking distance of the top three.
At the halfway point of the moto Prado went down in the sand. As they made their way around the downed KTM, Deegan made the pass on Roczen for second. Prado remounted in fourth and went back on the attack, catching Roczen and making the pass for third. Each pass during this thrilling sequence carried major implications in the championship standings, as a four-way tie for first in the overall classification was in play.
With three minutes left on the race clock an intense battle for second between Deegan and Prado took shape until Deegan went down in the sand. As Prado carried on in second, Deegan and Roczen got tangled up as Deegan reentered the race. That allowed Webb to slip past both riders, only for Deegan to make contact during a pass by his teammate that put Webb on the ground. Deegan continued in third, with Roczen fourth, while Webb lost touch in fifth.
Lawrence enjoyed a dominant, trouble-free moto and stormed to the moto win by 14.9 seconds. Prado secured a resilient second-place finish, with Deegan third and Roczen fourth.
Prado’s consistent 2-2 effort put him atop the overall classification by a single point over Lawrence (4-1) and Roczen (1-4), who finished tied for second. Lawrence’s second moto win gave him the tiebreaker for the runner-up spot, leaving Roczen third. Deegan finished just off the overall podium in fourth despite two moto podiums (3-3).
Prado added to his lead in the SMX World Championship standings, as double points moved him 16 points ahead of both Deegan and Lawrence, who sit tied for second. Roczen sits 18 points out of the lead in fourth, while Webb, who finished fifth (5-5), is 20 points back. Triple points will be up for grabs at the Final, setting the stage for an exciting conclusion to the postseason.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado broke through for his first postseason victory and his first win inside a stadium to add to his points lead. Photo courtesy SMX.
Jorge Prado (2-2) – 1st Place – 450SMX Class:
“We just keep improving. We got out of the gate good and made a pass [for the lead], but then I almost went down. I knew this race was going to be hard. I tried to risk it in the sand and ended up on the ground. Sometimes you have to take those risks. I put in a charge and tried to wait for my chance, then Haiden [Deegan] went down and then I rode safe to get to the finish.”
After a challenging outing in Playoff 1, Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence bounced back with a runner-up finish headlined by a moto win. Photo courtesy SMX.
Hunter Lawrence (4-1) – 2nd Place – 450SMX Class:
“The start was everything. The track was pretty simple and didn’t offer much for separation. I’m happy to finish that one off with a good race win. We’ll see everyone in Missouri.”
Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki’s Ken Roczen took his first moto win of the postseason and rode consistently to place third overall. Photo courtesy SMX.
Ken Roczen (1-4) – 3rd Place – 450SMX Class:
“I’m very happy with my effort in the first moto, but I don’t remember the last time I raced two motos [like this]. You can’t buy that kind of intensity. I’ll absorb it and it’ll benefit me for next weekend. Happy to get this one out of the way and looking forward to improving.”
450SMX Class Podium (left to right): Hunter Lawrence, Jorge Prado, and Ken Roczen. Photo courtesy SMX.
Julien Beaumer Captures 250SMX Class Win for KTM Sweep
The opening 20 Minute + 1 Lap 250SMX Class moto began with Beaumer out front ahead of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Ryder DiFrancesco. A collision between several riders bunched the field and allowed the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki duo of Drew Adams and Levi Kitchen to move into third and fourth, respectively. Beaumer quickly established his hold of the lead while DiFrancesco settled into second. Further back, Kitchen, the points leader, and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cole Davies closed in on Adams for third. Davies then made the move around both Kawasaki riders to take control of the position.
The top three settled in through the middle of the moto, with Adams staying within striking distance from fourth. Kitchen, meanwhile, went down while running fifth and dropped to 11th. Back up front, Davies began to pressure DiFrancesco for second, which pushed them closer to Beaumer. The top three were separated by less than 1.5 seconds with just over five minutes to go. As he looked to make the pass on DiFrancesco, Davies went down in the sand, which dropped him to fourth behind Adams.
Beaumer never put a wheel wrong and completed the wire-to-wire performance for his first moto win in postseason competition. DiFrancesco followed 5.6 seconds behind in second, with Adams in third. Davies finished fourth, followed by his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Kayden Minear in fifth. Kitchen recovered to finish seventh.
The second and deciding moto saw Beaumer lead the field with the holeshot once again, with DiFrancesco and Davies in tow. As Beaumer sprinted out to a lead of more than a second, Davies made the pass on DiFrancesco, while Kitchen moved his way into fourth. As he looked to give chase to Beaumer, Davies crashed hard out of second, which caused DiFrancesco to hit his motorcycle and go down. DiFrancesco dropped outside the top 10 before continuing, while Davies eventually remounted and retired from the race.
Amidst the chaos, Beaumer maintained his hold of the lead ahead of a hard-charging Kitchen, who moved up to second, while Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Landen Gordon slotted into third. Kitchen continued to chip away at Beaumer’s lead and with just under 13 minutes to go on the race clock he made the pass. Once out front, Kitchen quickly opened an advantage of more than three seconds. Several laps later, Honda HRC Progressive’s Jo Shimoda, the reigning SMX World Champion, made the pass on Gordon for third. The Japanese rider didn’t stop there. He methodically closed in on Beaumer and made the move for second with just over a minute to go. Further back, DiFrancesco’s recovery from his early misfortune saw him make a valiant charge into the top five, which loomed large in the overall classification.
Kitchen was never challenged the rest of the way and took his first postseason moto win by 5.7 seconds over Shimoda, with Beaumer in third.
By virtue of his consistent 1-3 performance Beaumer easily secured his first ever Playoff triumph, continuing an incredible comeback story from a broken back suffered one year ago. DiFrancesco’s late-race pass for fifth moved him from fourth to second overall (2-5), for a pass worth eight points in the championship standings. Kitchen bounced back from a challenging first moto to round out the overall podium (7-1).
Kitchen maintained his possession of the points lead and will carry a three-point lead over DiFrancesco into the SMX World Championship Final. Beaumer gained seven positions in the standings with the win to move into third, 16 points out of the lead. The three riders all remain within the thick of the title fight with triple points on the line next weekend.
After a dominant win in Moto 1, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Julien Beaumer rode to another podium finish in Moto 2 to secure the overall victory. Photo courtesy SMX.
Julien Beaumer (1-3) – 1st Place – 250SMX Class:
“I saw Davies was down and kind of knew where I was at. I wasn’t really myself [in Moto 2], but I also know Levi [Kitchen] and Jo [Shimoda] weren’t a factor for the win, so I didn’t risk it. It’s good to get a win and get things going back in the right direction.”
A late-race pass by Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Ryder DiFrancesco in Moto 2 moved him from off the podium into the runner-up spot. Photo courtesy SMX.
Ryder DiFrancesco (2-5) – 2nd Place – 250SMX Class:
“My riding was really good today. I was unlucky when Davies went down. I tried to avoid hitting him but hit the bike and went down. I knew I had to fight to get back into this championship. I executed the way I wanted to, but it went south, but we’ve got a shot in Missouri and that’s what matters.”
Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen overcame a slow start in the first moto to take a convincing second moto win and retain the points lead. Photo courtesy SMX.
Levi Kitchen (7-1) – 3rd Place – 250SMX Class:
“I don’t know who was riding in the first moto, but it wasn’t me [laughs]. I ended up with a flat tire after the sight lap [for Moto 2] and luckily my mechanic caught it. He saved me. Still in the points lead, which is great, so we’ll carry that momentum into the final race.”
250SMX Class Podium (left to right): Ryder DiFrancesco, Julien Beaumer, and Levi Kitchen. Photo courtesy SMX.
The championship-deciding 8 Minute + 1 Lap SMX Next World All-Stars Main Event got underway with KTM Orange Brigade’s Wyatt Thurman out front for the holeshot ahead of ClubMX Yamaha’s Ryder Malinoski and Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green’s Kade Johnson, the points leader. Thurman and Malinoski battled early for the lead until Thurman went down, which put the Yamaha rider out front ahead of Johnson and KTM Orange Brigade’s Luke Fauser. It didn’t take long for Malinoski and Johnson to sprint away from the field to make it a two-rider battle for the win. Behind them, Fauser lost his hold of third to Altus Motorsports bLUcRU Yamaha’s Kane Bollasina.
Malinoski strengthened his hold of the lead in the closing stages of the race and carried on to take the win by 3.9 seconds over Johnson, with Bollasina in third.
With his runner-up effort, Johnson was crowned the 2026 SMX Next World All-Stars Champion.
Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green’s Kade Johnson followed up last week’s win with a runner-up finish to capture the SMX Next World All-Stars Championship. Photo courtesy SMX.
Kade Johnson – SMX Next World All-Stars Champion:
“I qualified fastest in practice and timed qualifying, so I really wanted to make a statement today. This is my fifth straight SMX Next podium. I really wanted the win, but Ryder [Malinoski] was riding awesome. I didn’t want to risk throwing away the championship, so I’m satisfied with that. I’m just so happy and so proud of myself to accomplish this. I’m ready for someone to give me an opportunity [at the professional level].”
The Monster Energy SMX World Championship postseason will come to a dramatic and exciting conclusion next Saturday, September 26, with the Final from Thunder Ridge Nature Arena in Ridgedale, Missouri. Live comprehensive broadcast coverage will be available exclusively on Peacock, beginning at 1 p.m. ET with Race Day Live, followed by a Pre-Race Show at 6:30 p.m. ET and Gate Drop at 7 p.m. ET.
For information about the Monster Energy SMX World Championship, please visit www.SuperMotocross.com and be sure to follow all of the new SMX social media channels for exclusive content and additional information on the latest news:
Pedro Acosta won the MotoGP World Championship race Sunday at Red Bull Ring – Spielberg, in Austria. Riding his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing RC16 on Michelin control tires, the Spaniard won the 28-lap race by 1.017 seconds. It was Acosta’s first MotoGP victory.
Jorge Martin was the runner-up on his Aprilia Racing RS-GP26 and his teammate, Marco Bezzecchi placed third.
Ai Ogura crossed the finish line fourth on his SuperFile Trackhouse Aprilia RS-GP26.
Marc Marquez took fifth on his Lenovo Ducati Desmosedici GP26.
Jorge Martin leads the championship with 306 points, 12 ahead of Marc Marquez who has 294 points. Marco Bezzecchi is third with 264 points.
Bouncing back: flawless Acosta fends off Aprilia charge to claim dream maiden win. He’s done it! In Red Bull and KTM’s backyard, the #37 clinches that long-awaited MotoGP Sunday victory as Martin and Bezzecchi earn Austrian GP podiums.
Officially the fastest mullet in the business. Nearly three years of trying. Now, those 25 points have been delivered. After his Tissot Sprint blunder on Saturday, boy did Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) banish those demons and respond on Sunday with a flawless ride to a maiden MotoGP victory. And what a perfect place to do it at too. KTM’s home. Red Bull’s home. The perfect venue. A beauty of a farewell gift before a new chapter for both rider and factory awaits in 2027.
Having notched up 15 podiums without standing on the top step in MotoGP, Acosta battled his way past, and then fended off World Championship leader Jorge Martin, who clinched an important second-place finish at the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Austria to extend his lead in the title race to 12 points after Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) was P5 at the flag. It was Martin’s Aprilia Racing teammate, Marco Bezzecchi, who bagged the final spot on the podium, with just 0.192s separating the Italian from the #89 over the line following a tense and riveting Grand Prix.
LIGHTS OUT: APRILIA DREAMLAND
As the lights went out, it was a dream getaway for Aprilia as Martin, Bezzecchi, and Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) occupied P1 to P3, in that order, with Marc Marquez losing three positions at the end of the opening lap as Acosta pounced on his future teammate to grab P4 after a slightly sluggish start.
Bezzecchi then fancied a hold of the race lead baton at the start of Lap 2. A classic Turn 1 move was signed, sealed, and delivered to his teammate Martin at Turn 1, before the polesitter snapped straight back at Turn 3. Meanwhile, Acosta was shifting. Turn 6 saw the KTM star carve past Ogura for third, and then the #37 quickly began to climb all over the tailpipes of Bezzecchi’s RS-GP.
ACOSTA BATTLES HIS WAY TO THE FRONT, MM93 SLIPS BACK
He wasn’t behind for long though. On Lap 4, at Turn 2b – the scene of Acosta’s Sprint error 23 hours prior – Acosta struck to pocket P2, with Bezzecchi then slipping further into the clutches of fourth-place Ogura after the Italian ran wide at the final corner at the end of Lap 4.
By the end of Lap 7, Martin and Acosta were 1.5s up the road from Bezzecchi, who in turn sat half a second ahead of Ogura, who was beginning to be put under pressure from our reigning World Champion.
Then, on Lap 9, a change for the lead. Acosta, on the exit of Turn 1, outdrove Martin on the run down into Turn 2a to rise to the front of the field for the first time. Further back, attention turned to Marc Marquez because shortly after passing Ogura for P4, the #93 was sideways and wide into Turn 1. That cost Marc Marquez P4, and then P5, with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) picking the seven-time MotoGP World Champion off.
Another poor Turn 1 then saw Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) jump ahead of the #93, and suddenly, it was P7 for Marc Marquez. Was there an issue? Or was it a case of simply making a couple of small mistakes?
ACOSTA VS APRILIA FOR THE WIN
As we passed the halfway stage of the Grand Prix, or, to be more precise, clocking onto Lap 16 of 28, Acosta led Martin by 0.7s, with Bezzecchi hovering around a second off Martin in P3. Ogura wasn’t out of the podium equation in fourth, 1.2s away from Bezzecchi, as Aldeguer and Marc Marquez sat in P5 and P6 – 3.4s behind Ogura.
It was on Lap 20 when Marc Marquez was able to get back past Aldeguer for P5. The gap to Ogura was now up to 3.8s though, so was P5 the best it was going to get for Ducati’s title charger?
Meanwhile, things were beginning to close up at the front. Acosta dropped into the 1:31s on Lap 21 to see his lead drop to 0.7s from over a second, with all three of the chasing Aprilias still in the high 1:30s. The fastest of the quartet? Ogura.
Acosta did respond on the next lap. A 1:30.693 was faster than the factory-painted Aprilia’s of Martin and Bezzecchi, with Ogura still ever so slightly quicker than the three ahead of him.
Acosta gathered his pace up nicely over the next couple of laps though. The lead was back up to just north of a second, with Martin instead coming under increasing pressure from teammate Bezzecchi.
Two to go. Acosta’s advantage was 1.4s, and there was a dream debut MotoGP victory with Red Bull KTM, at the Red Bull Ring, well in sight.
LAST LAP. The gap? 1.2s. And the gap between Martin and Bezzecchi? 0.2s. Acosta just needed to bring his RC16 home with a clean lap. And he did. Finally, Acosta is a MotoGP Sunday winner. It was always going to come at some point for the superstar, and before his and KTM’s journey comes to an end, it was only right that they enjoyed at least one win together.
It could be a huge day for Aprilia as they hunt for MotoGP title glory, with both Martin and Bezzecchi picking up double podiums in Austria before the unpredictable flyaway stretch begins. Martin now leads Marquez by 12 points, with Bezzecchi 42 off the top of the table ahead of Japan.
YOUR AUSTRIAN GP POINT SCORERS
Speaking of Japan, what a comeback it was for Ogura. 0.9s away from the rostrum in P4 was a great way to return before his home Grand Prix arrives in less than two weeks.
Marc Marquez’s P5 finish, and 7.3s margin from victory, was a little unexpected from the Sprint silver medallist, as the #93 relinquishes the championship lead heading to the venue he clinched the 2025 title at a year ago.
Binder backed up Acosta’s victory by claiming his best result of the season in P6, giving both sides of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing box a lot to shout about, with Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) the second Ducati rider home in P7.
The third Ducati rider in the standings, having been handed a post-race three-second penalty for causing contact, was Aldeguer in P8, while Fabio Di Giannantonio’s (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) quiet weekend ends with a Sunday P9. Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) rounded out the Austrian GP top 10, as Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), Joan Mir’s stand-in Takaaki Nakagami (Honda HRC Castrol), Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol), and Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) collect the final points on offer.
That’s all she wrote from the Red Bull Ring. And what a script it was. Acosta heads to Japan as a MotoGP winner, with the championship fight well and truly on. Motegi, we’re coming for you.
Izan Guevara won the FIM Moto2 World Championship race Sunday at Red Bull Ring – Spielberg, in Austria. Riding his BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Boscoscuro on Pirelli control tires, the Spaniard won the 23-lap race by 1.728 seconds.
Polesitter Filip Salac was the runner-up on his OnlyFans American Racing Team Kalex.
David Alonso was third on his CFMOTO Inde Team Kalex.
Championship point leader Manuel Gonzalez finished fourth on his LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex.
Ivan Ortola took fifth on his QJMOTOR – Campolor – MSI Kalex.
American Joe Roberts finished Sunday’s race 15th on his OnlyFans American Racing Team Kalex.
Manuel Gonzalez leads the championship with 245.5 points, 35.5 ahead of Izan Guevara who has 210 points. Ivan Ortola is third with 168.5 points.
Guevara strikes back to clinch crucial Red Bull Ring victory. The #28 reduced the gap to World Championship leader Gonzalez to under 40 points as Salač and Alonso earn Austrian GP podiums.
The Moto2 title race momentum pendulum keeps swinging one way and then the other in 2026 as we witness Izan Guevara (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) roll out a Red Bull Ring masterclass to clinch a crucial second win of the season. It’s a 25-point haul that sees the #28 chop World Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez’s (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) points lead back down to 35.5 points after the latter crosses the line in P4 behind second-place Filip Salač (OnlyFans American Racing Team) and third-place David Alonso (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team).
Starting from the middle of the front row, Gonzalez nailed the start and grabbed the holeshot into Turn 1, as Ivan Ortola (QJMOTOR – Campolor – MSI) and polesitter Salač went elbow to elbow through the opening corner and into Turn 2. Hanging it on the outside into Turn 2a, Salač then had the inside line into Turn 2b and pounced up the inside of Gonzalez to take the lead, and this halted Gonzalez’s momentum and speed, seeing the title race leader get punted back down to the lower ends of the top 10.
More big moves were coming though. Turn 9 saw both Ortola and the fast-starting Guevara carve their way past Salač to demote the Czech rider to P3. And as the top three started to stretch their legs at the front, Gonzalez tried to wrestle his way past fourth-place Alonso, which didn’t work, as Gonzalez fell to 2.4s off the lead by Lap 6 of 23.
On Lap 11, Guevara’s lead was up to 1.8s over the Ortola vs Salač battle; Alonso was a further second behind the podium positions, Gonzalez was just over a second adrift of the Colombian, as a change for P2 then came. Salač passed Ortola into Turn 4, so could the Czech rider begin reeling in Guevara?
Ortola slipped behind Alonso on Lap 15 when the Spaniard had a moment coming through Turn 2b as the battle for the podium began to bubble up nicely, with Gonzalez still a looming threat to the top three in P5. And sure enough, on Lap 17, at Turn 4, Gonzalez passed Ortola for P4. Meanwhile, up front, Guevara’s endured a real scare on his front end as it folded at Turn 9. What a save. It cost the race leader a second, whose lead came down to 2.2s on Lap 19.
Guevara steadied the ship though. The gap was still hovering above two seconds with three laps to go, as Salač kept Alonso 0.9s in arrears. Gonzalez sat 1.1s behind a podium spot in P4, while Ortola hadn’t let the championship leader get away – 0.3s split the Spaniards.
Apart from that big save, it was a flawless Sunday stride to victory for Guevara. And a huge one in his quest for 2026 Moto2 title glory too. Salač and Alonso completed the podium, with Gonzalez claiming 13 points in P4 to see his championship lead cut back down to 35.5 points ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.
