Red Bull KTM’s Jorge Martin took victory in a 13-lap Moto2 dash at the Red Bull Ring this lunchtime after a massive crash brought out the red flags.
Championship leader Enea Bastianini got spat over the highside of his Italtrans which went down just over the brow of the hill. The trailing riders managed to clear it but Hafizh Syahrin was just pulling out of slipstream, was unsighted and hit it, flying metres down the track but fortunately never lost consciousness.
Team boss Gino Borsoi said: “The rider is fine, with many bruises, especially on the hip, but has always been conscious.”
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.
A near highside from Lowes dropped him to sixth with now just five laps left but he regrouped quickly to get back into the fight. With four laps to go, Martin was now over a second clear of Marini after the Italian’s pressure failed to pay off.
Despite never having won an intermediate class race, the Spaniard has won plenty of lightweight class races before and he looked to be in a race-winning mood.
Two laps now remaining and Lowes was back ahead of Vierge in the fight for fourth. The Briton went defensive into Turn 3 and consequently sacrificed all of his drive down the back straight and was forced to hand back the place he’d only just gained.
As the trio fighting for fourth entered the final lap, Bezzecchi got his elbows out down the back straight in an attempt to get past Lowes. The chequered flag was ready, though, and it was taken by Martin for a career-first Moto2 win.
Martin clinched second and the Championship lead too, now five points clear of compatriot Bezzecchi who will get another chance in Austria next week, with the pair joined on the podium by Schrötter.
Lowes’ squabbling with Bezzecchi didn’t halt his progress in the final half a lap and he was able to pounce on a late Vierge mistake to take fourth, ahead of the Catalan and Bezzecchi. Liqui Moly Intact GP’s Tom Lüthi got the better of Augusto Fernandez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) in a fierce fight for seventh, before the top ten was completed by Canet and podium finisher last time out, Tennor American Racing’s Joe Roberts.
