Both Edgar Pons (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Andi Izdihar (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) were caught up in the crash and were fortunately OK. As is Syahrin too, with the latest from the Red Bull Ring stating that after a first scan, the Malaysian doesn’t have evidence of a big fracture, and, as a result of heavy pelvic bruising, he will go to the nearby hospital for further observations and checks. We wish Hafizh a speedy recovery following the horrific incident.

At the restart, Martin once again took the holeshot with Marini, who was up to third at the time of the red flag, settling into second. Again, Schrotter and Bezzecchi were in contention in third and fourth. Beta Tools Speed Up’s Jorge Navarro went down at the end of lap one at the final corner, with the rider walking away, before Bezzecchi whilst looking to take third at Turn 3 went extremely wide. Poleman Gardner was the ultimate opportunist and squeezed through on Schrötter and the wide Italian to take the vacated space and therefore third.

The fight for the final podium place allowed Martin and Marini to escape at the front, the pair a second clear at the end of the second lap. Bezzecchi then made the same mistake again just one lap later and dropped right out podium contention as a result. Former World Championship leader Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) crashed out at Turn 1 at the start of lap 4 as his title aspirations took another huge blow.

At the front, Marini was stalking Martin with ten laps left. The Italian looking ominous behind the former Moto3™ World Champion. Behind them, though, the podium fight took a big twist as Gardner tucked the front into Turn 1 and threw away his chances of a Red Bull Ring rostrum. Schrötter was promoted to third as a consequence and the German now had a comfort buffer of over one and a half seconds to Lowes in fourth. The Brit didn’t hold that position for long though, with Petronas Sprinta Racing’s Xavi Vierge diving past and into the 13-point position. The pair had company too with resilient rookie Aron Canet (Inde Aspar Team) putting himself in contention for another top five finish. The quartet was completed by the recovering Bezzecchi and they certainly didn’t assist their podium chances as the battling continued for the next couple of laps.

myWorld MOTORRAD GRAND PRIX VON ÖSTERREICH

Moto2 Race Classification 2020.

Spielberg, Sunday, August 16, 2020