Ortola couldn’t bite back at Gonzalez in the end; the rider third in the standings finished P5. Alonso Lopez (ITALJET Gresini Moto2), Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team), Barry Baltus (REDS Fantic Racing), Deniz Öncü (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and rookie Luca Lunetta (BETA Tools SpeedRS Team) were your P6 to P10 finishes at the Red Bull Ring, as Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) was forced to retire after encountering issues in the Grand Prix. Is that now the MotoGP-bound Australian’s title hopes over?
This compelling Moto2 title race takes another turn. Guevara responds, and heading to Japan, less than 40 points is the gap between Gonzalez and the Austrian GP winner. Next? A trip to Japan.
Eric Granado won the FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup race 2 Sunday morning at Red Bull Ring – Spielberg, in Austria. Riding his Joe Rascal Racing Harley-Davidson on Dunlop control tires, the Brazilian rider won the 9-lap race by 1.966 seconds.
Oscar Gutierrez was the runner-up on his Niti Racing Harley-Davidson.
American Kyle Wyman got third on his WEGNER X KWR Harley-Davidson and James Rispoli finished the race fourth on his Joe Rascal Racing Harley-Davidson.
Riding for Saddlemen Racing Harley-Davidson, American teammates Max Toth, Jake Lewis and Travis Wyman crossed the finish line 5th, 7th, and 11th respectively.
Max Flinders got 10th on his ParkinGO TEAM Harley-Davidson.
Archie Mcdonald leads the championship with 202 points, 9 ahead of Oscar Gutierrez who has 193 points. Eric Granado is third with 192 points.
More, from a press release issued by Bagger World Cup:
Harley-Davidson celebrates Archie McDonald as the first FIM Bagger World Cup Champion.
Archie McDonald secures the inaugural title at the Red Bull Ring, with Oscar Gutiérrez and Eric Granado completing the championship podium after a season of close competition.
SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA (September 20, 2026) – Archie McDonald (Joe Rascal Racing) has made history as the first-ever FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup Champion, bringing the inaugural season to a close after a dramatic final race at the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.
The title fight went down to the final race after Oscar Gutiérrez (Niti Racing) claimed an authoritative Race 1 victory on Saturday ahead of McDonald and James Rispoli (Joe Rascal Racing). With championship rivals Eric Granado (Joe Rascal Racing) and Andrea Iannone (Niti Racing) both retiring, McDonald rode a smart and controlled race to finish second and take a 21-point advantage over Gutiérrez into Sunday’s finale.
Kyle Wyman (33) and James Rispoli (43) during the BWC race 2 in Austria. Photo courtesy BWC.
In Race 2, Granado made a strong start, took the lead and never looked back, controlling the race from the front to claim his second victory of the season. Gutiérrez finished second, with Kyle Wyman (Wegner Automotive x KWR) completing the podium in third. McDonald crossed the line in eighth place, scoring the points he needed to secure the inaugural championship.
The result crowned McDonald as the inaugural Champion with 202 points, just nine ahead of Gutiérrez with 193 points, while Granado completed the championship podium only one point further back with 192 points.
Archie McDonald becomes the 2026 Bagger World Cup Champion in Austria. Photo courtesy BWC.
2026 FIM HARLEY-DAVIDSON BAGGER WORLD CUP CHAMPION
ARCHIE MCDONALD – JOE RASCAL RACING – 202 POINTS
Young, ambitious and spectacular to watch, McDonald combined outright speed with remarkable consistency throughout a demanding inaugural season. The Australian claimed two race victories and one pole position, while establishing himself as a regular presence at the front.
His campaign was not without setbacks, including a significant crash at Assen, but he repeatedly responded with the resilience and determination of a title contender. As the season progressed, his approach became increasingly mature, balancing his natural aggression with intelligent championship management – an approach he demonstrated perfectly in Austria, managing his race to finish second in Race 1 before bringing the motorcycle home safely in eighth in Race 2 to secure the inaugural title.
Archie McDonald – Joe Rascal Racing: “This has been such an emotional season. After winning the opening race and, weeks later, seeing my brother pass away, it’s nothing I ever thought I’d experience. To say goodbye to him, say goodbye to my family, and go overseas to keep training and keep following this dream… it’s such a relief now that it’s paid off. I’m so sorry to my family and my friends that I left behind in Australia to focus on this goal. Now I’m going to celebrate with them and continue grieving, as I’ve put it in a hole in the back of my mind this whole time. I dedicate this completely to Toby. I love you and I miss you so much, and I keep my arms wide open to anyone who needs it. What my family has gone through is not a normal experience, but to have him on the back of my bike with me in those last few laps was the best extra weight I could have asked for in any race. I had the points lead from yesterday and, like I said, this is a dream come true. This is a goal come true. This is years and years of setbacks and blood, sweat and tears put into something. I can’t thank everyone behind the scenes enough – from my manager to my coach, to my dad, my family, my friends, the whole Bagger World Cup, and Joe Rascal Racing. I can’t thank them enough. It’s an absolute relief and a goal that we’ve achieved. And, like I said to my brother Toby: I love you and I miss you.”
Oscar Gutiérrez (99) in Austria. Photo courtesy BWC.
SECOND – OSCAR GUTIÉRREZ – NITI RACING – 193 POINTS
Raw speed was never in question for Gutiérrez, who established himself as one of the most exciting riders in the field and backed that pace up with four race victories – more than any other rider – and one pole position. His spectacular overtaking moves and aggressive corner entries became a hallmark of his season. While a handful of costly crashes prevented him from converting all of that speed into the points his pace suggested were possible, his commanding Race 1 victory in Austria showed another side of his racing, combining outright pace with composure under pressure. A second-place finish in Race 2 completed a 45-point weekend and took his championship challenge all the way to the final race, ultimately securing second overall by a single point.
Eric Granado (51) in Austria. Photo courtesy BWC.
THIRD – ERIC GRANADO – JOE RASCAL RACING – 192 POINTS
Granado combined remarkable consistency with exceptional outright speed, claiming two race victories and a championship-leading four pole positions during the inaugural season. The Brazilian’s clean, precise and elegant riding style proved perfectly suited to the Harley-Davidson Road Glide, making him a constant presence at the front and allowing him to collect valuable points across a wide variety of circuits and conditions. After his Race 1 retirement ended his title challenge, Granado responded in emphatic fashion on Sunday, taking the lead early and controlling Race 2 from the front to claim the final victory of the season and finish third in the championship, just one point behind Gutiérrez and ten behind McDonald.
FINAL 2026 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Archie McDonald (AUS) – 202 points
Oscar Gutiérrez (SPA) – 193 points
Eric Granado (BRA) – 192 points
Andrea Iannone (ITA) – 157 points
Jake Lewis (USA) – 117 points
Filippo Rovelli (ITA) – 99 points
Travis Wyman (USA) – 83 points
Jordi Torres (SPA) – 77 points
Maxwell Toth (USA) – 62 points
Dimas Ekky Pratama (INA) – 60 points
Cory West (USA) – 56 points
Bradley Smith (GBR) – 36 points
Kyle Wyman (USA) – 29 points
James Rispoli (USA) – 29 points
Cody Wyman (USA) – 26 points
Max Flinders (USA) – 14 points
Jeffrey Schuessler – Director of Global Racing Programs, Harley-Davidson. Photo courtesy BWC.
Jeffrey Schuessler – Director of Global Racing Programs, Harley-Davidson: “We’re incredibly proud to celebrate Archie McDonald as the first FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup Champion. Congratulations to him and the entire Joe Rascal Racing team on an incredible achievement. And just as importantly, thank you to every rider, team, partner and person who believed in this program and helped us bring it to life. One year ago, we were here in Austria announcing this championship. We didn’t have teams, riders or even the race motorcycles yet. We had an idea, a plan and a lot of ambition. Today, we have a global racing series competing alongside MotoGP, with teams and riders from around the world. It’s pretty incredible to see how far we’ve come. This first season was about building the foundation and proving what this series could be, and the racing delivered beyond our expectations: five different race winners, every team on the podium and four riders arriving at the final round still fighting for the title. At the same time, seeing Harley- Davidson shirts throughout the MotoGP paddock and grandstands, and watching two very different motorcycle communities come together around the racing, has been incredibly rewarding. This is only the beginning. Our ambition is to continue growing the FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup with more teams, more riders, more races and new markets around the world, while creating even more opportunities for our dealers, H.O.G. members and fans to be part of it. We built a strong foundation this year. Now it’s time to build on it.”
Jason Kehl – Technical Director and Team Principal, Harley-Davidson Factory Racing: “The inaugural season of the FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup gave the global racing community its first opportunity to experience the unique look, sound and feel of a truly high-performance Harley-Davidson motorcycle. I’m incredibly excited by what these 200-plus-horsepower machines demonstrated on track in the hands of world-class riders and teams. Mind-blowing lap times, 62 degrees of lean angle and wheelie-inducing torque have left fans and riders asking for more. The performance and reliability of the 131ci (2,152cc) Screamin’ Eagle 131R engine, combined with a Factory Racing-developed chassis, proved that these motorcycles belong at the highest levels of racing. Harley-Davidson itself started with a few guys in a shed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who had a vision and a dream. More than a century later, this entire bagger racing project started in much the same way: with a few guys in a garage in Milwaukee, with a vision and a dream of their own. Seeing that dream come to life as an entirely new racing category alongside MotoGP, the world’s premier motorcycle racing series, is something we are incredibly proud of. Yet development never stops, and I can’t wait to show the world what we have planned for 2027.”
About FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup
The FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup is the first global championship exclusively dedicated to high-performance Harley-Davidson bagger motorcycles, organized by Harley-Davidson in partnership with MotoGP™ and officially recognized by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The series is contested at selected international circuits alongside the MotoGP™ calendar, bringing Harley-Davidson’s iconic machines into a premier global racing environment. The championship combines heritage, technical innovation, and on-track competition, extending the brand’s racing legacy onto the world stage. Learn more on the dedicated FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup page at www.harley-davidson.com.
About Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson, Inc. is the parent company of Harley-Davidson Motor Company and Harley-Davidson Financial Services. Our vision: Building our legend and leading our industry through innovation, evolution and emotion. Our mission: More than building machines, we stand for the timeless pursuit of adventure. Freedom for the soul. Since 1903, Harley-Davidson has defined motorcycle culture with an expanding range of leading-edge, distinctive and customizable motorcycles in addition to riding experiences and exceptional motorcycle accessories, riding gear and apparel. Harley-Davidson Financial Services provides financing, insurance and other programs to help get Harley-Davidson riders on the road. Learn more at www.harley-davidson.com.
MotoGP™ Background
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Maximo Quiles won the FIM Moto3 World Championship race Sunday at Red Bull Ring – Spielberg, in Austria. Using his Pirelli-shod CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team KTM, the Spaniard won the 20-lap race by 2.334 seconds.
Brian Uriarte was the runner-up on his Red Bull KTM Ajo machine and his teammate Alvaro Carpe was third.
Eddie O’Shea crossed the finish line fourth on his GRYD Racing Honda.
Guido Pini got fifth on his Leopard Racing Honda.
Maximo Quiles leads the championship with 306 points, 131 ahead of Alvaro Carpe who has 175 points. David Almansa is third with 174 points.
Quiles cruises to Austrian GP victory. The Championship leader took an emphatic win in Spielberg to give himself a shot of the Championship trophy next time out whilst Almansa fell from the lead in Austria.
Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) is officially on cloud nine after a ninth win of the season came at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Taking advantage of title rival David Almansa (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) crashing out of the lead on Lap 8, he took honours to give KTM the manufacturer’s crown ahead of Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and his teammate Alvaro Carpe. Quiles’ win means it is now mathematically possible for him to take the title next time out at Motegi; he currently sports a 131-point lead, he’s Champion if he leaves Japan with 150 or more.
Grabbing the holeshot from the front row, Almansa got a great start and led through the first lap but was soon instructed to drop one position. He did so into Turn 9, only retake the lead from polesitter Uriarte at Turn 1 on Lap 2. It was a front group of four with Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Championship leader Quiles who, by the end of Lap 3, was into second place and giving chase to Almansa who was pulling clear.
Soon, the top two had escape and it was the same movie we’d seen plenty of times across the course of the season as they traded fastest laps and were some half a second a lap quicker than Uriarte and Carpe. Quiles was pushing hard in his pursuit of Almansa, perhaps too hard as on Lap 6 he was given a track limits warning for exceeding track limits. On Lap 8 though, bigger drama, just as he started pulling clear at the front as Almansa crashed at Turn 2B, ending his Grand Prix. Heartbreak for the Spaniard whilst Quiles inherited the lead. More heartbreak behind as Rico Salmela (Red Bull KTM Tech3) fell from the top six at Turn 6, thankfully rider OK.
Into the second half of the GP and the battled had relaxed at the front with Quiles 1.9s clear of Uriarte and Carpe whilst 9.5s behind the podium, Veda Pratama (Honda Team Asia) led a big battle for P4 with Eddie O’Shea (GRYD Racing), Joel Esteban (LEVELUP-MTA), David Muñoz (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP), Casey O’Gorman (SIC58 Squadra Corse), Joel Kelso (GRYD Racing) and Guido Pini (Leopard Racing). Esteban soon found his way to the front ahead of O’Shea and Muñoz but the battle was far from done. With 5 to go though, Muñoz GP came to an end when Pratama pushed him out wide causing the Spaniard to crash. Pratama was given a Long Lap Penalty whilst Muñoz retired after rejoining.
Meanwhile, at the front, Quiles took a ninth victory of the season with the chequered flag waving him through and to give him an opportunity to wrap up the title in Japan whilst KTM are manufacturer’s Champions. Uriarte pulled out a five second gap over teammate Carpe who rounded out the podium and moved into P2 in the standings. It was a career-best result of O’Shea who came home fourth for the GRYD Racing’s best result with Pini in P5, his best since his win at COTA. O’Gorman took a joint-best P6 ahead of Adrian Cruces (CIP GreenPower), Marco Morelli (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team), Hakim Danish (AEON Credit – MT Helmets – MSI) and teammate Yamanaka.
The new owners of what used to be called Miller Motorsports Park and Utah Motorsports Complex have renamed it just “West Desert,” without any added description like Raceway or Motorpark or Circuit. On Friday, September 18th, the track in Grantsville, Utah held a Grand Re-Opening VIP Day for registered guests and media representatives. RoadracingWorld.com was invited.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox attended the grand re-opening of what is now known as West Desert, making opening remarks, participating in a ribbon-cutting, and giving plenty of mainstream media interviews, as seen here. Photo by John Ulrich.The ribbon-cutting ceremony, with Utah Governor Spencer Cox holding the ribbon at center left, and Grantsville Mayor Heidi Hammond cutting the ribbon at center right. Photo by John Ulrich.West Desert CEO Joe Atkin (left) with Graham Rahal (center), an Indy car driver and MotoAmerica team owner, on pit lane after the ribbon-cutting. Atkin has already supervised work on the track infield and existing buildings, with many more projects in the works. Photo by John Ulrich.Hundreds of people involved in assorted types of racing attended the grand re-opening and listened to Utah Governor Spencer Cox’s opening remarks. Several groups got on track during the day–including UtahSBA racers as well as track day riders. The governor sees the track as a valuable recreational asset and professional event attraction for the state. Photo by John Ulrich.A view of the West Desert infield, featuring some cars on track, part of an off-road course in the center, an under-construction drag strip running parallel to the front straight, and more West Desert logos and signs. Photo by John Ulrich.A rendering of the existing multiple-configuration West Desert road racing track, parts of an existing off-road course, an upgraded karting center, plus placement of new planned features like offices, garage condos, additional day garages, a clubhouse and residences, a conference center, a welcome center and restaurant, a retail experience center, an engineering and performance campus, some “corporate flex spaces,” an upgraded existing drift pad, the previously mentioned drag strip, and of course, plenty of the upgraded West Desert branding! Photo by John Ulrich.Rendering of a planned new clubhouse complex and residences. Photo by John Ulrich.A rendering of a planned new West Desert welcome center. Photo by John Ulrich.A view of the backside of the pit lane garages, complete with designated, numbered parking spaces, along with many stylish logos so nobody forgets where they are. And the destroyed canopy over the second floor outdoor viewing area has been replaced! Photo by John Ulrich.A well-labeled golf cart in action on pit lane. Photo by John Ulrich.The beginning of the sunrise Friday morning, en route to the grand re-opening of the track built by the late Larry H. Miller, sold to a Chinese corporation and allowed to languish, and now owned by enthusiastic Americans with a plan and a vision. They’ve already been talking to MotoAmerica, ASRA, and other motorcycle racing organizations, including the ill-fated World Moto Clash. If all goes well, this could be a new dawn for motorcycle (and car) road racing in Utah and the surrounding area. More information will be posted if and when it becomes available. Photo by John Ulrich.
Jorge Martin recovered from an early setback to claim victory in Saturday’s Austrian Sprint at the Red Bull Ring, moving from eighth place after an opening-lap clash to take the win. Marc Márquez finished second for Ducati, while Marco Bezzecchi secured third for Aprilia Racing. Below, read the teams’ press releases from Saturday’s Sprint race at the Red Bull Ring.
More, from a press release issued by Aprilia Racing:
Victory and a podium for Aprilia Racing in Austrian GP sprint. Pole position and a comeback victory for Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi third.
Saturday in Austria ended with both Aprilia Racing factory riders on the podium.
Jorge Martín began the day by taking pole position with a time of 1:27.917. This gave Aprilia four consecutive pole positions, for the first time in the Noale manufacturer’s history. The Spanish rider had a difficult opening lap, dropping to eighth before mounting a comeback to retake the lead and secure victory. This was Martín’s fourth sprint victory of the season, following his wins at Austin, Le Mans and Silverstone, and the 20th sprint victory of his career. It was also his seventh sprint podium of the season and the 37th sprint podium of his career.
Marco Bezzecchi started fourth on the grid and finished third in the sprint. This was the Italian rider’s sixth sprint podium of the season, following those at Le Mans, Balaton, Silverstone, Aragón and Misano, and the 16th sprint podium of his career.
Ai Ogura of the SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team finished fourth on his return from injury. The result saw Aprilia place three RS-GP26 machines in the top four.
Jorge Martín’s victory brings Aprilia’s tally of sprint wins this season to six, following those at Austin, Le Mans, Mugello, Assen and Silverstone, and takes the Noale manufacturer’s total to 13 sprint wins. The double podium for Martín and Bezzecchi also marks Aprilia Racing’s best result in a sprint in Austria.
Jorge Martin (89) in Austria. Photo courtesy Aprilia.
Jorge Martin: “I’m very happy with my sprint and the pace I had. I enjoyed a good start, but when Marc passed me, I lost a lot of places. From then on, I tried to stay focused. I was really concentrating and overtook a rider almost every lap. My arm is fine. I struggled more with it today than yesterday, but that’s normal – it’s just fatigue. Just as my neck gets tired, for example, so does my arm.”
Marco Bezzecchi (72) in Austria. Photo courtesy Aprilia.
Marco Bezzecchi: “Overall, I’ve been fairly competitive over these two days, improving from Friday to today, although I was still slightly slower than the three fastest riders: Jorge, Pedro and Marc. Still, I’m happy with this sprint because I stayed right with Marc. I could never get close enough to make a move because I still need to find a little more, but staying with him, with the feeling I had, was still very positive.”
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Lenovo Team:
Marc Márquez and the Ducati Lenovo Team take second place in the Austrian Sprint. Francesco Bagnaia scores points in sixth.
The Ducati Lenovo Team completed the fifteenth Sprint of the season at the Austrian Ring. Marc Márquez took second place at the end of the 14-lap encounter, whilst Francesco Bagnaia was sixth at the flag.
