Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/861665
MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 11 / AUGUST 11-13, 2017 RED BULL RING / SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA P82 Moto2 Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Kalex) was on pole for a second race in a row from the Marc VDS Kalex riders Franco Morbidelli and Alex Marquez, with title challenger Thomas Luthi (CarXpert Kalex) on the second row. But it was Morbidelli in front off the line, and he would resist constant pressure to stay there to the finish. Luthi started strongly and was second by the end of lap one from Pasini, but Marquez con- signed the Italian to fourth two laps later, and he would play no further part in the fight up front. There were just the three in it, and it was fierce. For a while it seemed that Marquez, up to second on lap four, was pro- tecting his teammate as he and Luthi swapped places and paint repeatedly—until he then started to attack Morbidelli. Only in the final laps did the race-long leader manage to get some clear air, with Marquez also narrowly outdistancing Luthi. The battle for fourth saw more variety. Pasini had dropped away slightly before half distance; at the same time rookie Pecco Ba- gnaia was following closely. The big movement came from Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM), who had finished lap one seventh. By the tenth he had caught and passed Bagnaia, and now he closed on Pasini, ahead of him as well on lap 15. Oliveira set one fastest lap after another as he slashed away at a two-second gap, and by the 21st he had tagged on to the front three to join the podium battle. He didn't finish the next lap, thrown off in a vicious high-side from which he was lucky to be able to limp away. By now, Bagnaia had got the better of Pasini, taking fourth just over half a second ahead. Some five seconds away, Takaaki Nakagami (Team Asia Kalex) had come through from 13th on the grid to take sixth from second Red Bull KTM rider Brad Binder at half distance. The Moto3 champion and class rookie was still but a couple of tenths behind over the line. Another rookie, Jorge Navarro (Federal Oil Kalex) finally got the better of Dominique Aegerter (Kiefer Kalex) after a long battle.