Jorge Martín faces Marc Márquez in the Austrian GP

Spielberg was electrified this Saturday thanks to the brilliant performance of Jorge Martín. The Aprilia rider gave a true masterclass at the Austrian GP to take the pole position and the sprint victory, a result that once again places him as the championship leader. He is only three points behind the reigning MotoGP world champion, Marc Márquez, who finished second on the Ducati after a beautiful head-to-head battle between the two. Pedro Acosta, leader of the local KTM factory, lost a golden opportunity to win the short race after crashing three laps from the end, when he had a three-second lead at the front of the group.

Read more Howard Buffett, the farmer who will be the «guardian» of his father’s legendary conglomerate

In a thrilling race, another demonstration of the excellent competitive health of the World Championship, Martín unleashed his most explosive and wild version to lead the day. Although he did not have a better pace than Acosta, he pulled off a brilliant lap in qualifying to achieve his third pole of the year (1:27.917). His injured right arm did not bother him then, nor in the sprint. At least apparently.

“I really enjoyed the race, but we were lucky with Pedro’s crash, I wouldn’t have beaten him. That first lap was very on the edge, but then I felt good enough to start coming back, I felt hungry, very focused, and I’m super satisfied with the team’s work,” said the 89 at the end of the day. “The arm is better than expected, it seems within normal parameters, I felt better than in Misano. The ultimate test will be this Sunday, and if all goes well, I will hold off surgery until the end of the year,” he added, suffering from compartment syndrome.

After a flying start, Martín had a tussle with Márquez at the chicane of turn 2, which he reached tight after not taking the first corner well. The defending champion cut inside, braking late, and the Madrid rider had to go wide, rejoining with some danger in the middle of the pack and plummeting to eighth place in the blink of an eye. The setback fired up the 2024 champion, fiery as few in the paddock. In eight laps, he was able to recover all the lost ground and return the favor to 93 at turn 1, where he also left behind the rest of the rivals who got involved in the incident.

Already in second, the day’s winner had Acosta too far ahead, unreachable. The Murcian had taken advantage of the conflict between Martín and Márquez on the first lap to slip his bike past the Catalan at turn 4 of the Austrian track, also on the edge. From there, he escaped in the lead with an insulting superiority over the rest, making a huge mistake three laps from the end to the dismay of the local crowd and all the factory bosses gathered inside their garage. “It was a big screw-up on my part,” he admitted.

Acosta’s slip ended the hostilities. Italian Marco Bezzecchi, third in the title fight, joined Martín and Márquez on the podium without making much noise. Behind him, Japanese Ai Ogura, returning after missing two grands prix due to a hand injury, signed a meritorious fourth place, 23 days after surgery.

“The goal was to finish third. I already felt that Pedro and Jorge had better pace, and today we had some luck. I’m satisfied because we minimized the damage,” Márquez explained seriously. “This Sunday I will have to watch out for Bezzecchi and Ogura towards the end of the race,” he added, not very optimistic about his chances of victory.

Read more An 85-year-old man arrested for killing a 47-year-old woman in the Arganzuela district of Madrid