Márquez retained second place at the start and briefly took the lead at the first chicane before being overtaken by Acosta. After dropping down to third at the start of lap eight, Marc found himself back in second place with three laps remaining and tried to re-enter the battle for the win until the end. Bagnaia, seventh on the grid after going through Q1, finished with an encouraging sixth place.
The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action tomorrow at 9:40 local time (GMT +2) for the warm-up, which will be followed by the 28-lap Grand Prix of Austria, to be contested from 14:00.
Marc Márquez (93) in Austria. Photo courtesy Ducati.
Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 2nd: “Today we achieved the main goal, which was to finish right behind Jorge (Martín) with no other rider in between. The first two laps were intense, then I simply kept my pace and scored the best possible result, as we are struggling a bit here. We need to keep working in order to improve in some specific areas of the track and, if we manage to do so, everything will become a whole lot simpler. Tomorrow’s race will be a long one and we’ll have to be careful with tyre wear.”
Francesco Bagnaia (63) in Austria. Photo courtesy Ducati.
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 6th “We’re doing a good job. Today we improved in the time attack, while in the Sprint we mainly worked towards tomorrow’s race by choosing the medium tyre, as we know how important it’ll be to manage tyre wear. I think it was the correct decision. It’s true that we struggled in the opening laps, but then the pace wasn’t so bad. The feeling has improved and now I hope we can make another step forward – with regards to grip and traction on corner exit – ahead of tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing:
BK8 Gresini Team scores points in the Austrian Sprint.
SPRINT
ALEX MARQUEZ 5º
FERMIN ALDEGUER 8º
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ALEX MARQUEZ 8º (158)
FERMIN ALDEGUER 10º (107)
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
BK8 GRESINI RACING 6º (274)
Alex Marquez (73) in Austria. Photo courtesy Gresini Team.
Alex Marquez: “This morning I made a mistake while changing gear and crashed. We managed to save qualifying with a second-row start, but clearly the crash didn’t help. Regardless of that, we are struggling to find the right direction, and fifth position (sixth without Pedro’s crash) is currently the target we can achieve. We will try something in the warm-up to make a step forward and try to stay with the Aprilias, although it is currently difficult to do so on this track.”
Fermin Aldeguer on the grid in Austria. Photo courtesy Gresini.
Fermin Aldeguer: “Qualifying, as is often the case, made the weekend more complicated for us. I felt good in practice, but in the session that really counts, we didn’t perform as well as we would have liked. Starting that far back makes things difficult, and the Sprint went pretty much as I expected. We managed to score a few points and made a decent step forward. Tomorrow, with the medium tyre, we can do something better.”
More, from a press release issued by Honda HRC Castrol:
Marini works for Sunday in Spielberg as Nakagami’s progress steps up.
Luca Marini’s Saturday in Austria was all about Sunday gains after a difficult Q1 while Takaaki Nakagami showed his experience and speed, battling through to 15th and ahead of several big names.
Saturday in Austria had the Honda HRC Castrol team hard at work, looking to make the most of every opportunity presented to them after a truncated morning practice due to overnight rain. Q1 marked the first obstacle of the day with both Luca Marini and Takaaki Nakagami tackling the 15-minute session on a still-green circuit.
Able to set a best time of 1’29.110 and manage 15th on the grid, Luca Marini faced an uphill battle on the run up the hill to Turn 1 in the Sprint. With this in mind, the Italian and his team decided to focus on better understanding what will be possible during Sunday’s Grand Prix and opted for the medium tyre. A classically strong start from Marini helped him gain early ground before he switched to a more defensive mode. Taking 13th at the line, the Italian has certainly gained information for the feature length race and has some key decisions to make overnight. Marini is confident that Sunday’s race could introduce an even more unpredictable GP.
One of the few riders to venture out in the damp morning, Takaaki Nakagami’s progress continued with each and every lap as he closed the distance and went deeper into the field. A best lap of 1’29.442 in Q1 put him 18th on the grid and just 0.3s behind Luca Marini on the other side of the garage. When the lights went out for the 14-lap Sprint, Nakagami immediately locked into an intense fight with Morbidelli and a trio of Yamaha riders before breaking away and trying to close in on Pol Espargaro in the battle of the Development Riders. 15th in the Sprint bodes well for some welcome points in Sunday’s main event.
Luca Marini (10) in Austria. Photo courtesy Honda HRC.
Luca Marini:“Today was all about testing for tomorrow, I went with the medium rear in the Sprint to understand how it behaves before the long race. It was not easy with the medium and I think a lot of guys who used the soft in the Sprint will have some surprises. Q1 was tricky today and I couldn’t get the same feeling as in practice, it felt like there was less grip overall and I wasn’t able to improve my time in the second half of the lap. But let’s see what we can do on Sunday with this extra information as our pattern this year is always making a step for the long race and as we saw today, this track is very critical and you need to be riding in a perfect way.”
Takaaki Nakagami (30) in Austria. Photo courtesy Honda HRC.
Takaaki Nakagami: “Some positives feelings today in Qualifying and the Sprint, still there’s a lot to improve but step by step progress is being made. Session by session, I am working better with the team and they’re helping me a lot to compare to the other Honda riders. We did a lot of laps during the test before here so my physical condition isn’t perfect and when you need to push to your maximum like in Qualifying or a race, this is when you feel it. Sunday will be a long 28 laps, a lot of tyre management to do. I am enjoying being the factory team and I want to thank them all for their effort.”
More, from a press release issued by Monster Energy Yamaha:
Steady Sprint for Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP in Styria.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins pushed all the way to the finish line in the Grand Prix of Austria Sprint at the Spielberg track today. Quartararo turned a solid Saturday into a 12th-place result, while Rins made progress from the back of the grid to take 18th position.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins took on the Sprint at Spielberg on the Grand Prix of Austria Saturday. Quartararo pressed on in the midfield throughout the 14-lap dash and crossed the line in 12th place, while Rins steadily rode from 20th on the grid to 18th position at the chequered flag.
Quartararo started the Sprint from ninth place but found himself in 12th after a busy opening lap. The Frenchman settled into the position and maintained a consistent pace throughout much of the race. With three laps remaining, Pedro Acosta’s crash briefly promoted Quartararo to 11th. However, Enea Bastianini, who had been closing in on the number 20 during the latter stages, found a way past on the same lap. Quartararo continued to push until the finish and crossed the line in 12th place, 13.050s from the winner.
Rins lined up in 20th on the grid and dropped behind the Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP riders at the start before overtaking Jack Miller to complete the opening lap in 21st. The Spaniard began making progress on lap 5 when he passed Franco Morbidelli. Further gains followed as Diogo Moreira and Raúl Fernández were handed double long-lap penalties, moving Rins up to 18th by lap 8. Another position came his way when Acosta crashed out, but Moreira found his way past on the same lap. On the final lap, Rins continued to close the gap to Toprak Razgatlıoğlu but came just 0.090s short at the finish line, taking 18th place and ending the Sprint 21.054s from first.
After today’s Sprint, Quartararo remains 15th in the championship standings with 61 points, while Rins stays 20th with 24 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are 10th in the team classification with 85 points, and Yamaha hold 5th place in the constructor standings with 84 points.
Tomorrow, the teammates will be back in action for Warm Up, held from 09:40-09:50 (GMT+2), and the 28-lap Race, which starts at 14:00.
Fabio Quartararo (20) in Austria. Photo courtesy Yamaha.
Fabio Quartararo:“Qualifying was good and the Sprint was good too. I knew a top 10 would be difficult today, so I think P12 was the position we deserved. I am feeling well on the bike, but in the Sprint and Race, with people in front of you, it’s more difficult to make the lap times. Tomorrow the race will be difficult, especially for the tyres. We know that for the Race we will try something different.”
Alex Rins (42) in Austria. Photo courtesy Yamaha.
Alex Rins:“This is a tough track for us. Today in the Sprint, I was struggling quite a bit. I had [Takaaki] Nakagami in front of me. I was recovering quite a lot on braking, but every time he was able to pull away by some metres again.”
More, from a press release issued by Prima Pramac Yamaha:
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP continues to work through a challenging Austrian Saturday.
Jack Miller and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu completed a demanding Saturday at the Red Bull Ring, with Miller continuing to search for the right balance after setup changes and Razgatlıoğlu showing clear progress throughout the day and in the Sprint.
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP experienced another challenging day at the Red Bull Ring, with the team continuing to work through the setup and balance of the YZR-M1. For Jack Miller, the changes introduced overnight did not produce the expected improvement in overall bike behaviour. As often happens when making significant setup changes, the new direction also created compromises in other areas, leaving the Australian searching for a more consistent balance during both qualifying and the Sprint. He eventually finished the Sprint in 20th position.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, meanwhile, continued the positive progression already seen during the weekend. After a difficult Friday, the Turkish rider made another clear step forward on Saturday, with his Sprint pace bringing him closer to the group fighting around the Top 10. He ultimately crossed the finish line in 17th, although the final result did not fully reflect the progress shown in terms of pace and feeling throughout the day.
The next step for Toprak will be to carry more of that progress into the opening stages of the weekend, allowing him to start from a stronger position and make better use of the pace he is able to find later on. With the Austrian Grand Prix continuing tomorrow, both riders and the team will now focus on making the most of the information gathered today and finding further improvements for the final race.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (07) on the grid in Austria. Photo courtesy Prima Pramac Yamaha.
Toprak Razgatlioglu:“Today was better than qualifying and the feeling with the bike was much better. The beginning of the race was okay, although I lost some rhythm after fighting with another rider in the opening laps. After that I was able to find my pace, but it was very difficult to overtake because we lose a lot on the straights. Towards the end, the rear tyre dropped quite a lot and I lost some time, but overall the pace was not so bad. We also learned more about the tyre and tomorrow we will try the medium, which normally gives me a better feeling. The main problem is still qualifying. Yesterday I did a 1:29.6, but today with the new tyre I could only do a 1:30.0, and I still don‘t understand why I cannot extract the same performance in qualifying. Then I have to start from the back again, which makes the race much more difficult. Tomorrow is a long race and anything can happen. I will try my best as always and hopefully we can make another step.”
Jack Miller (43) in Austria. Photo courtesy Prima Pramac Yamaha.
Jack Miller:“Not much to say. The bike itself was behaving better today and it was definitely an improvement compared with yesterday. From a setup point of view, I felt much better on the bike and I could brake late and do what I needed to do. It wasn‘t an enjoyable race, to be honest, and we need to understand why we have been struggling with this since Friday. We‘re going to have to make some significant changes tonight and try to find a way to improve the acceleration for tomorrow. We know there is more potential in the bike. I‘m not extracting everything from it at the moment either, and I need to keep building my confidence back, but the main priority now is to find a solution with the electronics and give ourselves a better chance in the race.”
More, from a press release issued by Pro Honda LCR:
Pro Honda LCR rider Diogo Moreira finished 16th in Saturday’s Sprint in Austria.
After a challenging qualifying session, Moreira lined up 16th on the grid for the Sprint.
Determined to fight his way forward, Moreira made a jump start at the beginning of the race, as he felt the wait for the lights had been unusually long.
The Brazilian was handed a double Long Lap penalty and eventually crossed the finish line in 16th. Despite the setback, Moreira took positives from the race, feeling comfortable on the bike and noticing improvements in its performance.
Diogo Moreira (11) in Austria. Photo courtesy Pro Honda LCR.
Diogo Moreira 16th:“When I was waiting for the lights, somehow I felt like it was taking too long, and I made a big mistake. I apologized to the team. We have another chance tomorrow to make up for it. In the end, we changed some things on the bike, and I felt better and had a good pace. We’ll recover from this, for sure!”
More, from a press release issued by Red Bull KTM Tech3:
Bastianini gains six places in Austrian sprint.
Enea Bastianini quickly put a disappointing Qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix behind him to rise from 17th to 11th in Saturday’s Sprint, while Pol Espargaró came home in 14th.
Qualifying
After a heavy morning shower at the Red Bull Ring, the track surface had soon dried sufficiently for slick tyres to be used in FP2 and Qualifying.
Although fast over longer runs on Friday, Bastianini couldn’t get comfortable with Michelin’s soft rear tyre in Q1. As he struggled in Sectors three and four, the 28-year-old posted the seventh fastest time, which put him 17th overall. Espargaró fared better in Q1, finishing fourth and just 0.2s off Johann Zarco’s fastest time for 14th on the grid.
Sprint
Conditions were close to perfect around the 4.35km layout ahead of the 14-lap Sprint race. Although he started in the middle of the sixth row, Bastianini was still confident of his speed over a longer run. The Italian felt his way into the 14-lap shootout, holding 17th on lap one before launching a series of attacks.
Sitting 15th on lap three, ‘La Bestia’ continued his forward trajectory and late passes on Luca Marini and Fabio Quartararo, plus a crash for another rider, lifted him to 11th place.
Espargaró chose Michelin’s medium rear tyre in a bid to gather more information for Sunday’s race. The Spaniard lost two positions on the first lap and was soon caught up in a tough fight with Toprak Razgatlioglu. Once clear of the Turk, he focused on catching Marini ahead but ran out of time to complete the overtake and finished 14th.
The main event is still to come for Red Bull KTM Tech3 with Warm Up kicking off Sunday’s action at 9:40 (UTC+2) before the 28-lap race, which starts at 14:00 (UTC+2).
Enea Bastianini (23) in Austria. Photo courtesy KTM Tech3.
Enea Bastianini: “We don’t know what happened today. In Practice I was confident because I was pretty fast, but when we put the soft tyre in for the time attack in Qualifying, I had no grip with the front. I just felt a lot of pushing from the rear. I did my best, but the lap time was a disaster. The Sprint was a bit better. If you are behind other riders, you can’t do your maximum, and it’s very difficult to come back. This is the reality of MotoGP at the moment. Tomorrow we’ll need to save the rear tyre for the end of the race because the drop is big. We’ll need to pay attention to this more than other races tomorrow.”
Pol Espargaró (44) in Austria. Photo courtesy KTM Tech3.
Pol Espargaró: “Not such a bad day. We chose the medium rear tyre for the Sprint, just so we have more information for tomorrow for the KTM guys. My feeling at the start wasn’t bad at all. The only thing was I started battling with Toprak [Razgatlioglu] in the middle of the race for nothing and I lost quite a lot of time. When I overtook him, I could find my rhythm. I tried to catch Luca Marini ahead, but he was so far away, and I didn’t have enough time. Anyway, it was useful for the factory to get some information for tomorrow and we can work a bit better. The rear tyre drop is going to be a factor tomorrow, so we’ll have to manage that, but we’ll be prepared. Let’s get stuck in.”
Nicolas Goyon, Team Manager: “Well, it was a good Sprint for both our boys. Enea struggled in Qualifying this morning. We hoped for a better result, but we know how Enea races and he ended up in a good P11, which gives us some hope for a good result tomorrow – a top eight finish is an achievable target. It was a good Qualifying for Pol. He qualified 14th and then ended the Sprint in 14th with a medium rear tyre. He was clearly focussing on working for tomorrow’s main race and we hope this work will pay off. We are quite confident that both our riders can bring a stronger result tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Castrol Honda LCR:
Castrol Honda LCR rider Johann Zarco crossed the finish line in 7th place in Saturday’s Sprint in Austria.
Zarco made a strong start from 10th on the grid after progressing to Q2 in the morning qualifying session.
When it mattered, the Frenchman kept his composure, avoiding mistakes while battling with his rivals and maintaining a strong pace.
He eventually crossed the finish line in 7th, securing valuable points and feeling comfortable on the bike.
Johann Zarco (5) in Austria. Photo courtesy Honda LCR.
Johann Zarco 7th:“I’m very happy! To score points in the Sprint, you need to do everything perfectly, and we did a good enough job today. I’m happy. Today, during the Sprint, I confirmed the good feeling I had yesterday. Tomorrow, we’ll need to manage the whole race and do a good job, but we’re confident that we can put together a strong race. Let’s see!”
More, from a press release issued by VR46 Team:
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team secures the tenth place in the Sprint with Fabio Di Giannantonio at Spielberg. Franco Morbidelli crashes.
Saturday of the Austrian GP proved to be more challenging than expected for the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, which ended a sunny Sprint at Spielberg in tenth place with Fabio Di Giannantonio. It was a tough race for Franco Morbidelli, who crashed with four laps to go, luckily without physical consequences.
Di Giannantonio started from the third row thanks to his eighth place in Qualifying, his best result ever on the Styrian track (1’28”612). In the Sprint, a complicated start prevented Fabio to gain positions, remaining in the group fighting for the Top19. The rider from Rome was very determined, and he crossed the finish line in tenth place. Di Giannantonio keeps the fourth position in the World Standing with 223 points.
It was a tough Saturday for Morbidelli, who was nineteenth in Qualifying (1’29”554). Franco started from the seventh row and struggled to show his potential right from the first laps. A crash at lap 11 when he was in nineteenth place prevented him to bounce back. Morbidelli is now sixteenth in the World Standing with 56 points.
The Austrian GP will conclude tomorrow with the main race, which will start at 2:00 p.m. (local time).
Fabio Di Giannantonio (49) in Austria. Photo courtesy VR46 Team.
Fabio Di Giannantonio: “Until the qualifying, the weekend was not bad, but I had low grip at the rear and I struggle more in the Sprint. I made a couple of mistakes in the first laps, I went wide and I lost positions, this affected me a bit. But we want to stay positive and focused because we are adapting to this track more and more. Now, we work to understand how we can improve even more for tomorrow’s race.”
Franco Morbidelli (21) and Jack Miller (43) in Austria. Photo courtesy VR46 Team.
Franco Morbidelli: “Today in the Sprint I crashed at Turn 2, maybe I arrived to the corner a little faster than usual and I lost the front. Luckily, I’m ok. Anyway, the race was not going very well, I had already made a mistake at Turn 9 and I went wide. I was trying to recover, but then I crashed. We still have tomorrow to bounce back. We must remain confident and determined to solve the issues that have been affecting us this weekend.”
Pedro Acosta (37) in Austria. Photo courtesy Mat Oxley.
By Mat Oxley:
When most people picture the landlocked mountains of Austria, the last thing they think of is shark attacks. So imagine our surprise when we saw the Shark gobble up the competition this week at Red Bull Ring, even devouring Jorge Martin whole.
The Shark in question is, of course, Pedro Acosta driving that giant hammerhead of a KTM. He dominated the training on Friday, screwed it up dramatically on Saturday during the sprint and then came back swinging today, earning KTM its first victory on a dry track in half a decade. But how did he do it?
Enter Mat and Peter, who’ve got some theories. See, one thing that makes sharks so special is that evolution doesn’t seem to have changed them much this aeon. They found something that worked a long time ago, and it works still. Only in this case we’re not talking about a Great White’s scary sense of smell or rotating revolver teeth; we’re looking at an oldschool racing bike which still allows you to go completely apeshit on the front when entering corners. Combine that fact with the nature of this track, and it might be accurate to state that this is the first time we’ve seen Acosta on equal machinery.
God knows we’d like to see it more often!
Meanwhile Jorge Martin seems to have taken over from Marquez in the tournament standing, bringing some seriously competitive heat to the next few races. Exciting times, no doubt.
Just watch out for blood in the water, or we might end up needing a bigger boat bike!
*If there was ever a time to quote from Spielberg, wouldn’t it be when racing here?
Want more? Visit our website or support us on Patreon. With big thanks as always to Brad Baloo from The Next Men and Gentleman’s Dub Club for writing our theme song. Check out The Nextmen for more great music!
Oh, and a quick word in regards to sponsors:
If you’re interested in connecting with a really unique MotoGP audience — we’re working with Smash Brand Group out of Sydney to manage partnerships. Curious? Just head to smashbrandgroup.com.au and get in touch!
