2022 MotoGP: Bagnaia beats Quartararo for third back-to-back win in Austria – Times of India

It’s three wins in a row for the first time for Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) after an intense race at CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich, which saw him beat World Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) by just 0.4s. The Frenchman produced a phenomenal ride to finish P2 followed by Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) in third.
It was Bagnaia up ahead as the lights went out, all the way through the race and at the finish line. The Italian grabbed the holeshot from Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP), Miller slotted into P3 with Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) held P4. Quartararo got a decent start but at the end of the first lap, Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) passed the Frenchman to demote the Championship leader to P6.
Fourth place for Marini is the Italian’s best result in the premier class to date, he eventually held off Zarco in fifth by less than half a second. Some 2.4s further behind was Aleix Espargaro who saw his disadvantage to Quartararo grow to 32 points heading to Misano, but on a tough weekend for the Spaniard, it could have been worse from P9 on the grid.

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) gave KTM a P7 on their home patch, it was another solid Sunday rider for the South African, as he and Rins were separated by a tenth on the line. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) claimed P9 ahead of Martin in 10th, the latter able to remount after his last lap tumble at Turn 1.
Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP), Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Viñales, Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol), and Andrea Dovizioso (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team) rounded out the points positions at the Red Bull Ring.
The Italian’s future is looking bright this season and coming up next is Bagnaia’s home race at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli – a track he knows like the back of his hand. Quartararo though extends his lead, but the Frenchman, Espargaro and Bagnaia are now split by just 44 points. Game on.
Top 10:
1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team)
2. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.492
3. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 2.163
4. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 8.348
5. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) + 8.821
6. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) + 11.287
7. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 11.642
8. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 11.780
9. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 16.987
10. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) + 17.144