VOL. 55 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 14, 2018 P69
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
S
even days is a long time in politics; 0.130
of a second is a long time in a motorcycle
race. At least it is in a good one. And one
week after a record-breaking thriller at Brno, the
same three riders did it all over again in Austria.
The order was shuffled, the tension preserved,
and the last-lap excitement repeated. This year's
championship may be a touch predictable, as
Marquez further extends his enormous lead. The
race results are not.
The Red Bull Ring circuit on the pre-Alpine
hillsides near Spielberg has a short and simple
layout, concentrating on braking, acceleration
and speed, the fastest track of the year—Andrea
Dovizioso's new lap record, sent on the sixth of
28 laps, raised the average to 114.5 mph—some
1.8 mph faster than Australia's Phillip Island.
But Brno winner Dovi was still not fast enough
to be involved in Sunday's final battle.
It was left to his Ducati teammate Jorge Loren-
zo and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda). And after
an increasingly frantic exchange of first position,
a third win of the year (the 47th in his career) went
to Lorenzo, by just over a tenth.
It was Ducati's second in a row, and the red
bikes' third in succession at the track that all
weekend Marquez had been calling "Ducati-land."
"I have had some beautiful wins, but this was
one of my best," said Lorenzo, who for a second
race had abandoned his usual runaway tactics to
save tires and energy in the early laps. "When you
Jorge Lorenzo (99)
outfoxed and out-sped
Marc Marquez in the
final lap, who had to
settle for his second
runner-up spot in the
Austrian MotoGP two
years running.