British Superbike race start in Assen. Photo courtesy BSB.
BSB battle royale as Redding and Ryde share wins in dramatic Showdown opener.
Scott Redding and Kyle Ryde shared the victories in a dramatic opening round of the 2026 British Superbike Championship Showdown at the TT Circuit Assen, with the final race of the day delivering a hallmark finish at The Cathedral of Speed as Ryde, Redding and Bradley Ray went head-to-head in an intense three-way battle.
The opening race of the day began in dramatic style when Rory Skinner had an oil cooler pipe failure on the Cheshire Mouldings Yamaha during the warm up lap, which sent him crashing out delaying the race start for a clean-up operation.
When the race got underway, Redding instantly hit the front of the pack ahead of Ryan Vickers, Ray and Ryde, but the defending champion was instantly fighting and he made a move on both his rivals on the opening lap.
Redding was again holding off his closest championship rivals, but on lap seven, Ryde was cautious of a change of conditions and Ray seized the advantage to take second. Light rain then began and the race was subsequently red flagged, with Redding, Ray and Ryde claiming the podium positions.
Vickers had another strong race in fourth place for Honda Racing UK with Max Cook completing the top five on the AJN Steelstock bimota.
The stage was set for a race three thriller and the TT Circuit Assen delivered as Ryde retaliated with a sensational victory, beating Ray and Redding to the chequered flag after a thrilling final-lap battle that went down to the wire at the iconic final chicane.
At the start of the race, Vickers had grabbed the lead, but Ryde was determined to return to winning ways and he instantly made a pass to hit the front of the field. The Honda Racing UK rider was then under pressure from Ray and Redding, with the McAMS Yamaha contender moving second on lap fourth.
By lap six, Ryde and Ray were duelling for the advantage, trading places throughout the laps, whilst Redding had his sights on joining the battle after he made a move into third on Vickers on the tenth lap.
Ryde and Ray continued to switch the lead and with five laps to go, the pair were trading blows in the battle for victory, but they then had to contend with Redding. Ray and Ryde had both taken the lead on the penultimate lap and it was going down to the wire in a traditional battle at the TT Circuit Assen.
Kyle Ryde (1) and Scott Redding (45) in Assen. Photo courtesy BSB.
Ryde started the final lap in the lead with Redding then making his move on Ray to claim second position and then with his sights set on making it a treble. The Hager PBM Racing Team rider made a move down the inside into the Chicane and was able to stay just ahead of Ryde, but on the exit, the rear tyre stepped out and Redding had to save it and lost drive.
Ryde was able to reclaim the lead to take the chequered flag first to return to the top step for the first time since race one at Thruxton, whilst Ray seized the advantage on the drag to the line to take second from Redding.
Vickers had another strong points scoring weekend in fourth place with Max Cook completing the top five for AJN Steelstock bimota, after his teammate Joe Talbot retired from the final race of the weekend.
Leon Haslam delivered another gritty performance to finish sixth after starting 22nd on the grid on the Moto Rapido Racing Ducati after he was forced out of race two on the warm up lap.
Skinner also battling through after his dramatic warm up lap crash in race two to take seventh as the BSB Showdown now heads to Donington Park for the penultimate round of the season.
British Superbike Championship, TT Circuit Assen, Race 2 result:
Kyle Ryde (1) and Scott Redding (45) in Assen. Photo courtesy BSB.
Kyle Ryde – Nitrous Coin Nitrous Competitions Racing Ducati:
“I think it was my best start of the weekend in race three! I settled in behind Ryan, well I say settled in, I passed him first lap into the last corner and I got my head down! I tried to not win the race in those first laps, but make it easier for us three to get to the end.
“I did a few fast laps and it was a very fun race to be a part of. I just didn’t want to sit behind for any sort of half a lap because it was obvious Brad was going to be faster than me in some parts and I didn’t want to play cat and mouse.
“As in he would pull two tenths and then catch it back and the Scott catches me, so whenever he passed me I just went back, which made the lap time a lot slower. I just tried to keep fighting to get myself to the front.
“I wasn’t looking at the pit board and before you know it there was three laps to go and I went so defensive everywhere. As Scott said, the physical side was probably not there because the lap time wasn’t there, but it was a great race to be a part of. To beat Scott in one of the races after the weekend he’s had was a good feeling.”
Scott Redding – Hager PBM Racing Team:
“Race two was good, I didn’t feel that good with grip, but it was hard because of the track conditions. I didn’t really want to lead the race when it was changing, but I am just happy to have taken that win. It was a good call on the red flag and then I felt ready to go again in race three.
“Race three physically that was the easiest race for me, mentally one of the hardest trying to overtake! It took me forever to get past Ryan and I kept saying to myself “just be patient, just be patient”.
“I was getting a bit impatient! I just had to try to make unconventional moves and try and do stuff that I wouldn’t really expect myself to do. Everyone was riding so good that it was so hard, and then when Brad and Kyle started battling, I thought “I need to look at this as a three way battle and not a two way battle”.
“I don’t know what happened but I ended up second at the last chicane and I thought “right I’ve got to go”, but Kyle’s bike’s just really good at getting off the corners. On the last lap, I just thought “the championship is on the line, I have to win”.
“At that point I thought the only place I could do it is into the last chicane, but I had a bit of a big slide out of right coming back towards the stadium section and a gap was there. I thought “man, what you gonna do now”. I just went very late on the brakes and just fully committed to it and Kyle was protecting and going wider and wider!
“I said “when he brakes, I just have to brake after” so that is what I did! I went sideways going in and I lost the front. I was so eager to get on the gas, I had a bit of a slide then a wheelie, just thinking “get to the finish line” and then I saw Brad fully lent over!
“To be fair you lose a race like that battling for a championship, I still go home happy, I thought “you know what, we put on a spectacular show and that is what people want.”
Pedro Acosta (37) leading Jorge Martin (89) and Marco Bezzecchi (72) in Austria. Photo courtesy MotoGP.
The MotoGP Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Austria is in the books, with Pedro Acosta taking his first MotoGP victory ahead of Jorge Martin, while Marco Bezzecchi completed the podium for Aprilia Racing. Read the teams’ post-race PR below.
More, from a press release issued by Red Bull KTM:
Victory! Acosta makes a MotoGP breakthrough with Austrian Grand Prix success.
Red Bull KTM won the 2026 Austrian MotoGP as Pedro Acosta controlled proceedings from early race distance and clinched the first premier class checkered flag of his career and the first for the factory this season. The Austrian Grand Prix provided home ground for Red Bull KTM and was a showcase for the speed and talents of Acosta but also a strong result for Brad Binder in 6th as KTM sealed the Moto3™ Constructors Championship on the same day as the KTM GP Academy registered a podium double.
Highlights and key moments from race day at Red Bull Ring
Pedro Acosta wins at Red Bull Ring. The triumph represents KTM’s third at the circuit and the first in MotoGP since 2022. The Spaniard now has five trophies and three in a row this season and has moved up to 4th in the championship
6th and a hard-won 10 points for Brad Binder as the South African logs his highest classification of the season
Enea Bastianini rides to 11th in Austria as Pol Espargaro takes 16th
2nd and 3rd position in Moto3 as Brian Uriarte finishes runner-up ahead of Alvaro Carpe
Beñat Fernandez is the 2026 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup champion after 4th position in the finale for the series
A sun-kissed Red Bull Ring shone brightly for the last European Grand Prix before the flyway sequence of the 2026 calendar. Red Bull KTM took to the MotoGP grid for 28 laps with Pedro Acosta on the front row, Brad Binder in P11, Pol Espargaro, deputizing for Maverick Viñales for the third race in a row, in P14 and Enea Bastianini in P17.
Acosta, who had been a fraction of a second from Pole Position on Saturday and led the majority of the Sprint, barged into the top three from the second circulation. He hassled the rear wheel of Jorge Martin until he was able to take lead on lap 8 and then managed the distance over his pursuers. Pedro crossed the line a second ahead of Martin to join Miguel Oliveira (2020) and Brad Binder (2021) as KTM RC16 Grand Prix winners in Spielberg. The landmark was also notable for the Spaniard, nearly three seasons into his MotoGP career and after 56 starts on Austrian technology.
Binder scorched to the top six after five laps. The South African then found 5th at mid-race distance and engaged in more battling Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia. Brad persisted with his pace, the only rider with the soft front tire choice and grabbed 6th for his efforts.
Bastianini grabbed a few positions at the outset and pushed all race to try and breach the top ten. He was just 0.3 of a second away at the end and classified 11th. Espargaro was bustled by others on the first lap and lost some time but rallied to 16th and only just missed out on GP points.
MotoGP enters a 2027 test at the Red Bull Ring on Monday before boxing-up for the flyaways to Japan, Indonesia, Australia and Malaysia in the coming weeks.
Pedro Acosta (37) and Jorge Martin (89) in Austria. Photo courtesy KTM.
Pedro Acosta, 1st and 4th in the championship:“The first one is always special, and in front of so many Austrian fans. There were many KTM t-shirts and I’m so happy for the team, they deserve it more than me. I had many good people around yesterday when I f**ked up. This result was amazing.”
Brad Binder (33) in Austria. Photo courtesy KTM.
Brad Binder, 6th and 13th in the championship: “Overall, I’d say a successful weekend here in Red Bull Ring and I’m happy to have got my best finish of the year. I would have liked to have been a bit further up the grid but I did my best. Happy with the pace we were able to put together and happy with the work by the team. Well done to them, and also to Pedro on his first victory; I’m sure it’s the first of many.”
Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Super-special day. We had some challenges this summer and if we think about the last two years there have been hard moments and good moments and I cannot say how grateful I am for everybody who is in the process. We have such a good project with many great, passionate and professional people around…and when you have a rider like Pedro, this is what you can expect. From Friday we could see the bike, the track and maybe the tire compound suited us – both riders – and we went to the maximum. We had some disappointment yesterday but today we took our chance. Pedro was a 16-year-old when I started working with him and we won Moto3 in the first season. It’s been a great road since. I feel there is the chance to learn from every rider and we’re thankful to him and that kind of talent.”
Pit Beirer, KTM Motorsports Director: “Big emotions. We have come out of some tough moments since 2024. The company is back in shape…but we also had our issues on the track this summer: we responded from those with 2nd in Aragon, 3rd in Misano and then winning our home Grand Prix. It is something we could not have imagined a few weeks ago. I’m so happy for the team, for the factory and I also want to give this as a present to all KTM because we all fought to come out of a crisis. We are back. This is what we are fighting for. I am the happiest man and this is the happiest team on the planet. Thanks to KTM, thanks to them and thanks to Pedro who is an amazing rider.”
More, from a press release issued by Aprilia Racing:
Double podium for Aprilia Racing for the long race in Austria.
The weekend in Austria ended with another podium for the Aprilia Racing factory riders after the one they earned in the sprint race.
Jorge Martín had an outstanding start from pole position, maintaining first place when the red lights went out. The Spanish rider then rode his RS-GP26 to a second-place finish when the chequered flag came out. With his win in the sprint race on Saturday, Martín had taken back the championship lead, and at the end of the Austrian GP, he remains at the top of the standings with 286 points.
Marco Bezzecchi also had an extraordinary start from the fourth spot on the grid, moving into second place straight away. The Italian rider then finished third, finishing up a weekend of podium placements after taking third in the sprint race.
Finishing fourth was Ai Ogura, with the SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team, back after his injury to repeat the result of the sprint race. This gave Aprilia three RS-GP26 machines in the top four positions.
Aprilia Racing closes out the weekend in Austria with their first double podium ever on the Spielberg track, both in the sprint race and in the long race, as well as another significant result – four consecutive pole positions taken in Silverstone, Aragón, Misano, and Austria – a milestone which the Noale-based manufacturer had never before.
Jorge Martin (89) in Austria. Photo courtesy Aprilia.
Jorge Martin: “It was a great weekend. Getting back to this level of speed and having good fitness after the doubts in Misano make me extremely happy. I wanted to fight for the win, but battling with Pedro was quite difficult, although I tried all the way to the end.”
Marco Bezzecchi (72) in Austria. Photo courtesy Aprilia.
Marco Bezzecchi: “We truly achieved the maximum, and I’m pleased with the way I improved throughout the weekend. My performance wasn’t bad on Friday, but I wasn’t on par with the leaders. Saturday, we managed to remediate, even with a bit of luck. In the race, on the other hand, I think it was truly a good result. At the end, I got very close to Jorge. I may have missed the opportunity to try and overtake on turn 1 because of a small mistake, but in any case, I gave it one hundred percent.”
Massimo Rivola – CEO Aprilia Racing: “Congratulations to Pedro and KTM for their first win. I know how satisfying it is to achieve that in a home race. It was a great weekend for us, where Marco demonstrated growth and consistency, and Jorge showed us – especially on Saturday – a ride truly worthy of a World Champion. The road is still long, and our rivals are extremely strong, especially for the next round in Motegi, so we had better get to work straight away. We have an important test tomorrow with the Pirelli tyres on the 850cc and we also need to work to be competitive on a tough track.”
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Lenovo Team:
Marc Márquez and the Ducati Lenovo Team secure fifth place in Austria. Francesco Bagnaia finishes seventh.
The Ducati Lenovo Team completed the Grand Prix of Austria, host of the fifteenth event of the season. At the Austrian Ring, Marc Márquez finished the race in fifth position, while Francesco Bagnaia was seventh.
Márquez, after a good start, lost three positions on the opening lap to find himself in fifth place. He then managed to get up to speed a few laps later, moving up to fourth position. On lap ten, however, he ran wide, which made him lose his rhythm momentarily as he dropped down to seventh. Marc ultimately managed to bounce back to a fifth-place finish. Bagnaia moved up one place at the start and showed a good pace in the early stages. After dropping down to eighth, Pecco finished seventh.
As the fifteenth Grand Prix of the season comes to a close, Marc Márquez is second in the championship standings with 294 points. Francesco Bagnaia is ninth, 138 points in arrears of his teammate. The Ducati Lenovo Team is second in the teams’ standings (450 points), while Ducati is also second in the constructors’ championship (432 points).
The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action on Friday, October 2nd, for the opening day of the Grand Prix of Japan at Motegi.
Marc Márquez (93) in Austria. Photo courtesy Ducati.
Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 5th: “We struggled a bit this weekend. We still managed to be quick but unfortunately today in the race, already from lap one, I had some issues under braking, which made everything more complicated and prevented me from being consistent. In the end we were able to secure a fifth-place finish and I’m happy, because there was a moment in the race when I was very close to retiring. This weekend our opponents were quicker than us. We simply need to learn from it and make sure we’re ready for Motegi.”
Francesco Bagnaia (63) in Austria. Photo courtesy Ducati.
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 7th: “Overall it was a good race, especially in light of the results from the previous three Grand Prix. It wasn’t easy, because conditions were different and we couldn’t find the right traction while losing a lot of grip at the same time. After five laps I decided to slow down my pace by half a second in order to arrive at the end in the best way possible. This allowed me to bridge the gap with Aldeguer and Binder in the final stages. Unfortunately, around lap six I started to have a small braking issue, which didn’t help in slowing down correctly. I still managed to react the proper way and finish in a crescendo.”
More, from a press release issued by BK8 Gresini Racing:
Fermin Aldeguer comes back, Alex Marquez crashes at Spielberg.
RACEDAY
ALEX MARQUEZ NC
FERMIN ALDEGUER 8º
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ALEX MARQUEZ 8º (158)
FERMIN ALDEGUER 10º (115)
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
BK8 GRESINI RACING 6º (282)
Alex Marquez on the grid in Austria. Photo courtesy Gresini.
Alex Marquez: “It’s a shame because, despite a difficult weekend, we had managed to find something that was helping me during the race. Unfortunately, I lost some time in a few battles and then made a mistake that compromised our Sunday. Now we have a week to recover, and then we’ll start thinking about Japan.”
Fermin Aldeguer (54) and Marc Marquez (93) in Austria. Photo courtesy Gresini.
Fermin Aldeguer: “We have to be satisfied. We made a good comeback after starting from the fourth row. We were fast, had a good pace, and fought with Marc for the position of best Ducati… As always, our weekends start off so-so with qualifying and then often improve. If we had started further up, who knows, but today we did well.”
More, from a press release issued by VR46 Racing Team:
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team ends Sunday’s race at Spielberg in ninth place with Fabio Di Giannantonio while Franco Morbidelli is eighteenth.
The Austrian GP – which marks the end of the European races before the Overseas – ended with a Top10 for the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team thanks to Fabio Di Giannantonio’s ninth place. Franco Morbidelli crossed the finish line of the Spielberg race in eighteenth place.
Di Giannantonio had a good start from the third row which allowed him to gain a position. Fabio showed a good rhythm and fought with determination to stay in the first ten places. Despite the Spielberg circuit not being particularly well suited to him, the rider from Rome was able to hold his own, crossing the finish line in ninth place. Di Giannantonio is fifth in the World Standing with 230 points.
A difficult start from the seventh row forced Morbidelli to recover some places after losing two positions. Despite the difficulties which led him to the twenty-second place, Franco bounced back crossing the finish line of the Austrian GP in eighteenth place. Morbidelli is now sixteenth in the World Standing with 56 points.
The Austrian GP marks the end of the European leg of the season, and the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team is back on track in two weeks for the Japanese GP, which will kick off the MotoGP Overseas from the 2nd to the 4th of October.
Fabio Di Giannantonio (49) in Austria. Photo courtesy VR46 Team.
Fabio Di Giannantonio: “Overall, it was a tough weekend, but this morning we made a change to improve the feeling of the rear grip and we made some steps forward for the race. This helped us, and in the first laps I was quite competitive, but then I started to struggle. We’re having some difficulties now, but the potential is very high and we are fast. We stay positive because we know we can come back to the top.”
Franco Morbidelli (21) in Austria. Photo courtesy VR46.
Franco Morbidelli: “It was a difficult race and a tough weekend overall. I was expecting more and I wasn’t as fast as I wanted. It’s hard to accept that, but this result will be useful to keep working even more deeply both with the Team and with Ducati to come back to the performances we can have. Anyway, I am lucky beacuse I have a special team, we try to work to come back in front and giving our best even more.”
Pablo Nieto: “Our weekend was harder than usual, but we knew it because we’ve always struggled here at Spielberg. However, I think we’ve been working well throughout all the weekend and we must understand what went wrong to avoid having the same issues. Anyway, in thie European leg there were many positives, we learned a lot and made steps forward. Now the Overseas is just around the corner, I think we can perform well there and we will be able to understand how to improve even more until the end of the season.”
More, from a press release issued by Castrol Honda LCR:
Castrol Honda LCR rider Johann Zarco finished 10th at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Frenchman Zarco struggled at the start and had to fight his way through the field to make progress.
Zarco managed to overtake several rivals and set his own pace while defending his position.
The rider crossed the finish line in 10th place, securing valuable points and gathering important data.
Johann Zarco (5) in Austria. Photo courtesy Honda LCR.
Johann Zarco 10th: “It was a great weekend overall. Today, 10th was the best we could do. The first lap was tricky, so I lost some positions trying to avoid contact. From there, I managed the tyres and tried to find the pace and make some overtakes. We did a good job, and I’m happy!”
More, from a press release issued by Red Bull KTM Tech3:
Eleventh for Bastianini in intense Spielberg duel.
Enea Bastianini managed to gain six places at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday to finish eleventh, while Pol Espargaró recovered from contact with another rider to come home in 16th.
A modest attendance of 46,298 showed up at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday to watch Round 15 of the 2026 MotoGP™ World Championship, with the main event held over 28 laps.
