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This one went down to the line, but at the finish it was Ducati’s Andrea Dovzioso taking top prize in a thrilling MotoGP fight at Red Bull Ring. Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez crossed in second followed by his teammate, Dani Pedrosa, in third.
When the lights went out, Marquez stormed to the lead from pole, but was quickly overtaken by Ducat’s Jorge Lorenzo. Dovi was right in there too in third-place, challenging Marquez for position in the earliest stages. Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi slotted into fourth with Pedrosa and Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales giving chase behind in fifth and sixth.
Jorge Lorenzo led the early stages of the MotoGP race at Red Bull Ring. Photo courtesy of Ducati.
Lorenzo managed to maintain the lead for more than 10 laps, but he was faced with fuel consumption concerns and excessive tire wear on the right-hand side. This gave his rivals the chance to close up and move past with 17 laps remaining.
And the move to advance past Lorenzo was a memorable one. Lorenzo took a corner too hot and opened the door to both Marquez and Dovizioso, and in making the move the riders ran three-wide for a period before Dovi clinched the top spot from third-place. Marquez quickly found an opening and dropped the Italian back to second, but it was definitely a taste of things to come.
Marquez and Dovi proceeded to open a gap on Lorenzo in subsequent laps, and though Marquez kept a scorching pace Dovi was relentless. That gave the Ducati ace his chance to reclaim the lead when Marquez ran wide with 11 laps on the board. Two laps later Marquez made a masterful move in the left-hand Turn 7, positioning himself once again on top.
With Marquez and Dovi battling hard near the end, Dani Pedrosa closed up briefly. He was unable to keep with the leaders to the end, however, and finished third. Photo courtesy of Repsol Honda.
Two more laps later, Dovi and Marquez began dicing back and forth, with Dovi coming out on top. This battle allowed Pedrosa, who had earlier dispatched Lorenzo, to close in tight with the lead duo. Pedrosa’s stint as a win contender was short-lived though, as Dovi and Marquez’s pace proved too quick to match.
The closing laps were relatively mellow, and a minor mistake by Marquez gave Dovi a few bike lengths to breath. Though, entering the final lap that all changed.
Dovi led into Turn One, and put up a strong defense, holding his lines tight and defending well in the areas Marquez had shown a propensity to move before. This tactic got Dovi to the final corners still in the lead, but Marquez wasn’t going down without a fight.
He cut to the outside of the penultimate corner hard to try and sneak past the Ducati, and when that didn’t work he jammed it hard to the inside of the final corner. Dovi kept composed despite the fact that in the move Marquez nearly clipped the Ducati’s front tire. He got the drive and powered past Marquez down the final straight, tossing the left hand to Marquez in the process to let the Honda rider know exactly what he thought of the pass attempt.
Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Marquez battled with everything for the win at Red Bull Ring. Photo courtesy of Ducati.
“It was a crazy race, but to be honest the whole weekend was incredible, and in particular the final curve of the last lap, but I managed to remain clear headed and was aware that Marquez was going to try and pass me,” Dovi explained in a team press release. “It was a very difficult situation because if Marc had closed the door coming out of the corner, he would have forced me out and passed me. Instead I was able to resist his attack and I went on to win!”
Lorenzo remained in fourth-position to the finish, followed by Tech 3 Yamaha’s Johann Zarco in fifth and Vinales in sixth. Rossi crossed the line in seventh, unable to recover after a mid-race mistake saw him run wide and drop back from fourth. Pull & Bear Aspar’s Alvaro Bautista battled up to take eighth-place followed by Reale Avintia Racing’s Loris Baz in ninth and Red Bull KTM Racing’s Mika Kallio in 10th.
Marquez maintains the overall points lead, 16 ahead of Dovi in second. Vinales sits third a further eight points back followed by Rossi in fourth and Pedrosa in fifth.
2017 MotoGP Red Bull Ring Results
1. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati)
2. Marc Marquez (Honda)
3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda)
4. Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati)
5. Johann Zarco (Yamaha)
6. Maverick Vinales (Yamaha)
7. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)
8. Alvaro Bautista (Ducati)
9. Loris Baz (Ducati)
10. Mika Kallio (KTM)
11. Andrea Iannone (Suzuki)
12. Scott Redding (Ducati)
13. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia)
14. Karel Abraham (Ducati)
15. Cal Crutchlow (Honda)
16. Alex Rins (Suzuki)
17. Hector Barbera (Ducati)
18. Bradley Smith (KTM)
19. Tito Rabat (Honda)
20. Sam Lowes (Aprilia)
Not Classified
Jack Miller (Honda)
Danilo Petrucci (Ducati)
Jonas Folger (Yamaha)
Pol Espargaro (KTM)
2017 MotoGP World Championship Points
1. Marc Marquez, 174
2. Andrea Dovizioso, 158
3. Maverick Vinales, 150
4. Valentino Rossi, 141
5. Dani Pedrosa, 139
6. Johann Zarco, 99
7. Jorge Lorenzo, 79
8. Jonas Folger, 77
9. Cal Crutchlow, 76
10. Danilo Petrucci, 75
