MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) stunning showdown in Spielberg

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Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) put on a show to remember at the Red Bull Ring in the eyetime Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich, with the two dueling down to the wire in an instant classic and Lorenzo coming out on top for his third win of the season. Teammates in 2019, the five years in which Lorenzo and Marquez have shared the track have produced some legendary different battles at different circuits, but the number 93’s search for a win at Spielberg will have to continue. The man who beat him to the honour last season, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), completed the podium in third this time around.

It was Marquez who had the initial advantage as he bolted away into the distance over the first laps, putting the hammer down early and leaving the Ducati duo of Lorenzo and Dovizioso trailing him by half a second, a second, then seven tenths as the gap was a constant concertina but a sizeable one nonetheless. In clear air the number 93’s tactics seemed immediately clear, and the bigger focus over the first laps was on the two Ducati men locked together behind him – almost close enough to look like one bike at a passing glance.

Dovizioso looked threatening and feinted a number of times but the Italian didn’t make a move. With the gap at the front staying constant and Marquez no longer gaining ground, the tide then began to turn as Lorenzo slowly reeled him in. By 11 laps to go the Ducatis were right back on the tail of the Honda but Lorenzo just ran it wide at Turn 3. Using the grunt of the Borgo Panigale machine, however, the number 99 recovered quickly to fire himself back into second and the lead trio remained in line, nothing between them… before Lorenzo decided to make his move.

Right on Marquez’ tail over the line and passing the reigning Champion into Turn 1, Lorenzo pulled the pin and took over at the front as teammate Dovizioso ran wide and dropped off the lead duo. But that lead duo didn’t stay the same way around for long as they dueled it out, heading a bit wide at one point before Lorenzo was back ahead and the two regrouped.

With 3 laps to go Lorenzo went wide at Turn 3 and Marquez went through, but of course the Ducati struck back – with a brutal move at Turn 9. On the penultimate lap Marquez again attacked at Turn 3, but Lorenzo led the two over the line to begin the final lap – and the gloves were most definitely off.

Locked together, the big attack came again at Turn 3 as Marquez dived straight for the inside – but Lorenzo held his line and was able to regain the ground immediately on the exit. Pushing hard and the Repsol Honda in second squiggling around in the braking zones, Marquez looked threatening around the remainder of the final lap but the ‘Spartan’ was not for being caught – taking the victory in style and denying Marquez the chance at a final lunge.

Behind ‘DesmoDovi’ in third, Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) put in an impressive performance to take fourth as top Independent Team rider to put his Spielberg demons to bed after two fifteenths over the past two years, with Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing) also able to bounce back after a tough race at the venue last season to complete the top five. Petrucci now leads the Independent Team standings by a single point from Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), with Crutchlow only another point back.

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) put in a stunning ride through the field, with the rider from Tavullia moving through from fourteenth on the grid to fight off Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) in a high-calibre battle for sixth. Behind the two, Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) took eighth after mixing it at the front nearer the start, making for a solid result at a more difficult track for the Hamamatsu factory.

Johann Zarco took ninth as he beat with Alvaro Bautista (Angel Nieto Team) to the line – with Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) for close company. The three took P9, P10 and P11 respectively.

Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), meanwhile, took P12 in a more difficult race after a difficult weekend, with Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar) in thirteenth following an early run off for the 2016 winner. Bradley Smith (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) took points for home factory KTM and put in a good race for fourteenth, with Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) completing the points as top rookie – just ahead of Hafizh Syahrin (Monster Yamaha Tech 3).

EYETIME MOTORRAD GRAND PRIX VON ÖSTERREICH

MotoGP Race Classification 2018.

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	99	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Ducati Team	Ducati	182.8	39’40.688
2	20	93	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	182.8	+0.130
3	16	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	182.7	+1.656
4	13	35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	LCR Honda CASTROL	Honda	182.1	+9.434
5	11	9	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	Alma Pramac Racing	Ducati	181.8	+13.169
6	10	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	181.7	+14.026
7	9	26	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	181.7	+14.156
8	8	42	Alex RINS	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	181.5	+16.644
9	7	5	Johann ZARCO	FRA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	181.2	+20.760
10	6	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	Angel Nieto Team	Ducati	181.2	+20.844
11	5	53	Tito RABAT	SPA	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	181.2	+21.114
12	4	25	Maverick VIÑALES	SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	181.0	+22.939
13	3	29	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	180.8	+26.523
14	2	38	Bradley SMITH	GBR	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	180.6	+29.168
15	1	30	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	JPN	LCR Honda IDEMITSU	Honda	180.5	+30.072
16		55	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAL	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	180.5	+30.343
17		41	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	180.4	+31.775
18		43	Jack MILLER	AUS	Alma Pramac Racing	Ducati	180.2	+34.375
19		21	Franco MORBIDELLI	ITA	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	179.7	+40.171
20		45	Scott REDDING	GBR	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	178.8	+53.020
21		17	Karel ABRAHAM	CZE	Angel Nieto Team	Ducati	178.8	+53.261
22		12	Thomas LUTHI	SWI	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	178.7	+54.355
Not Classified
		10	Xavier SIMEON	BEL	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	178.8	18 Laps

MotoGP World Standing 2018.

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Marc MARQUEZ	Honda	SPA	201
2	Valentino ROSSI	Yamaha	ITA	142
3	Jorge LORENZO	Ducati	SPA	130
4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati	ITA	129
5	Maverick VIÑALES	Yamaha	SPA	113
6	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ducati	ITA	105
7	Johann ZARCO	Yamaha	FRA	104
8	Cal CRUTCHLOW	Honda	GBR	103
9	Andrea IANNONE	Suzuki	ITA	84
10	Alex RINS	Suzuki	SPA	66
11	Dani PEDROSA	Honda	SPA	66
12	Jack MILLER	Ducati	AUS	61
13	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Ducati	SPA	57
14	Tito RABAT	Ducati	SPA	35
15	Pol ESPARGARO	KTM	SPA	32
16	Hafizh SYAHRIN	Yamaha	MAL	24
17	Franco MORBIDELLI	Honda	ITA	22
18	Aleix ESPARGARO	Aprilia	SPA	17
19	Bradley SMITH	KTM	GBR	15
20	Scott REDDING	Aprilia	GBR	12
21	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	Honda	JPN	11
22	Mika KALLIO	KTM	FIN	6
23	Karel ABRAHAM	Ducati	CZE	4
24	Thomas LUTHI	Honda	SWI
25	Stefan BRADL	Honda	GER
26	Xavier SIMEON	Ducati	BEL
27	Sylvain GUINTOLI	Suzuki	FRA

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motogp.com

MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) stunning showdown in Spielberg

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EYETIME MOTORRAD GRAND PRIX VON ÖSTERREICH

MotoGP World Standing 2018.

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