Aiming for a place inside the top eight, Bastianini immediately gained ground in the early exchanges, moving from 17th on the grid to sit twelfth at the close of lap one.
Locked in a fight for ninth with Fabio Di Giannantonio, Johann Zarco, Fabio Quartararo and Raul Fernandez, ‘La Bestia’ didn’t have the confidence with the front end to make his usual Sunday fightback. In the end, he came home eleventh, less than two tenths off the final spot in the top ten.
Espargaró’s race was conditioned by an early moment at Turn 4. The Spaniard had gained a place to sit 13th on lap one, but a move to avoid Fernandez under braking on the third lap pushed him wide. Contact with another rider exiting the corner lost him further time. From there, the 35-year-old rose up from 18th to cross the line in 16th, just 0.2s off the points.
Red Bull KTM Tech3 now has a well-deserved weekend off before the Japanese Grand Prix (2-4 October), which marks the beginning of the flyaway tour.
Enea Bastianini (23) in Austria. Photo courtesy Tech3.
Enea Bastianini: “It was more or less like yesterday. I’m a bit surprised because this morning my feeling was better than the race. Looking at the data, we were comfortable with the soft front tyre but with the medium we suffered. It’s the first time we’ve really worked well with the soft, because usually it doesn’t work so well with our bike. But here, it was good for us. Unfortunately, it was impossible to use it in the race because once you are in the slipstream, it starts to move and becomes very critical. I was expecting a little more from the race, but it didn’t happen for us this time. But it happened for Pedro, who did an incredible race. I wish to say congratulations to him.”
Pol Espargaró (44) in Austria. Photo courtesy Tech3.
Pol Espargaró: “The start was actually good, but then I started fighting with the guys. Going into Turn 4, Raul (Fernandez) moved across under braking and I got caught in the slipstream, which pushed me almost onto the gravel. Then I was hit and the side of my aero was damaged, so I lost a lot of time. I lost around six seconds overall. My pace was actually very good and I had the rhythm to fight around P10 or P11, but I was already six seconds behind. I managed to overtake the Yamahas and catch the Hondas, but it was too late. I’m annoyed because I think we had the pace for a really good race, but everything changed in the blink of an eye. Pedro’s victory was very deserved. I think he could have won much earlier, but he built up his speed and finally got the result.”
Nicolas Goyon, Team Manager: “It was a difficult end to the weekend for both riders here in Austria. Enea finished 11th in the Sprint yesterday, and we know the main race is usually a little quicker, so we were hoping for a strong top-ten finish. Unfortunately, we ended up 11th again. On the other side of the garage, Pol finished 16th and just missed out on scoring points. He actually had a good race and was up in 13th early on, but battles with the other riders dropped him back. It leaves a bitter taste in our mouths, but Pol still had a strong weekend overall. I’d also like to congratulate KTM on a great job and Pedro Acosta on this fantastic victory. There was certainly potential for more from us this weekend, so we can only keep our heads down, continue working and try to improve for the next race in Japan in two weeks.”
More, from a press release issued by Honda HRC Castrol:
Sunday surge in Spielberg for Nakagami to lead Honda HRC Castrol home.
The cobwebs were blown off Takaaki Nakagami as he charged into the points at the Austrian GP, taking 13th and besting Luca Marini who ended the Grand Prix a place behind.
An intense weekend of work for the Honda HRC Castrol team came down to 28-laps on Sunday afternoon in the Austrian hills as both Honda RC213Vs lined up for Round 15 of the 2026 MotoGP World Championship. With both Takaaki Nakagami and Luca Marini having built steadily over the weekend for this moment, their targets were clear.
Takaaki Nakagami’s weekend has followed a clear trajectory throughout: upward. This progress would not halt on Sunday as the #30 put in a commendable ride from 18th to 13th, finishing just a tenth shy of Raul Fernandez. Having spent the vast majority of his time with the new 850cc project this year, the Austrian GP weekend’s performance demonstrates Nakagami’s deep connection with and understanding of the Honda RC213V having spent his entire Premier Class life with the machine. These are Nakagami’s first MotoGP points since he scored a sensational sixth at the French GP in 2025 held in mixed conditions. A perfect foundation for his home wildcard coming up in Motegi.
Sunday would be much more complicated than anticipated for Luca Marini, the Italian tangling with several riders in the first lap and losing important time early on. Keeping calm, he shifted his attentions to hunting down his rivals later in the race when they began to struggle with tyre life. This late charge saw Marini pass fellow Honda rider Diogo Moreira, the Italian trying to catch his teammate for the weekend Nakagami but ultimately unable to close the gap with just a handful of laps to go. Despite continuing his run of point-scoring finishes, Marini’s ambitions remain much higher than 14th place.
The Honda HRC Castrol team will remain at the Red Bull Ring for a one-day private test ahead of the new era of MotoGP starting in 2027. Afterwards, the MotoGP paddock will head for the Japanese GP – Honda HRC’s home race.
Takaaki Nakagami (30) in Austria. Photo courtesy Honda HRC.
Takaaki Nakagami: “A great result today, I am of course really happy with how we have worked as a team this weekend. In the Sprint we got some good information for today and made some changes, especially on the electronics side, to help us manage. 28 laps were really tough with the direction that we went, I had to be super precise, but I knew that in the second half of the race I would have more tyre. I wasn’t expecting to finish ahead of some of the riders I did, so we have to be pleased. Let’s keep raising the level in Motegi with the Test Team. Tomorrow, I go back to my ‘normal’ job – a very busy period now.”
Luca Marini (60) in Austria. Photo courtesy Honda HRC.
Luca Marini:“I had a lot of contact on the first lap, and I lost a lot of time, so I just focused on staying calm and managing everything for the last laps. Unfortunately, most people managed the situation, and we could not make as big of a late comeback as I was hoping for. We’ve worked a lot on the bike all weekend, right up until the race to try and find more grip in the rear. It didn’t work as we expected and it has been a tough Sunday. Congratulations to Taka, he showed his speed and put together a good weekend.”
More, from a press release issued by Pro Honda LCR:
Pro Honda LCR rider Diogo Moreira finished 15th at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Brazilian Moreira was determined to bounce back from yesterday’s setback and give his best in the race.
Although he felt good during the morning warm-up and had a positive feeling on the bike, the rider admitted he did not have the same sensation during the race, struggling with the front end.
Battling until the very end, Moreira crossed the finish line in 15th place, securing one championship point.
Diogo Moreira (11) in Austria. Photo courtesy Honda LCR.
Diogo Moreira 15th:“The good feeling I had this morning wasn’t there during the race, even though we didn’t change anything. We are now trying to understand why I felt this way. In any case, I tried to overtake my rivals, push as hard as I could, and at least finish in the points. We learn from every situation, and we’ll try to come back stronger and do better in the next race.”
More, from a press release issued by Monster Energy Yamaha:
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Engage in Challenging Austrian Grand Prix Race.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins faced a difficult Grand Prix of Austria Race at Spielberg today. Quartararo spent nearly half of the 28-lap contest fighting inside the top 10 before tyre degradation gradually dropped him to 17th at the finish, while Rins wrapped up an overall tricky weekend with a 19th place.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo showed promising pace in the first half of the 28-lap the Grand Prix of Austria Race. He battled hard inside the top 10, while Álex Rins recovered positions after a difficult start. However, neither rider was ultimately able to challenge for points, with Quartararo finishing 17th and Rins crossing the line in 19th place.
Quartararo started from ninth on the grid and moved up to eighth on the opening lap. However, he was judged to have exceeded track limits in Turn 1 and gained an advantage, resulting in an instruction to drop one position. Losing another place in that same lap 2, the Frenchman fell to tenth before overtaking Fabio Di Giannantonio on lap 4 to reclaim ninth. Quartararo defended the position strongly for much of the race but lost out to the Italian on lap 14. As tyre degradation began to take its toll, he gradually slipped down the order and ultimately finished in 17th, 30.140s from the race winner.
Rins lined up in 20th and found himself in 22nd place in the early stages before passing Franco Morbidelli on lap 3. Overtaking Jack Miller four laps later moved him back into 20th position, and he gained another place when he passed Toprak Razgatlıoğlu on lap 9. With a sizeable gap to the riders ahead, the Spaniard focused on maintaining his rhythm. Álex Márquez’ crash on lap 13 promoted him to 18th, though Morbidelli later found a way through on lap 20. Rins continued to push until the chequered flag, taking 19th place, 34.413s from first.
After today’s Race, Quartararo remains 15th in the championship standings with 61 points, while Rins stays 20th with 24 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are 10th in the team classification with 85 points, and Yamaha hold 5th place in the constructor standings with 84 points.
The MotoGP paddock will now enjoy a one-week break before travelling to the Mobility Resort Motegi for the Grand Prix of Japan, taking place from 2-4 October.
Fabio Quartararo (20) in Austria. Photo courtesy Yamaha.
Fabio Quartararo:“I tried to stay with Pecco [Bagnaia] in the first laps, but I knew I was going to use a lot of my tyres and that it would be difficult to be inside the points today. Overall, I was happy with my qualifying this weekend, but in the Sprint – and also today in the Race – we had a lot of wheelspin. I tried my best. I preferred to push to the limit in the first ten laps, and I enjoyed the race until [Fabio] Di Giannantonio overtook me.”
Alex Rins (42) in Austria. Photo courtesy Yamaha.
Alex Rins: “I had two options in the beginning of the race: burn through the tyres and overtake the riders ahead of me and try to go, or wait to mid-race to overtake them and do my own pace. Our pace was not as expected. When I saw that Morbidelli was catching me, I was trying to analyse his riding and ride in a good way, but I couldn’t stay with him. So, overall, it was just a hard weekend for us.”
Massimo Meregalli – Team Director: “Today was a difficult race for us. Fabio had a strong first half and was fighting inside the top 10 despite losing positions early on after the track-limits penalty. He managed the situation well and was able to fend off Di Giannantonio for a long time, but tyre degradation became a significant factor in the second half of the race and prevented him from maintaining that position until the finish. Álex’ Race was similar to the Sprint: he lost some positions at the start. Though he made up places throughout the race, the final results do not fully reflect the effort from neither the riders, nor from the team this weekend. We will use the data gathered here to continue our work and prepare for Motegi – Yamaha’s home GP.”
More, from a press release issued by Prima Pramac Yamaha:
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP closes its most difficult weekend of the season.
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP endured a challenging Austrian Grand Prix, with Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and Jack Miller struggling with the balance and tyre performance of the YZR-M1 throughout the weekend and finishing 20th and 21st respectively.
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP experienced its most difficult weekend of the season so far at the Red Bull Ring, with both riders facing a series of issues from the opening sessions that prevented them from extracting the full potential of the YZR-M1. Despite the continued efforts of the technical team to find solutions and provide both Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and Jack Miller with a more consistent package for the race, the difficulties experienced throughout the weekend remained.
Both riders struggled from the early stages of the Grand Prix, with a significant drop in tyre performance becoming apparent within the opening laps and making it difficult to maintain a competitive pace. As a result, Razgatlıoğlu and Miller were unable to make the progress the team had hoped for and eventually crossed the finish line in 20th and 21st position respectively.
The result brings a difficult weekend to a close, but the information collected throughout the sessions will provide further data for the ongoing development of the YZR-M1 project. The team will now analyse the findings from Austria and continue working towards the next round of the championship, the Japanese Grand Prix at the Twin Ring Motegi in two weeks‘ time, with the objective of turning the lessons learned into further steps forward.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu (07) in Austria. Photo courtesy Pramac Yamaha.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu: “I’m very frustrated because I still don‘t understand what happened today. Normally, with a new tyre, the first laps are when you have the most grip and can really push, but from the beginning I had almost no rear grip. I was already struggling in the first few laps, and every time I opened the throttle I was just spinning. It was very difficult to understand how I could manage the bike like that. Usually, if the tyre starts to drop after several laps, you can understand what is happening and adapt your riding. Today, I had the problem from the beginning, so I lost a lot of time straight away and could never find a good rhythm. I was basically just trying to finish the race because I was not enjoying riding the bike at all. I think it is not just one thing. We are missing a little bit of everything at the moment – physical grip, power delivery and electronics – and when you put all those small problems together, it becomes a much bigger issue. We need to understand exactly what happened because we cannot accept having this level of tyre performance from the first laps. It was a very difficult day, but now we need to analyse everything and understand how to avoid this situation again.”
Jack Miller (43) and Franco Morbidelli (21) in Austria. Photo courtesy Pramac Yamaha.
Jack Miller: “It’s honestly a pretty frustrating one, and I‘m disappointed with how the race went. I was able to hang in there reasonably well in the first part of the race, but from around lap 13 or 14 the tyre performance really started to drop and I struggled a lot with the rear. Once that happened, there was not much I could do. I was trying to pick the bike up and manage the acceleration, but I was still getting a lot of spin and losing time. It became more about trying to get the bike to the finish than fighting for the positions we wanted. It’s particularly frustrating because we have experienced something similar earlier in the season, so we need to understand why this is happening and what we can do differently. There are things we need to look at from this weekend, and we‘ll go through the data carefully and try to make sure we learn from it.”
Gino Borsoi:“It is clear that this has been the most difficult weekend of the season for us. We have struggled quite a lot from the first day, and unfortunately we were not able to make the improvements we were looking for. The combination of the problems we faced and the characteristics of this track exposed some of the difficulties we are still working through with this new project. We knew that engine performance would be one of our limitations here, but during the weekend we also understood that there are other areas we need to work on. Both Jack and Toprak suffered from a significant drop in tyre performance during the race, which made it very difficult to maintain a competitive pace. We have to take this weekend as an opportunity to learn. Now it is important to analyse the data carefully, understand exactly what we need to improve and find solutions for the next races. If we can make these steps forward, they can give us a significant improvement with this project. We are not going to get discouraged; we will learn from the difficulties we faced here and come back stronger.”
More, from a press release issued by BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha:
Izan Guevara Dominates Spielberg to Secure Crucial Austrian Grand Prix Victory.
BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2’s Izan Guevara delivered a commanding performance at the Grand Prix of Austria, securing his second victory of the 2026 season and the third Moto2 win of his career. Acting as the team’s sole representative after Alberto Ferrández was ruled out with a broken right collarbone, Guevara did so with flying colours, reducing the gap to the championship leader with a brilliant ride at Spielberg.
The BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2 team enjoyed a memorable Sunday at Spielberg as Izan Guevara claimed a vital victory in the Grand Prix of Austria. Coming into the weekend 47.5 points adrift of the championship leader, the Spaniard knew the importance of maximising every opportunity in the title fight and converted his strong pace throughout the weekend into an outstanding win.
Guevara had a great launch from fifth on the grid and immediately joined the battle at the front of the field. The Spaniard quickly worked his way into second place before making a decisive move on Iván Ortolá at the start of lap 2 to take the lead. Once in front, Guevara steadily pulled clear of his rivals and established a comfortable advantage. A big moment at Turn 9 on lap 17 briefly threatened to derail his charge, but the 2022 Moto3 World Champion responded with a spectacular save. Regaining his rhythm almost immediately, he reeled off a series of consistent mid 1’33s laps to keep his pursuers at bay and secure a magnificent victory by 1.728s. The triumph marks Guevara’s second win of the season and the third Moto2 victory of his career.
Guevara remains second in the championship standings with 210 points and has cut the deficit to the series leader to 35.5 points. Ferrández sits in 21st overall with 17.5 points, while the BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2 team holds third place in the team standings with 227.5 points.
Alberto Ferrández was unable to take part in the race after being declared unfit following a diagnosis of a broken right collarbone sustained on Saturday. After arriving in the hospital in Spain this morning he left a message to the team saying he was cheering on his teammate. Ferrández has since undergone surgery. He is doing well and is now focused on the next stage of his rehabilitation. The team wish him a speedy recovery and hope to have him back in the box soon.
The Moto2 paddock will now enjoy a one-week break before travelling to the Mobility Resort Motegi for the Grand Prix of Japan, taking place from 2-4 October.
Izan Guevara (28) in Austria. Photo courtesy BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha.
Izan Guevara:“I started the race trying to get to the front and push with a strong pace. I had spoken with the team before the race, and the target was to stay around the 1’32s–1’33s range throughout the race, which I felt very comfortable doing. I had a big moment at one point, but fortunately I managed to save it and stay focused on the race.
“We also decided to use the development front tyre. I had a really good feeling with it throughout the weekend, and compared with the standard tyre, it gave me more stability and good performance over the distance. That was important because it allowed me to reach the final laps with a tyre that was still working well and ready to fight.
“There are still a lot of races to go, so now it’s time to enjoy this moment and keep recovering points in the championship. I really like the next circuits as well, so the goal is to continue in the same way, enjoy the races, and keep fighting.”
Alex De Angelis – Team Manager: “First of all, I want to send a big hug to Alberto. We know that his surgery to repair the collarbone fracture went well, which is great news, and on behalf of myself and the whole team I want to wish him a very quick and complete recovery. We are all looking forward to having him back with us soon.
“As for Izan, today he did something truly exceptional. Once again, he managed to surprise us, and I think this is one of his greatest strengths. We know he is fast and we believe in him, but every time he manages to do something that even we didn’t expect. We knew we had a good package, that he likes this track, and that the heavy braking areas could suit him, but to see him win with such a gap to the others was something we could never have predicted.
“The pace he had was incredible, and he brought home some extremely valuable points for the championship. So, congratulations to the technicians, to Izan, and to everyone in the team. Alberto’s team were also on the grid today supporting Izan’s crew, which once again shows that we really are one big family.
“A big thank you to Pramac and Yamaha, and hopefully we can continue like this. Finally, I want to wish Izan a lot of fun tomorrow when he gets the opportunity to ride the MotoGP bike.”
The 2026 Monster Energy SMX World Championship made its anticipated return to Southern California for Playoff 2 from Dignity Health Sports Park. Photo courtesy SMX.
LOS ANGELES – The penultimate race of the 2026 Monster Energy SMX World Championship saw the series return to Southern California for Playoff 2 inside Dignity Health Sports Park, where abundant sunshine provided drastically different track conditions from last weekend’s rain-drenched postseason opener. Double points were on the line, providing an opportunity for a shakeup in the Playoff standings. What followed was a truly memorable afternoon and evening of racing, from which Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado prevailed with his first postseason victory following a captivating battle in the 450SMX Class, adding to his points lead. In the 250SMX Class, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Julien Beaumer made it a sweep for the Austrian brand with a decisive win.
Jorge Prado Prevails with Memorable Playoff 2 Victory After Captivating Battle in Los Angeles
The premier class started its first 20 Minutes + 1 Lap moto with Prado out front for the holeshot ahead of the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing pair of Cooper Webb and Haiden Deegan, while Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki’s Ken Roczen slotted into fourth. Prado inched away to assert his hold of the position while the trio behind him swapped spots, with Roczen able to get by both Yamaha riders to take control of second as Deegan slotted into third. Behind them, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Eli Tomac moved into fourth.
Prado and Roczen proceeded to trade fast laps through the first half of the moto, with the lead hovering as just over a second. Then, just before halfway, Roczen made his move with an aggressive and decisive pass on the Spaniard to seize control of the lead. Once out front, the Supercross Champion quickly opened an advantage of more than two seconds. The lead stabilized until inside the final five minutes when Prado was able to close back in on the German native as they navigated lapped riders. Deegan put in a charge as well to close in from third.
The lead duo was separated by less than a second to begin the final lap. The international champions duked it out, to the thrill of the crowd, but Roczen held off Prado to take the moto win by 1.3 seconds. Deegan finished in a close third, with Pro Motocross Champion and Honda HRC Progressive rider Hunter Lawrence fourth. Webb rounded out the top five.
