Relentless Martin claims maiden MotoGP win in restarted race
Jorge Martin has taken a first ever MotoGP win after leading all but two laps in a red flag affected Styrian Grand Prix.
Francesco Bagnaia got the ideal start as he led into turn one, while pole sitter Jorge Martin slotted in second after struggling with wheelie off the line.
Marc Marquez had a stunning first lap as he gained four places from eighth to fourth. The eight-time world champion did have contact with Aleix Espargaro at turn one after going for a gap that wasn’t really there.
There was more contact on lap two involving Marquez after he gained third place from Mir. The Suzuki rider responded at turn six and pushed the Honda man wide which allowed Fabio Quartararo past and back into his original starting spot.
The race was red-flagged on lap three due to a huge fire on-track. The two riders caught up in the incident were Dani Pedrosa and Lorenzo Savadori.
Both the KTM and Arpilia caught fire, while huge amounts of fluid was spilt on the exit of turn three - both riders were ok.
After a 30 minute delay, the race got underway with the original grid positions restored. However, Maverick Vinales had to start from the end of pit lane after being unable to set off for the warm-up lap.
More drama occurred between Marquez and Espargaro as the Repsol Honda rider pushed the Aprilia man off-track at turn one for the second time.
Jack Miller made the best start in race two as he took the lead into turn three, while Bagnaia dropped from second to eighth.
Marquez then dropped down to 13th after making a mistake at turn one on lap two, while brother Alex Marquez was up to sixth - one spot ahead of Takaaki Nakagami.
Martin retook the lead from Miller with 24 laps to go, while Joan Mir followed his fellow Spaniard through. Moments later Aleix Espargaro retired from the race with a mechanical issue.
Quartararo then got ahead of Miller for third but had a significant gap of 1.5s ahead of him after Martin and Mir already pulled clear.
Vinales was given a long-lap penalty for exceeding track limits whilst running in 21st place.
Miguel Oliveira’s Styrian Grand Prix ended in disappointment after retiring from the race with 13 laps to go. Enea Bastianini was next to be given a long-lap penalty for exceeding track limits.
The gap from Martin and Mir back to Quartararo continued to grow as Miller closed back in on the championship leader. The margin from Mir to Quartararo was 3.5 seconds with 10 laps remaining.
But just as Miller looked set to challenge Quartararo for a podium spot, the factory Ducati rider crashed at turn seven which elevated Zarco into fourth.
At the front, Martin began to pull away from Mir to the tune of one second as he began lap 20.
Mir then made a mistake at turn three and subsequently ran wide, giving Martin a gap of 1.3 seconds. Martin’s lead proved too much for Mir to claw back, while Quartararo came home in a lonely third place.
Brad Binder finished fourth after a brilliant double last lap overtake on Nakagami and Zarco. Alex Rins was seventh ahead of Marc and Alex Marquez. Tenth was Dani Pedrosa.
