MotoGP Austria: Maiden win for Iannone and first for Ducati in six years

Ducati’s Andrea Iannone bagged his maiden race win in the MotoGP class at the Red Bull Ring, and also ended a six year hiatus for his Ducati team, who last had a bike on the top step of the podium back in 2010.

Iannone opted for the softer front and medium rear Michelin tyres, and it appeared to work for the Italian and in the end out-paced his team-mate and name sake, Andrea Dovizioso. The second place finisher went for the medium front and harder rear tyre choice.

It was not an all Italian rostrum, as Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo got the better of his team-mate, Valentino Rossi at the Austrian track to clinch third place, with Rossi in fourth. But the Yamaha’s were able to hold on to the Ducati’s for the majority of the race. Lorenzo redeemed himself and the gap between him and Marquez at the top of the standings is now 43 points.

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez rode through the pain to finish fifth. Yesterday during a free practice session he crashed and dislocated his shoulder. He was later taken to hospital but was passed fit to ride. The championship leader ended the race ahead of Vinales and Pedrosa.

Initially it was Iannone who got the hole-shot from Dovizioso and Rossi. But there was slight drama going into the first turn on the opening lap, with Marquez going wide and pushing Lorenzo off the track.

But on the final corner on the first lap Rossi went into the lead, and the earlier detour of Lorenzo did not appear to affect him as he went into third going down the home straight , and then pushed his way into second as Rossi went wide going into turn four at Rauch.

Rossi then went wide again coming out of turn four a lap later, allowing Marquez to slip into fourth and a battle was well and truly on, then a rotation later Rossi bit back. The Ducati’s were also enjoying their time out on track as Dovizioso overtook Lorenzo with 23 laps remaining. Now Rossi had his team-mate as his next target.

Iannone did opt for a different tyre choice of that of his fellow factory Ducati rider, and decided to go for a softer front and medium rear Michelin tyres. Whereas Dovi, the Movistar Yamaha riders, and the Repsol Honda pairing of Marquez and Pedrosa went for the medium front and harder rear.

After ten laps Dovi got in the slipstream of Iannone and on the penultimate corner got into the front, with Lorenzo and Rossi on the backs of the Ducati. On the same rotation the leading foursome of Dovizioso, Iannone, Lorenzo and Rossi pulled away from fifth place Marquez, with the Ducati’s getting increasingly quicker than the Yamaha’s.

Iannone no longer held back and over halfway through the 28 lapper made a move coming out of Remus and went back into P1. The two red machines leaked out a gap of 1.7 seconds over the Movistar Yamaha’s with three laps left, and when the chequered flag came down Iannone did not look back and secured his maiden win.

Elsewhere a battle for eighth emerged between Scott Redding, Eugene Laverty and Bradley Smith, with Redding overtaking Laverty on the first corner with eleven laps left, out on the Austrian circuit.

At the flag it was the Octo Pramac bike of Redding who edged ahead of Smith. But it was not the ending Laverty would have hoped for and crashed just as he was approaching the finishing line, meaning he missed out on points for the first time this season. In the end Petrucci was penalized for the crash with Laverty, as he collided into him on track, causing him to fall off his bike.

There were a few jump starters, which included Cal Crutchlow, Yonny Hernandez, Hector Barbera and Stefan Bradl, and they all had ride through penalties. Barbera though did fail to come in and was later black-flagged. Aleix Espargaro also retired to the pits with three laps left. Crutchlow was able to salvage one point to end the day in fifteenth.

One rider who did not make it out on to the track, was Australian, Jack Miller. He had a big crash in the earlier warm up session and was taken to hospital for further checks. He was later diagnosed with hairline fractures to his T6 vertebrae and right wrist.