The final moto saw Lawrence emerge with the holeshot but he was soon passed by Prado. Moments later, a bobble by the Spaniard allowed the Australian to reclaim the lead. Behind them, Webb slotted into third, while Roczen charged up to fourth ahead of Deegan. Lawrence was able to move out to a lead of more than a second over Prado, as Roczen made the move on Webb for third. As the opening five minutes drew to a close, Lawrence’s lead grew to more than three seconds. Prado fended off heavy pressure from Roczen to maintain his hold of second, while both Webb and Deegan remained within striking distance of the top three.
At the halfway point of the moto Prado went down in the sand. As they made their way around the downed KTM, Deegan made the pass on Roczen for second. Prado remounted in fourth and went back on the attack, catching Roczen and making the pass for third. Each pass during this thrilling sequence carried major implications in the championship standings, as a four-way tie for first in the overall classification was in play.
With three minutes left on the race clock an intense battle for second between Deegan and Prado took shape until Deegan went down in the sand. As Prado carried on in second, Deegan and Roczen got tangled up as Deegan reentered the race. That allowed Webb to slip past both riders, only for Deegan to make contact during a pass by his teammate that put Webb on the ground. Deegan continued in third, with Roczen fourth, while Webb lost touch in fifth.
Lawrence enjoyed a dominant, trouble-free moto and stormed to the moto win by 14.9 seconds. Prado secured a resilient second-place finish, with Deegan third and Roczen fourth.
Prado’s consistent 2-2 effort put him atop the overall classification by a single point over Lawrence (4-1) and Roczen (1-4), who finished tied for second. Lawrence’s second moto win gave him the tiebreaker for the runner-up spot, leaving Roczen third. Deegan finished just off the overall podium in fourth despite two moto podiums (3-3).
Prado added to his lead in the SMX World Championship standings, as double points moved him 16 points ahead of both Deegan and Lawrence, who sit tied for second. Roczen sits 18 points out of the lead in fourth, while Webb, who finished fifth (5-5), is 20 points back. Triple points will be up for grabs at the Final, setting the stage for an exciting conclusion to the postseason.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado broke through for his first postseason victory and his first win inside a stadium to add to his points lead. Photo courtesy SMX.
Jorge Prado (2-2) – 1st Place – 450SMX Class:
“We just keep improving. We got out of the gate good and made a pass [for the lead], but then I almost went down. I knew this race was going to be hard. I tried to risk it in the sand and ended up on the ground. Sometimes you have to take those risks. I put in a charge and tried to wait for my chance, then Haiden [Deegan] went down and then I rode safe to get to the finish.”
After a challenging outing in Playoff 1, Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence bounced back with a runner-up finish headlined by a moto win. Photo courtesy SMX.
Hunter Lawrence (4-1) – 2nd Place – 450SMX Class:
“The start was everything. The track was pretty simple and didn’t offer much for separation. I’m happy to finish that one off with a good race win. We’ll see everyone in Missouri.”
Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki’s Ken Roczen took his first moto win of the postseason and rode consistently to place third overall. Photo courtesy SMX.
Ken Roczen (1-4) – 3rd Place – 450SMX Class:
“I’m very happy with my effort in the first moto, but I don’t remember the last time I raced two motos [like this]. You can’t buy that kind of intensity. I’ll absorb it and it’ll benefit me for next weekend. Happy to get this one out of the way and looking forward to improving.”
450SMX Class Podium (left to right): Hunter Lawrence, Jorge Prado, and Ken Roczen. Photo courtesy SMX.
Julien Beaumer Captures 250SMX Class Win for KTM Sweep
The opening 20 Minute + 1 Lap 250SMX Class moto began with Beaumer out front ahead of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Ryder DiFrancesco. A collision between several riders bunched the field and allowed the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki duo of Drew Adams and Levi Kitchen to move into third and fourth, respectively. Beaumer quickly established his hold of the lead while DiFrancesco settled into second. Further back, Kitchen, the points leader, and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cole Davies closed in on Adams for third. Davies then made the move around both Kawasaki riders to take control of the position.
The top three settled in through the middle of the moto, with Adams staying within striking distance from fourth. Kitchen, meanwhile, went down while running fifth and dropped to 11th. Back up front, Davies began to pressure DiFrancesco for second, which pushed them closer to Beaumer. The top three were separated by less than 1.5 seconds with just over five minutes to go. As he looked to make the pass on DiFrancesco, Davies went down in the sand, which dropped him to fourth behind Adams.
Beaumer never put a wheel wrong and completed the wire-to-wire performance for his first moto win in postseason competition. DiFrancesco followed 5.6 seconds behind in second, with Adams in third. Davies finished fourth, followed by his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Kayden Minear in fifth. Kitchen recovered to finish seventh.
The second and deciding moto saw Beaumer lead the field with the holeshot once again, with DiFrancesco and Davies in tow. As Beaumer sprinted out to a lead of more than a second, Davies made the pass on DiFrancesco, while Kitchen moved his way into fourth. As he looked to give chase to Beaumer, Davies crashed hard out of second, which caused DiFrancesco to hit his motorcycle and go down. DiFrancesco dropped outside the top 10 before continuing, while Davies eventually remounted and retired from the race.
Amidst the chaos, Beaumer maintained his hold of the lead ahead of a hard-charging Kitchen, who moved up to second, while Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Landen Gordon slotted into third. Kitchen continued to chip away at Beaumer’s lead and with just under 13 minutes to go on the race clock he made the pass. Once out front, Kitchen quickly opened an advantage of more than three seconds. Several laps later, Honda HRC Progressive’s Jo Shimoda, the reigning SMX World Champion, made the pass on Gordon for third. The Japanese rider didn’t stop there. He methodically closed in on Beaumer and made the move for second with just over a minute to go. Further back, DiFrancesco’s recovery from his early misfortune saw him make a valiant charge into the top five, which loomed large in the overall classification.
Kitchen was never challenged the rest of the way and took his first postseason moto win by 5.7 seconds over Shimoda, with Beaumer in third.
By virtue of his consistent 1-3 performance Beaumer easily secured his first ever Playoff triumph, continuing an incredible comeback story from a broken back suffered one year ago. DiFrancesco’s late-race pass for fifth moved him from fourth to second overall (2-5), for a pass worth eight points in the championship standings. Kitchen bounced back from a challenging first moto to round out the overall podium (7-1).
Kitchen maintained his possession of the points lead and will carry a three-point lead over DiFrancesco into the SMX World Championship Final. Beaumer gained seven positions in the standings with the win to move into third, 16 points out of the lead. The three riders all remain within the thick of the title fight with triple points on the line next weekend.
After a dominant win in Moto 1, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Julien Beaumer rode to another podium finish in Moto 2 to secure the overall victory. Photo courtesy SMX.
Julien Beaumer (1-3) – 1st Place – 250SMX Class:
“I saw Davies was down and kind of knew where I was at. I wasn’t really myself [in Moto 2], but I also know Levi [Kitchen] and Jo [Shimoda] weren’t a factor for the win, so I didn’t risk it. It’s good to get a win and get things going back in the right direction.”
A late-race pass by Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Ryder DiFrancesco in Moto 2 moved him from off the podium into the runner-up spot. Photo courtesy SMX.
Ryder DiFrancesco (2-5) – 2nd Place – 250SMX Class:
“My riding was really good today. I was unlucky when Davies went down. I tried to avoid hitting him but hit the bike and went down. I knew I had to fight to get back into this championship. I executed the way I wanted to, but it went south, but we’ve got a shot in Missouri and that’s what matters.”
Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen overcame a slow start in the first moto to take a convincing second moto win and retain the points lead. Photo courtesy SMX.
Levi Kitchen (7-1) – 3rd Place – 250SMX Class:
“I don’t know who was riding in the first moto, but it wasn’t me [laughs]. I ended up with a flat tire after the sight lap [for Moto 2] and luckily my mechanic caught it. He saved me. Still in the points lead, which is great, so we’ll carry that momentum into the final race.”
250SMX Class Podium (left to right): Ryder DiFrancesco, Julien Beaumer, and Levi Kitchen. Photo courtesy SMX.
The championship-deciding 8 Minute + 1 Lap SMX Next World All-Stars Main Event got underway with KTM Orange Brigade’s Wyatt Thurman out front for the holeshot ahead of ClubMX Yamaha’s Ryder Malinoski and Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green’s Kade Johnson, the points leader. Thurman and Malinoski battled early for the lead until Thurman went down, which put the Yamaha rider out front ahead of Johnson and KTM Orange Brigade’s Luke Fauser. It didn’t take long for Malinoski and Johnson to sprint away from the field to make it a two-rider battle for the win. Behind them, Fauser lost his hold of third to Altus Motorsports bLUcRU Yamaha’s Kane Bollasina.
Malinoski strengthened his hold of the lead in the closing stages of the race and carried on to take the win by 3.9 seconds over Johnson, with Bollasina in third.
With his runner-up effort, Johnson was crowned the 2026 SMX Next World All-Stars Champion.
Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green’s Kade Johnson followed up last week’s win with a runner-up finish to capture the SMX Next World All-Stars Championship. Photo courtesy SMX.
Kade Johnson – SMX Next World All-Stars Champion:
“I qualified fastest in practice and timed qualifying, so I really wanted to make a statement today. This is my fifth straight SMX Next podium. I really wanted the win, but Ryder [Malinoski] was riding awesome. I didn’t want to risk throwing away the championship, so I’m satisfied with that. I’m just so happy and so proud of myself to accomplish this. I’m ready for someone to give me an opportunity [at the professional level].”
The Monster Energy SMX World Championship postseason will come to a dramatic and exciting conclusion next Saturday, September 26, with the Final from Thunder Ridge Nature Arena in Ridgedale, Missouri. Live comprehensive broadcast coverage will be available exclusively on Peacock, beginning at 1 p.m. ET with Race Day Live, followed by a Pre-Race Show at 6:30 p.m. ET and Gate Drop at 7 p.m. ET.
For information about the Monster Energy SMX World Championship, please visit www.SuperMotocross.com and be sure to follow all of the new SMX social media channels for exclusive content and additional information on the latest news:
MotoGP race start in Austria. Photo courtesy MotoGP.
Pedro Acosta won the MotoGP World Championship race Sunday at Red Bull Ring – Spielberg, in Austria. Riding his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing RC16 on Michelin control tires, the Spaniard won the 28-lap race by 1.017 seconds. It was Acosta’s first MotoGP victory.
Jorge Martin was the runner-up on his Aprilia Racing RS-GP26 and his teammate, Marco Bezzecchi placed third.
Ai Ogura crossed the finish line fourth on his SuperFile Trackhouse Aprilia RS-GP26.
Marc Marquez took fifth on his Lenovo Ducati Desmosedici GP26.
Jorge Martin leads the championship with 306 points, 12 ahead of Marc Marquez who has 294 points. Marco Bezzecchi is third with 264 points.
Bouncing back: flawless Acosta fends off Aprilia charge to claim dream maiden win. He’s done it! In Red Bull and KTM’s backyard, the #37 clinches that long-awaited MotoGP Sunday victory as Martin and Bezzecchi earn Austrian GP podiums.
Officially the fastest mullet in the business. Nearly three years of trying. Now, those 25 points have been delivered. After his Tissot Sprint blunder on Saturday, boy did Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) banish those demons and respond on Sunday with a flawless ride to a maiden MotoGP victory. And what a perfect place to do it at too. KTM’s home. Red Bull’s home. The perfect venue. A beauty of a farewell gift before a new chapter for both rider and factory awaits in 2027.
Having notched up 15 podiums without standing on the top step in MotoGP, Acosta battled his way past, and then fended off World Championship leader Jorge Martin, who clinched an important second-place finish at the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Austria to extend his lead in the title race to 12 points after Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) was P5 at the flag. It was Martin’s Aprilia Racing teammate, Marco Bezzecchi, who bagged the final spot on the podium, with just 0.192s separating the Italian from the #89 over the line following a tense and riveting Grand Prix.
LIGHTS OUT: APRILIA DREAMLAND
As the lights went out, it was a dream getaway for Aprilia as Martin, Bezzecchi, and Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) occupied P1 to P3, in that order, with Marc Marquez losing three positions at the end of the opening lap as Acosta pounced on his future teammate to grab P4 after a slightly sluggish start.
Bezzecchi then fancied a hold of the race lead baton at the start of Lap 2. A classic Turn 1 move was signed, sealed, and delivered to his teammate Martin at Turn 1, before the polesitter snapped straight back at Turn 3. Meanwhile, Acosta was shifting. Turn 6 saw the KTM star carve past Ogura for third, and then the #37 quickly began to climb all over the tailpipes of Bezzecchi’s RS-GP.
ACOSTA BATTLES HIS WAY TO THE FRONT, MM93 SLIPS BACK
He wasn’t behind for long though. On Lap 4, at Turn 2b – the scene of Acosta’s Sprint error 23 hours prior – Acosta struck to pocket P2, with Bezzecchi then slipping further into the clutches of fourth-place Ogura after the Italian ran wide at the final corner at the end of Lap 4.
By the end of Lap 7, Martin and Acosta were 1.5s up the road from Bezzecchi, who in turn sat half a second ahead of Ogura, who was beginning to be put under pressure from our reigning World Champion.
Then, on Lap 9, a change for the lead. Acosta, on the exit of Turn 1, outdrove Martin on the run down into Turn 2a to rise to the front of the field for the first time. Further back, attention turned to Marc Marquez because shortly after passing Ogura for P4, the #93 was sideways and wide into Turn 1. That cost Marc Marquez P4, and then P5, with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) picking the seven-time MotoGP World Champion off.
Another poor Turn 1 then saw Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) jump ahead of the #93, and suddenly, it was P7 for Marc Marquez. Was there an issue? Or was it a case of simply making a couple of small mistakes?
ACOSTA VS APRILIA FOR THE WIN
As we passed the halfway stage of the Grand Prix, or, to be more precise, clocking onto Lap 16 of 28, Acosta led Martin by 0.7s, with Bezzecchi hovering around a second off Martin in P3. Ogura wasn’t out of the podium equation in fourth, 1.2s away from Bezzecchi, as Aldeguer and Marc Marquez sat in P5 and P6 – 3.4s behind Ogura.
It was on Lap 20 when Marc Marquez was able to get back past Aldeguer for P5. The gap to Ogura was now up to 3.8s though, so was P5 the best it was going to get for Ducati’s title charger?
Meanwhile, things were beginning to close up at the front. Acosta dropped into the 1:31s on Lap 21 to see his lead drop to 0.7s from over a second, with all three of the chasing Aprilias still in the high 1:30s. The fastest of the quartet? Ogura.
Acosta did respond on the next lap. A 1:30.693 was faster than the factory-painted Aprilia’s of Martin and Bezzecchi, with Ogura still ever so slightly quicker than the three ahead of him.
Acosta gathered his pace up nicely over the next couple of laps though. The lead was back up to just north of a second, with Martin instead coming under increasing pressure from teammate Bezzecchi.
Two to go. Acosta’s advantage was 1.4s, and there was a dream debut MotoGP victory with Red Bull KTM, at the Red Bull Ring, well in sight.
LAST LAP. The gap? 1.2s. And the gap between Martin and Bezzecchi? 0.2s. Acosta just needed to bring his RC16 home with a clean lap. And he did. Finally, Acosta is a MotoGP Sunday winner. It was always going to come at some point for the superstar, and before his and KTM’s journey comes to an end, it was only right that they enjoyed at least one win together.
It could be a huge day for Aprilia as they hunt for MotoGP title glory, with both Martin and Bezzecchi picking up double podiums in Austria before the unpredictable flyaway stretch begins. Martin now leads Marquez by 12 points, with Bezzecchi 42 off the top of the table ahead of Japan.
YOUR AUSTRIAN GP POINT SCORERS
Speaking of Japan, what a comeback it was for Ogura. 0.9s away from the rostrum in P4 was a great way to return before his home Grand Prix arrives in less than two weeks.
Marc Marquez’s P5 finish, and 7.3s margin from victory, was a little unexpected from the Sprint silver medallist, as the #93 relinquishes the championship lead heading to the venue he clinched the 2025 title at a year ago.
Binder backed up Acosta’s victory by claiming his best result of the season in P6, giving both sides of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing box a lot to shout about, with Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) the second Ducati rider home in P7.
The third Ducati rider in the standings, having been handed a post-race three-second penalty for causing contact, was Aldeguer in P8, while Fabio Di Giannantonio’s (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) quiet weekend ends with a Sunday P9. Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) rounded out the Austrian GP top 10, as Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), Joan Mir’s stand-in Takaaki Nakagami (Honda HRC Castrol), Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol), and Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) collect the final points on offer.
That’s all she wrote from the Red Bull Ring. And what a script it was. Acosta heads to Japan as a MotoGP winner, with the championship fight well and truly on. Motegi, we’re coming for you.
Moto2 race start in Austria. Photo courtesy Pirelli.
Izan Guevara won the FIM Moto2 World Championship race Sunday at Red Bull Ring – Spielberg, in Austria. Riding his BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Boscoscuro on Pirelli control tires, the Spaniard won the 23-lap race by 1.728 seconds.
Polesitter Filip Salac was the runner-up on his OnlyFans American Racing Team Kalex.
David Alonso was third on his CFMOTO Inde Team Kalex.
Championship point leader Manuel Gonzalez finished fourth on his LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex.
Ivan Ortola took fifth on his QJMOTOR – Campolor – MSI Kalex.
American Joe Roberts finished Sunday’s race 15th on his OnlyFans American Racing Team Kalex.
Manuel Gonzalez leads the championship with 245.5 points, 35.5 ahead of Izan Guevara who has 210 points. Ivan Ortola is third with 168.5 points.
Guevara strikes back to clinch crucial Red Bull Ring victory. The #28 reduced the gap to World Championship leader Gonzalez to under 40 points as Salač and Alonso earn Austrian GP podiums.
The Moto2 title race momentum pendulum keeps swinging one way and then the other in 2026 as we witness Izan Guevara (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) roll out a Red Bull Ring masterclass to clinch a crucial second win of the season. It’s a 25-point haul that sees the #28 chop World Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez’s (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) points lead back down to 35.5 points after the latter crosses the line in P4 behind second-place Filip Salač (OnlyFans American Racing Team) and third-place David Alonso (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team).
Starting from the middle of the front row, Gonzalez nailed the start and grabbed the holeshot into Turn 1, as Ivan Ortola (QJMOTOR – Campolor – MSI) and polesitter Salač went elbow to elbow through the opening corner and into Turn 2. Hanging it on the outside into Turn 2a, Salač then had the inside line into Turn 2b and pounced up the inside of Gonzalez to take the lead, and this halted Gonzalez’s momentum and speed, seeing the title race leader get punted back down to the lower ends of the top 10.
More big moves were coming though. Turn 9 saw both Ortola and the fast-starting Guevara carve their way past Salač to demote the Czech rider to P3. And as the top three started to stretch their legs at the front, Gonzalez tried to wrestle his way past fourth-place Alonso, which didn’t work, as Gonzalez fell to 2.4s off the lead by Lap 6 of 23.
On Lap 11, Guevara’s lead was up to 1.8s over the Ortola vs Salač battle; Alonso was a further second behind the podium positions, Gonzalez was just over a second adrift of the Colombian, as a change for P2 then came. Salač passed Ortola into Turn 4, so could the Czech rider begin reeling in Guevara?
Ortola slipped behind Alonso on Lap 15 when the Spaniard had a moment coming through Turn 2b as the battle for the podium began to bubble up nicely, with Gonzalez still a looming threat to the top three in P5. And sure enough, on Lap 17, at Turn 4, Gonzalez passed Ortola for P4. Meanwhile, up front, Guevara’s endured a real scare on his front end as it folded at Turn 9. What a save. It cost the race leader a second, whose lead came down to 2.2s on Lap 19.
