VOLUME ISSUE AUGUST , P85
A
t the Red Bull Ring in KTM's Austrian backyard, Francesco Bagnaia
(Lenovo Ducati) took almost every possible accolade on offer dur-
ing the 2023 Austrian MotoGP weekend—pole position, fastest lap,
new race lap record, the Sprint race win, and the Sunday GP gold.
It was an exceptionally dominant performance from the current
World Champion who made the most of incidents happening around
him to maximize his points lead, now ballooning out to 62 points.
Austria saw the return to the top step of Celestino Vietti (Fan
-
tic Racing Kalex) for the first time in over a year, as he took the
Moto2 gold from Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Ai
Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia).
In Moto3, Deniz Oncu (Red Bull KTM Ajo) won a classic
race after getting the better of a four-rider battle in the
last corner to win from teammate Daniel Holgado and
Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP).
MotoE was also back in action with Mattia
Casadei (HP Pons Los40) taking both wins from
Eric Granado (LCR E-Team) and Kevin Zannoni
(Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse) in race one,
and Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE) and
Zannoni in race two.
Pecco Bagnaia made haste while the sun shone in Austria,
taking pole, the Sprint race win, and the Sunday GP to extend
his lead in the World Championship
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