Guevara steadied the ship though. The gap was still hovering above two seconds with three laps to go, as Salač kept Alonso 0.9s in arrears. Gonzalez sat 1.1s behind a podium spot in P4, while Ortola hadn’t let the championship leader get away – 0.3s split the Spaniards.
Apart from that big save, it was a flawless Sunday stride to victory for Guevara. And a huge one in his quest for 2026 Moto2 title glory too. Salač and Alonso completed the podium, with Gonzalez claiming 13 points in P4 to see his championship lead cut back down to 35.5 points ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.
Ortola couldn’t bite back at Gonzalez in the end; the rider third in the standings finished P5. Alonso Lopez (ITALJET Gresini Moto2), Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team), Barry Baltus (REDS Fantic Racing), Deniz Öncü (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and rookie Luca Lunetta (BETA Tools SpeedRS Team) were your P6 to P10 finishes at the Red Bull Ring, as Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) was forced to retire after encountering issues in the Grand Prix. Is that now the MotoGP-bound Australian’s title hopes over?
This compelling Moto2 title race takes another turn. Guevara responds, and heading to Japan, less than 40 points is the gap between Gonzalez and the Austrian GP winner. Next? A trip to Japan.
Archie Mcdonald (69), Eric Granado (51), Kyle Wyman (33), Oscar Gutierrez (99), Max Toth (2) and James Rispoli (43) in Austria. Photo courtesy BWC.
Eric Granado won the FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup race 2 Sunday morning at Red Bull Ring – Spielberg, in Austria. Riding his Joe Rascal Racing Harley-Davidson on Dunlop control tires, the Brazilian rider won the 9-lap race by 1.966 seconds.
Oscar Gutierrez was the runner-up on his Niti Racing Harley-Davidson.
American Kyle Wyman got third on his WEGNER X KWR Harley-Davidson and James Rispoli finished the race fourth on his Joe Rascal Racing Harley-Davidson.
Riding for Saddlemen Racing Harley-Davidson, American teammates Max Toth, Jake Lewis and Travis Wyman crossed the finish line 5th, 7th, and 11th respectively.
Max Flinders got 10th on his ParkinGO TEAM Harley-Davidson.
Archie Mcdonald leads the championship with 202 points, 9 ahead of Oscar Gutierrez who has 193 points. Eric Granado is third with 192 points.
More, from a press release issued by Bagger World Cup:
Harley-Davidson celebrates Archie McDonald as the first FIM Bagger World Cup Champion.
Archie McDonald secures the inaugural title at the Red Bull Ring, with Oscar Gutiérrez and Eric Granado completing the championship podium after a season of close competition.
SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA (September 20, 2026) – Archie McDonald (Joe Rascal Racing) has made history as the first-ever FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup Champion, bringing the inaugural season to a close after a dramatic final race at the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.
The title fight went down to the final race after Oscar Gutiérrez (Niti Racing) claimed an authoritative Race 1 victory on Saturday ahead of McDonald and James Rispoli (Joe Rascal Racing). With championship rivals Eric Granado (Joe Rascal Racing) and Andrea Iannone (Niti Racing) both retiring, McDonald rode a smart and controlled race to finish second and take a 21-point advantage over Gutiérrez into Sunday’s finale.
Kyle Wyman (33) and James Rispoli (43) during the BWC race 2 in Austria. Photo courtesy BWC.
In Race 2, Granado made a strong start, took the lead and never looked back, controlling the race from the front to claim his second victory of the season. Gutiérrez finished second, with Kyle Wyman (Wegner Automotive x KWR) completing the podium in third. McDonald crossed the line in eighth place, scoring the points he needed to secure the inaugural championship.
The result crowned McDonald as the inaugural Champion with 202 points, just nine ahead of Gutiérrez with 193 points, while Granado completed the championship podium only one point further back with 192 points.
Archie McDonald becomes the 2026 Bagger World Cup Champion in Austria. Photo courtesy BWC.
2026 FIM HARLEY-DAVIDSON BAGGER WORLD CUP CHAMPION
ARCHIE MCDONALD – JOE RASCAL RACING – 202 POINTS
Young, ambitious and spectacular to watch, McDonald combined outright speed with remarkable consistency throughout a demanding inaugural season. The Australian claimed two race victories and one pole position, while establishing himself as a regular presence at the front.
His campaign was not without setbacks, including a significant crash at Assen, but he repeatedly responded with the resilience and determination of a title contender. As the season progressed, his approach became increasingly mature, balancing his natural aggression with intelligent championship management – an approach he demonstrated perfectly in Austria, managing his race to finish second in Race 1 before bringing the motorcycle home safely in eighth in Race 2 to secure the inaugural title.
Archie McDonald – Joe Rascal Racing: “This has been such an emotional season. After winning the opening race and, weeks later, seeing my brother pass away, it’s nothing I ever thought I’d experience. To say goodbye to him, say goodbye to my family, and go overseas to keep training and keep following this dream… it’s such a relief now that it’s paid off. I’m so sorry to my family and my friends that I left behind in Australia to focus on this goal. Now I’m going to celebrate with them and continue grieving, as I’ve put it in a hole in the back of my mind this whole time. I dedicate this completely to Toby. I love you and I miss you so much, and I keep my arms wide open to anyone who needs it. What my family has gone through is not a normal experience, but to have him on the back of my bike with me in those last few laps was the best extra weight I could have asked for in any race. I had the points lead from yesterday and, like I said, this is a dream come true. This is a goal come true. This is years and years of setbacks and blood, sweat and tears put into something. I can’t thank everyone behind the scenes enough – from my manager to my coach, to my dad, my family, my friends, the whole Bagger World Cup, and Joe Rascal Racing. I can’t thank them enough. It’s an absolute relief and a goal that we’ve achieved. And, like I said to my brother Toby: I love you and I miss you.”
Oscar Gutiérrez (99) in Austria. Photo courtesy BWC.
SECOND – OSCAR GUTIÉRREZ – NITI RACING – 193 POINTS
Raw speed was never in question for Gutiérrez, who established himself as one of the most exciting riders in the field and backed that pace up with four race victories – more than any other rider – and one pole position. His spectacular overtaking moves and aggressive corner entries became a hallmark of his season. While a handful of costly crashes prevented him from converting all of that speed into the points his pace suggested were possible, his commanding Race 1 victory in Austria showed another side of his racing, combining outright pace with composure under pressure. A second-place finish in Race 2 completed a 45-point weekend and took his championship challenge all the way to the final race, ultimately securing second overall by a single point.
Eric Granado (51) in Austria. Photo courtesy BWC.
THIRD – ERIC GRANADO – JOE RASCAL RACING – 192 POINTS
Granado combined remarkable consistency with exceptional outright speed, claiming two race victories and a championship-leading four pole positions during the inaugural season. The Brazilian’s clean, precise and elegant riding style proved perfectly suited to the Harley-Davidson Road Glide, making him a constant presence at the front and allowing him to collect valuable points across a wide variety of circuits and conditions. After his Race 1 retirement ended his title challenge, Granado responded in emphatic fashion on Sunday, taking the lead early and controlling Race 2 from the front to claim the final victory of the season and finish third in the championship, just one point behind Gutiérrez and ten behind McDonald.
FINAL 2026 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Archie McDonald (AUS) – 202 points
Oscar Gutiérrez (SPA) – 193 points
Eric Granado (BRA) – 192 points
Andrea Iannone (ITA) – 157 points
Jake Lewis (USA) – 117 points
Filippo Rovelli (ITA) – 99 points
Travis Wyman (USA) – 83 points
Jordi Torres (SPA) – 77 points
Maxwell Toth (USA) – 62 points
Dimas Ekky Pratama (INA) – 60 points
Cory West (USA) – 56 points
Bradley Smith (GBR) – 36 points
Kyle Wyman (USA) – 29 points
James Rispoli (USA) – 29 points
Cody Wyman (USA) – 26 points
Max Flinders (USA) – 14 points
Jeffrey Schuessler – Director of Global Racing Programs, Harley-Davidson. Photo courtesy BWC.
Jeffrey Schuessler – Director of Global Racing Programs, Harley-Davidson: “We’re incredibly proud to celebrate Archie McDonald as the first FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup Champion. Congratulations to him and the entire Joe Rascal Racing team on an incredible achievement. And just as importantly, thank you to every rider, team, partner and person who believed in this program and helped us bring it to life. One year ago, we were here in Austria announcing this championship. We didn’t have teams, riders or even the race motorcycles yet. We had an idea, a plan and a lot of ambition. Today, we have a global racing series competing alongside MotoGP, with teams and riders from around the world. It’s pretty incredible to see how far we’ve come. This first season was about building the foundation and proving what this series could be, and the racing delivered beyond our expectations: five different race winners, every team on the podium and four riders arriving at the final round still fighting for the title. At the same time, seeing Harley- Davidson shirts throughout the MotoGP paddock and grandstands, and watching two very different motorcycle communities come together around the racing, has been incredibly rewarding. This is only the beginning. Our ambition is to continue growing the FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup with more teams, more riders, more races and new markets around the world, while creating even more opportunities for our dealers, H.O.G. members and fans to be part of it. We built a strong foundation this year. Now it’s time to build on it.”
Jason Kehl – Technical Director and Team Principal, Harley-Davidson Factory Racing: “The inaugural season of the FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup gave the global racing community its first opportunity to experience the unique look, sound and feel of a truly high-performance Harley-Davidson motorcycle. I’m incredibly excited by what these 200-plus-horsepower machines demonstrated on track in the hands of world-class riders and teams. Mind-blowing lap times, 62 degrees of lean angle and wheelie-inducing torque have left fans and riders asking for more. The performance and reliability of the 131ci (2,152cc) Screamin’ Eagle 131R engine, combined with a Factory Racing-developed chassis, proved that these motorcycles belong at the highest levels of racing. Harley-Davidson itself started with a few guys in a shed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who had a vision and a dream. More than a century later, this entire bagger racing project started in much the same way: with a few guys in a garage in Milwaukee, with a vision and a dream of their own. Seeing that dream come to life as an entirely new racing category alongside MotoGP, the world’s premier motorcycle racing series, is something we are incredibly proud of. Yet development never stops, and I can’t wait to show the world what we have planned for 2027.”
About FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup
The FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup is the first global championship exclusively dedicated to high-performance Harley-Davidson bagger motorcycles, organized by Harley-Davidson in partnership with MotoGP™ and officially recognized by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The series is contested at selected international circuits alongside the MotoGP™ calendar, bringing Harley-Davidson’s iconic machines into a premier global racing environment. The championship combines heritage, technical innovation, and on-track competition, extending the brand’s racing legacy onto the world stage. Learn more on the dedicated FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup page at www.harley-davidson.com.
About Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson, Inc. is the parent company of Harley-Davidson Motor Company and Harley-Davidson Financial Services. Our vision: Building our legend and leading our industry through innovation, evolution and emotion. Our mission: More than building machines, we stand for the timeless pursuit of adventure. Freedom for the soul. Since 1903, Harley-Davidson has defined motorcycle culture with an expanding range of leading-edge, distinctive and customizable motorcycles in addition to riding experiences and exceptional motorcycle accessories, riding gear and apparel. Harley-Davidson Financial Services provides financing, insurance and other programs to help get Harley-Davidson riders on the road. Learn more at www.harley-davidson.com.
MotoGP™ Background
Welcome to the most exciting sport on earth. The fastest bikes. The most forward-thinking manufacturers. The world’s most fearless riders. Come with us to the edge of possibility and the edge of your seat. MotoGP™. Faster. Forward. Fearless.
Moto3 race start in Austria. Photo courtesy MotoGP.
Maximo Quiles won the FIM Moto3 World Championship race Sunday at Red Bull Ring – Spielberg, in Austria. Using his Pirelli-shod CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team KTM, the Spaniard won the 20-lap race by 2.334 seconds.
Brian Uriarte was the runner-up on his Red Bull KTM Ajo machine and his teammate Alvaro Carpe was third.
Eddie O’Shea crossed the finish line fourth on his GRYD Racing Honda.
Guido Pini got fifth on his Leopard Racing Honda.
Maximo Quiles leads the championship with 306 points, 131 ahead of Alvaro Carpe who has 175 points. David Almansa is third with 174 points.
Quiles cruises to Austrian GP victory. The Championship leader took an emphatic win in Spielberg to give himself a shot of the Championship trophy next time out whilst Almansa fell from the lead in Austria.
Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) is officially on cloud nine after a ninth win of the season came at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Taking advantage of title rival David Almansa (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) crashing out of the lead on Lap 8, he took honours to give KTM the manufacturer’s crown ahead of Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and his teammate Alvaro Carpe. Quiles’ win means it is now mathematically possible for him to take the title next time out at Motegi; he currently sports a 131-point lead, he’s Champion if he leaves Japan with 150 or more.
Grabbing the holeshot from the front row, Almansa got a great start and led through the first lap but was soon instructed to drop one position. He did so into Turn 9, only retake the lead from polesitter Uriarte at Turn 1 on Lap 2. It was a front group of four with Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Championship leader Quiles who, by the end of Lap 3, was into second place and giving chase to Almansa who was pulling clear.
Soon, the top two had escape and it was the same movie we’d seen plenty of times across the course of the season as they traded fastest laps and were some half a second a lap quicker than Uriarte and Carpe. Quiles was pushing hard in his pursuit of Almansa, perhaps too hard as on Lap 6 he was given a track limits warning for exceeding track limits. On Lap 8 though, bigger drama, just as he started pulling clear at the front as Almansa crashed at Turn 2B, ending his Grand Prix. Heartbreak for the Spaniard whilst Quiles inherited the lead. More heartbreak behind as Rico Salmela (Red Bull KTM Tech3) fell from the top six at Turn 6, thankfully rider OK.
Into the second half of the GP and the battled had relaxed at the front with Quiles 1.9s clear of Uriarte and Carpe whilst 9.5s behind the podium, Veda Pratama (Honda Team Asia) led a big battle for P4 with Eddie O’Shea (GRYD Racing), Joel Esteban (LEVELUP-MTA), David Muñoz (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP), Casey O’Gorman (SIC58 Squadra Corse), Joel Kelso (GRYD Racing) and Guido Pini (Leopard Racing). Esteban soon found his way to the front ahead of O’Shea and Muñoz but the battle was far from done. With 5 to go though, Muñoz GP came to an end when Pratama pushed him out wide causing the Spaniard to crash. Pratama was given a Long Lap Penalty whilst Muñoz retired after rejoining.
Meanwhile, at the front, Quiles took a ninth victory of the season with the chequered flag waving him through and to give him an opportunity to wrap up the title in Japan whilst KTM are manufacturer’s Champions. Uriarte pulled out a five second gap over teammate Carpe who rounded out the podium and moved into P2 in the standings. It was a career-best result of O’Shea who came home fourth for the GRYD Racing’s best result with Pini in P5, his best since his win at COTA. O’Gorman took a joint-best P6 ahead of Adrian Cruces (CIP GreenPower), Marco Morelli (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team), Hakim Danish (AEON Credit – MT Helmets – MSI) and teammate Yamanaka.
(Above) The pit lane building still has Race Control on the top floor, above offices and suites on the second floor and garages on the first floor. But like everything else at what was once Miller Motorsports Park, it's labeled with the new logo. Photo by John Ulrich.
The new owners of what used to be called Miller Motorsports Park and Utah Motorsports Complex have renamed it just “West Desert,” without any added description like Raceway or Motorpark or Circuit. On Friday, September 18th, the track in Grantsville, Utah held a Grand Re-Opening VIP Day for registered guests and media representatives. RoadracingWorld.com was invited.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox attended the grand re-opening of what is now known as West Desert, making opening remarks, participating in a ribbon-cutting, and giving plenty of mainstream media interviews, as seen here. Photo by John Ulrich.The ribbon-cutting ceremony, with Utah Governor Spencer Cox holding the ribbon at center left, and Grantsville Mayor Heidi Hammond cutting the ribbon at center right. Photo by John Ulrich.West Desert CEO Joe Atkin (left) with Graham Rahal (center), an Indy car driver and MotoAmerica team owner, on pit lane after the ribbon-cutting. Atkin has already supervised work on the track infield and existing buildings, with many more projects in the works. Photo by John Ulrich.Hundreds of people involved in assorted types of racing attended the grand re-opening and listened to Utah Governor Spencer Cox’s opening remarks. Several groups got on track during the day–including UtahSBA racers as well as track day riders. The governor sees the track as a valuable recreational asset and professional event attraction for the state. Photo by John Ulrich.A view of the West Desert infield, featuring some cars on track, part of an off-road course in the center, an under-construction drag strip running parallel to the front straight, and more West Desert logos and signs. Photo by John Ulrich.A rendering of the existing multiple-configuration West Desert road racing track, parts of an existing off-road course, an upgraded karting center, plus placement of new planned features like offices, garage condos, additional day garages, a clubhouse and residences, a conference center, a welcome center and restaurant, a retail experience center, an engineering and performance campus, some “corporate flex spaces,” an upgraded existing drift pad, the previously mentioned drag strip, and of course, plenty of the upgraded West Desert branding! Photo by John Ulrich.Rendering of a planned new clubhouse complex and residences. Photo by John Ulrich.A rendering of a planned new West Desert welcome center. Photo by John Ulrich.A view of the backside of the pit lane garages, complete with designated, numbered parking spaces, along with many stylish logos so nobody forgets where they are. And the destroyed canopy over the second floor outdoor viewing area has been replaced! Photo by John Ulrich.A well-labeled golf cart in action on pit lane. Photo by John Ulrich.The beginning of the sunrise Friday morning, en route to the grand re-opening of the track built by the late Larry H. Miller, sold to a Chinese corporation and allowed to languish, and now owned by enthusiastic Americans with a plan and a vision. They’ve already been talking to MotoAmerica, ASRA, and other motorcycle racing organizations, including the ill-fated World Moto Clash. If all goes well, this could be a new dawn for motorcycle (and car) road racing in Utah and the surrounding area. More information will be posted if and when it becomes available. Photo by John Ulrich.
Marc Marquez (93) leading Marco Bezzecchi (72), Jorge Martin (89), Pedro Acosta (37) and Alex Marquez (73) during the MotoGP Sprint race in Austria. Photo courtesy MotoGP.
Jorge Martin recovered from an early setback to claim victory in Saturday’s Austrian Sprint at the Red Bull Ring, moving from eighth place after an opening-lap clash to take the win. Marc Márquez finished second for Ducati, while Marco Bezzecchi secured third for Aprilia Racing. Below, read the teams’ press releases from Saturday’s Sprint race at the Red Bull Ring.
More, from a press release issued by Aprilia Racing:
Victory and a podium for Aprilia Racing in Austrian GP sprint. Pole position and a comeback victory for Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi third.
Saturday in Austria ended with both Aprilia Racing factory riders on the podium.
Jorge Martín began the day by taking pole position with a time of 1:27.917. This gave Aprilia four consecutive pole positions, for the first time in the Noale manufacturer’s history. The Spanish rider had a difficult opening lap, dropping to eighth before mounting a comeback to retake the lead and secure victory. This was Martín’s fourth sprint victory of the season, following his wins at Austin, Le Mans and Silverstone, and the 20th sprint victory of his career. It was also his seventh sprint podium of the season and the 37th sprint podium of his career.
Marco Bezzecchi started fourth on the grid and finished third in the sprint. This was the Italian rider’s sixth sprint podium of the season, following those at Le Mans, Balaton, Silverstone, Aragón and Misano, and the 16th sprint podium of his career.
Ai Ogura of the SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team finished fourth on his return from injury. The result saw Aprilia place three RS-GP26 machines in the top four.
Jorge Martín’s victory brings Aprilia’s tally of sprint wins this season to six, following those at Austin, Le Mans, Mugello, Assen and Silverstone, and takes the Noale manufacturer’s total to 13 sprint wins. The double podium for Martín and Bezzecchi also marks Aprilia Racing’s best result in a sprint in Austria.
Jorge Martin (89) in Austria. Photo courtesy Aprilia.
Jorge Martin: “I’m very happy with my sprint and the pace I had. I enjoyed a good start, but when Marc passed me, I lost a lot of places. From then on, I tried to stay focused. I was really concentrating and overtook a rider almost every lap. My arm is fine. I struggled more with it today than yesterday, but that’s normal – it’s just fatigue. Just as my neck gets tired, for example, so does my arm.”
Marco Bezzecchi (72) in Austria. Photo courtesy Aprilia.
Marco Bezzecchi: “Overall, I’ve been fairly competitive over these two days, improving from Friday to today, although I was still slightly slower than the three fastest riders: Jorge, Pedro and Marc. Still, I’m happy with this sprint because I stayed right with Marc. I could never get close enough to make a move because I still need to find a little more, but staying with him, with the feeling I had, was still very positive.”
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Lenovo Team:
Marc Márquez and the Ducati Lenovo Team take second place in the Austrian Sprint. Francesco Bagnaia scores points in sixth.
The Ducati Lenovo Team completed the fifteenth Sprint of the season at the Austrian Ring. Marc Márquez took second place at the end of the 14-lap encounter, whilst Francesco Bagnaia was sixth at the flag.
Márquez retained second place at the start and briefly took the lead at the first chicane before being overtaken by Acosta. After dropping down to third at the start of lap eight, Marc found himself back in second place with three laps remaining and tried to re-enter the battle for the win until the end. Bagnaia, seventh on the grid after going through Q1, finished with an encouraging sixth place.
The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action tomorrow at 9:40 local time (GMT +2) for the warm-up, which will be followed by the 28-lap Grand Prix of Austria, to be contested from 14:00.
Marc Márquez (93) in Austria. Photo courtesy Ducati.
Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 2nd: “Today we achieved the main goal, which was to finish right behind Jorge (Martín) with no other rider in between. The first two laps were intense, then I simply kept my pace and scored the best possible result, as we are struggling a bit here. We need to keep working in order to improve in some specific areas of the track and, if we manage to do so, everything will become a whole lot simpler. Tomorrow’s race will be a long one and we’ll have to be careful with tyre wear.”
Francesco Bagnaia (63) in Austria. Photo courtesy Ducati.
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 6th “We’re doing a good job. Today we improved in the time attack, while in the Sprint we mainly worked towards tomorrow’s race by choosing the medium tyre, as we know how important it’ll be to manage tyre wear. I think it was the correct decision. It’s true that we struggled in the opening laps, but then the pace wasn’t so bad. The feeling has improved and now I hope we can make another step forward – with regards to grip and traction on corner exit – ahead of tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing:
BK8 Gresini Team scores points in the Austrian Sprint.
SPRINT
ALEX MARQUEZ 5º
FERMIN ALDEGUER 8º
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ALEX MARQUEZ 8º (158)
FERMIN ALDEGUER 10º (107)
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
BK8 GRESINI RACING 6º (274)
Alex Marquez (73) in Austria. Photo courtesy Gresini Team.
Alex Marquez: “This morning I made a mistake while changing gear and crashed. We managed to save qualifying with a second-row start, but clearly the crash didn’t help. Regardless of that, we are struggling to find the right direction, and fifth position (sixth without Pedro’s crash) is currently the target we can achieve. We will try something in the warm-up to make a step forward and try to stay with the Aprilias, although it is currently difficult to do so on this track.”
Fermin Aldeguer on the grid in Austria. Photo courtesy Gresini.
Fermin Aldeguer: “Qualifying, as is often the case, made the weekend more complicated for us. I felt good in practice, but in the session that really counts, we didn’t perform as well as we would have liked. Starting that far back makes things difficult, and the Sprint went pretty much as I expected. We managed to score a few points and made a decent step forward. Tomorrow, with the medium tyre, we can do something better.”
More, from a press release issued by Honda HRC Castrol:
Marini works for Sunday in Spielberg as Nakagami’s progress steps up.
Luca Marini’s Saturday in Austria was all about Sunday gains after a difficult Q1 while Takaaki Nakagami showed his experience and speed, battling through to 15th and ahead of several big names.
Saturday in Austria had the Honda HRC Castrol team hard at work, looking to make the most of every opportunity presented to them after a truncated morning practice due to overnight rain. Q1 marked the first obstacle of the day with both Luca Marini and Takaaki Nakagami tackling the 15-minute session on a still-green circuit.
Able to set a best time of 1’29.110 and manage 15th on the grid, Luca Marini faced an uphill battle on the run up the hill to Turn 1 in the Sprint. With this in mind, the Italian and his team decided to focus on better understanding what will be possible during Sunday’s Grand Prix and opted for the medium tyre. A classically strong start from Marini helped him gain early ground before he switched to a more defensive mode. Taking 13th at the line, the Italian has certainly gained information for the feature length race and has some key decisions to make overnight. Marini is confident that Sunday’s race could introduce an even more unpredictable GP.
One of the few riders to venture out in the damp morning, Takaaki Nakagami’s progress continued with each and every lap as he closed the distance and went deeper into the field. A best lap of 1’29.442 in Q1 put him 18th on the grid and just 0.3s behind Luca Marini on the other side of the garage. When the lights went out for the 14-lap Sprint, Nakagami immediately locked into an intense fight with Morbidelli and a trio of Yamaha riders before breaking away and trying to close in on Pol Espargaro in the battle of the Development Riders. 15th in the Sprint bodes well for some welcome points in Sunday’s main event.
Luca Marini (10) in Austria. Photo courtesy Honda HRC.
Luca Marini:“Today was all about testing for tomorrow, I went with the medium rear in the Sprint to understand how it behaves before the long race. It was not easy with the medium and I think a lot of guys who used the soft in the Sprint will have some surprises. Q1 was tricky today and I couldn’t get the same feeling as in practice, it felt like there was less grip overall and I wasn’t able to improve my time in the second half of the lap. But let’s see what we can do on Sunday with this extra information as our pattern this year is always making a step for the long race and as we saw today, this track is very critical and you need to be riding in a perfect way.”
Takaaki Nakagami (30) in Austria. Photo courtesy Honda HRC.
Takaaki Nakagami: “Some positives feelings today in Qualifying and the Sprint, still there’s a lot to improve but step by step progress is being made. Session by session, I am working better with the team and they’re helping me a lot to compare to the other Honda riders. We did a lot of laps during the test before here so my physical condition isn’t perfect and when you need to push to your maximum like in Qualifying or a race, this is when you feel it. Sunday will be a long 28 laps, a lot of tyre management to do. I am enjoying being the factory team and I want to thank them all for their effort.”
More, from a press release issued by Monster Energy Yamaha:
Steady Sprint for Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP in Styria.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins pushed all the way to the finish line in the Grand Prix of Austria Sprint at the Spielberg track today. Quartararo turned a solid Saturday into a 12th-place result, while Rins made progress from the back of the grid to take 18th position.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins took on the Sprint at Spielberg on the Grand Prix of Austria Saturday. Quartararo pressed on in the midfield throughout the 14-lap dash and crossed the line in 12th place, while Rins steadily rode from 20th on the grid to 18th position at the chequered flag.
Quartararo started the Sprint from ninth place but found himself in 12th after a busy opening lap. The Frenchman settled into the position and maintained a consistent pace throughout much of the race. With three laps remaining, Pedro Acosta’s crash briefly promoted Quartararo to 11th. However, Enea Bastianini, who had been closing in on the number 20 during the latter stages, found a way past on the same lap. Quartararo continued to push until the finish and crossed the line in 12th place, 13.050s from the winner.
Rins lined up in 20th on the grid and dropped behind the Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP riders at the start before overtaking Jack Miller to complete the opening lap in 21st. The Spaniard began making progress on lap 5 when he passed Franco Morbidelli. Further gains followed as Diogo Moreira and Raúl Fernández were handed double long-lap penalties, moving Rins up to 18th by lap 8. Another position came his way when Acosta crashed out, but Moreira found his way past on the same lap. On the final lap, Rins continued to close the gap to Toprak Razgatlıoğlu but came just 0.090s short at the finish line, taking 18th place and ending the Sprint 21.054s from first.
After today’s Sprint, Quartararo remains 15th in the championship standings with 61 points, while Rins stays 20th with 24 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are 10th in the team classification with 85 points, and Yamaha hold 5th place in the constructor standings with 84 points.
Tomorrow, the teammates will be back in action for Warm Up, held from 09:40-09:50 (GMT+2), and the 28-lap Race, which starts at 14:00.
Fabio Quartararo (20) in Austria. Photo courtesy Yamaha.
Fabio Quartararo:“Qualifying was good and the Sprint was good too. I knew a top 10 would be difficult today, so I think P12 was the position we deserved. I am feeling well on the bike, but in the Sprint and Race, with people in front of you, it’s more difficult to make the lap times. Tomorrow the race will be difficult, especially for the tyres. We know that for the Race we will try something different.”
Alex Rins (42) in Austria. Photo courtesy Yamaha.
Alex Rins:“This is a tough track for us. Today in the Sprint, I was struggling quite a bit. I had [Takaaki] Nakagami in front of me. I was recovering quite a lot on braking, but every time he was able to pull away by some metres again.”
More, from a press release issued by Prima Pramac Yamaha:
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP continues to work through a challenging Austrian Saturday.
Jack Miller and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu completed a demanding Saturday at the Red Bull Ring, with Miller continuing to search for the right balance after setup changes and Razgatlıoğlu showing clear progress throughout the day and in the Sprint.
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP experienced another challenging day at the Red Bull Ring, with the team continuing to work through the setup and balance of the YZR-M1. For Jack Miller, the changes introduced overnight did not produce the expected improvement in overall bike behaviour. As often happens when making significant setup changes, the new direction also created compromises in other areas, leaving the Australian searching for a more consistent balance during both qualifying and the Sprint. He eventually finished the Sprint in 20th position.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, meanwhile, continued the positive progression already seen during the weekend. After a difficult Friday, the Turkish rider made another clear step forward on Saturday, with his Sprint pace bringing him closer to the group fighting around the Top 10. He ultimately crossed the finish line in 17th, although the final result did not fully reflect the progress shown in terms of pace and feeling throughout the day.
The next step for Toprak will be to carry more of that progress into the opening stages of the weekend, allowing him to start from a stronger position and make better use of the pace he is able to find later on. With the Austrian Grand Prix continuing tomorrow, both riders and the team will now focus on making the most of the information gathered today and finding further improvements for the final race.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (07) on the grid in Austria. Photo courtesy Prima Pramac Yamaha.
Toprak Razgatlioglu:“Today was better than qualifying and the feeling with the bike was much better. The beginning of the race was okay, although I lost some rhythm after fighting with another rider in the opening laps. After that I was able to find my pace, but it was very difficult to overtake because we lose a lot on the straights. Towards the end, the rear tyre dropped quite a lot and I lost some time, but overall the pace was not so bad. We also learned more about the tyre and tomorrow we will try the medium, which normally gives me a better feeling. The main problem is still qualifying. Yesterday I did a 1:29.6, but today with the new tyre I could only do a 1:30.0, and I still don‘t understand why I cannot extract the same performance in qualifying. Then I have to start from the back again, which makes the race much more difficult. Tomorrow is a long race and anything can happen. I will try my best as always and hopefully we can make another step.”
Jack Miller (43) in Austria. Photo courtesy Prima Pramac Yamaha.
Jack Miller:“Not much to say. The bike itself was behaving better today and it was definitely an improvement compared with yesterday. From a setup point of view, I felt much better on the bike and I could brake late and do what I needed to do. It wasn‘t an enjoyable race, to be honest, and we need to understand why we have been struggling with this since Friday. We‘re going to have to make some significant changes tonight and try to find a way to improve the acceleration for tomorrow. We know there is more potential in the bike. I‘m not extracting everything from it at the moment either, and I need to keep building my confidence back, but the main priority now is to find a solution with the electronics and give ourselves a better chance in the race.”
More, from a press release issued by Pro Honda LCR:
Pro Honda LCR rider Diogo Moreira finished 16th in Saturday’s Sprint in Austria.
After a challenging qualifying session, Moreira lined up 16th on the grid for the Sprint.
Determined to fight his way forward, Moreira made a jump start at the beginning of the race, as he felt the wait for the lights had been unusually long.
The Brazilian was handed a double Long Lap penalty and eventually crossed the finish line in 16th. Despite the setback, Moreira took positives from the race, feeling comfortable on the bike and noticing improvements in its performance.
Diogo Moreira (11) in Austria. Photo courtesy Pro Honda LCR.
Diogo Moreira 16th:“When I was waiting for the lights, somehow I felt like it was taking too long, and I made a big mistake. I apologized to the team. We have another chance tomorrow to make up for it. In the end, we changed some things on the bike, and I felt better and had a good pace. We’ll recover from this, for sure!”
More, from a press release issued by Red Bull KTM Tech3:
Bastianini gains six places in Austrian sprint.
Enea Bastianini quickly put a disappointing Qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix behind him to rise from 17th to 11th in Saturday’s Sprint, while Pol Espargaró came home in 14th.
Qualifying
After a heavy morning shower at the Red Bull Ring, the track surface had soon dried sufficiently for slick tyres to be used in FP2 and Qualifying.
Although fast over longer runs on Friday, Bastianini couldn’t get comfortable with Michelin’s soft rear tyre in Q1. As he struggled in Sectors three and four, the 28-year-old posted the seventh fastest time, which put him 17th overall. Espargaró fared better in Q1, finishing fourth and just 0.2s off Johann Zarco’s fastest time for 14th on the grid.
Sprint
Conditions were close to perfect around the 4.35km layout ahead of the 14-lap Sprint race. Although he started in the middle of the sixth row, Bastianini was still confident of his speed over a longer run. The Italian felt his way into the 14-lap shootout, holding 17th on lap one before launching a series of attacks.
Sitting 15th on lap three, ‘La Bestia’ continued his forward trajectory and late passes on Luca Marini and Fabio Quartararo, plus a crash for another rider, lifted him to 11th place.
Espargaró chose Michelin’s medium rear tyre in a bid to gather more information for Sunday’s race. The Spaniard lost two positions on the first lap and was soon caught up in a tough fight with Toprak Razgatlioglu. Once clear of the Turk, he focused on catching Marini ahead but ran out of time to complete the overtake and finished 14th.
The main event is still to come for Red Bull KTM Tech3 with Warm Up kicking off Sunday’s action at 9:40 (UTC+2) before the 28-lap race, which starts at 14:00 (UTC+2).
Enea Bastianini (23) in Austria. Photo courtesy KTM Tech3.
Enea Bastianini: “We don’t know what happened today. In Practice I was confident because I was pretty fast, but when we put the soft tyre in for the time attack in Qualifying, I had no grip with the front. I just felt a lot of pushing from the rear. I did my best, but the lap time was a disaster. The Sprint was a bit better. If you are behind other riders, you can’t do your maximum, and it’s very difficult to come back. This is the reality of MotoGP at the moment. Tomorrow we’ll need to save the rear tyre for the end of the race because the drop is big. We’ll need to pay attention to this more than other races tomorrow.”
Pol Espargaró (44) in Austria. Photo courtesy KTM Tech3.
Pol Espargaró: “Not such a bad day. We chose the medium rear tyre for the Sprint, just so we have more information for tomorrow for the KTM guys. My feeling at the start wasn’t bad at all. The only thing was I started battling with Toprak [Razgatlioglu] in the middle of the race for nothing and I lost quite a lot of time. When I overtook him, I could find my rhythm. I tried to catch Luca Marini ahead, but he was so far away, and I didn’t have enough time. Anyway, it was useful for the factory to get some information for tomorrow and we can work a bit better. The rear tyre drop is going to be a factor tomorrow, so we’ll have to manage that, but we’ll be prepared. Let’s get stuck in.”
Nicolas Goyon, Team Manager: “Well, it was a good Sprint for both our boys. Enea struggled in Qualifying this morning. We hoped for a better result, but we know how Enea races and he ended up in a good P11, which gives us some hope for a good result tomorrow – a top eight finish is an achievable target. It was a good Qualifying for Pol. He qualified 14th and then ended the Sprint in 14th with a medium rear tyre. He was clearly focussing on working for tomorrow’s main race and we hope this work will pay off. We are quite confident that both our riders can bring a stronger result tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Castrol Honda LCR:
Castrol Honda LCR rider Johann Zarco crossed the finish line in 7th place in Saturday’s Sprint in Austria.
Zarco made a strong start from 10th on the grid after progressing to Q2 in the morning qualifying session.
When it mattered, the Frenchman kept his composure, avoiding mistakes while battling with his rivals and maintaining a strong pace.
He eventually crossed the finish line in 7th, securing valuable points and feeling comfortable on the bike.
Johann Zarco (5) in Austria. Photo courtesy Honda LCR.
Johann Zarco 7th:“I’m very happy! To score points in the Sprint, you need to do everything perfectly, and we did a good enough job today. I’m happy. Today, during the Sprint, I confirmed the good feeling I had yesterday. Tomorrow, we’ll need to manage the whole race and do a good job, but we’re confident that we can put together a strong race. Let’s see!”
More, from a press release issued by VR46 Team:
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team secures the tenth place in the Sprint with Fabio Di Giannantonio at Spielberg. Franco Morbidelli crashes.
Saturday of the Austrian GP proved to be more challenging than expected for the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, which ended a sunny Sprint at Spielberg in tenth place with Fabio Di Giannantonio. It was a tough race for Franco Morbidelli, who crashed with four laps to go, luckily without physical consequences.
Di Giannantonio started from the third row thanks to his eighth place in Qualifying, his best result ever on the Styrian track (1’28”612). In the Sprint, a complicated start prevented Fabio to gain positions, remaining in the group fighting for the Top19. The rider from Rome was very determined, and he crossed the finish line in tenth place. Di Giannantonio keeps the fourth position in the World Standing with 223 points.
It was a tough Saturday for Morbidelli, who was nineteenth in Qualifying (1’29”554). Franco started from the seventh row and struggled to show his potential right from the first laps. A crash at lap 11 when he was in nineteenth place prevented him to bounce back. Morbidelli is now sixteenth in the World Standing with 56 points.
The Austrian GP will conclude tomorrow with the main race, which will start at 2:00 p.m. (local time).
Fabio Di Giannantonio (49) in Austria. Photo courtesy VR46 Team.
Fabio Di Giannantonio: “Until the qualifying, the weekend was not bad, but I had low grip at the rear and I struggle more in the Sprint. I made a couple of mistakes in the first laps, I went wide and I lost positions, this affected me a bit. But we want to stay positive and focused because we are adapting to this track more and more. Now, we work to understand how we can improve even more for tomorrow’s race.”
Franco Morbidelli (21) and Jack Miller (43) in Austria. Photo courtesy VR46 Team.
Franco Morbidelli: “Today in the Sprint I crashed at Turn 2, maybe I arrived to the corner a little faster than usual and I lost the front. Luckily, I’m ok. Anyway, the race was not going very well, I had already made a mistake at Turn 9 and I went wide. I was trying to recover, but then I crashed. We still have tomorrow to bounce back. We must remain confident and determined to solve the issues that have been affecting us this weekend.”
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Kyle Ryde – Nitrous Coin Nitrous Competitions Racing Ducati: 
Scott Redding – Hager PBM Racing Team: 
