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Reuters
2 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Marquez wins Austrian GP for first time to extend MotoGP championship lead
SPIELBERG, Austria, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Six-times MotoGP champion Marc Marquez marked the 1,000th premier class race in history by winning the Austrian Grand Prix for the first time in his career to take a mammoth 142-point lead over his brother Alex in the championship. Having won Saturday's sprint from the second row, Marquez claimed the sprint-race double for the sixth Grand Prix in a row, with the Spaniard unbeaten since the British Grand Prix in May. Not since 2014 had Marquez claimed six Grand Prix wins on the bounce as he inches closer to a seventh MotoGP crown with nine rounds left. Gresini Racing rookie Fermin Aldeguer found late race pace to finish second while Aprilia's pole sitter Marco Bezzecchi, who kept Marquez at bay for as long as he could, finished third. Alex Marquez finished 10th after serving a long-lap penalty. "Super, super happy to finally take the first victory here in Austria," Marquez said. "I'm happy with six victories in a row, but (I need to) keep focus, next week we have another race." Bezzecchi had claimed his first pole with Aprilia on Saturday and despite finishing fourth in the sprint, this time he had the perfect launch to lead Francesco Bagnaia and Marquez into turn one. The two Ducatis went side by side on lap one when Marquez briefly overtook his teammate but Bagnaia did not relent and took the place back to stay in second. However, Marquez made the same move on the next lap to take second and set his sights on Bezzecchi, waiting for the right opportunity to pounce. "In the first part he (Bezzecchi) was super strong but then I just waited, I tried in the beginning but it was too risky, then I preferred to wait and attack in the end," Marquez added. Alex Marquez had a poor start and with a long-lap penalty to serve for causing a crash at the Czech Grand Prix , the younger Marquez sibling fell out of the top 10 when he rejoined the field. Bezzecchi soaked up the pressure but the Aprilia rider was unable to shake off the red Ducati hunting him down. Bagnaia was struggling with his bike and he eventually began fading, giving way to KTM's Pedro Acosta and Aldeguer as the two youngsters fought for third. Bagnaia had been undefeated in Austria for three years but he was a shadow of the ringmaster who had dominated at the Red Bull Ring since 2022 as he was bumped down to eighth. Marquez finally attacked on lap 19 and squeezed past the Aprilia but Bezzecchi put his head down and took first place back from the Spaniard, eager to deny him a first victory at the Red Bull Ring. But Marquez was on the ascendancy and he finally broke Bezzecchi's resistance on the next lap, using the Aprilia's slipstream to dive into turn one and take the lead. As Bezzecchi made a futile attempt to reel Marquez in, Aldeguer then made a play for second place and the Gresini rookie made his move with five laps to go on turn one to slot in behind Marquez. Marquez responded to the challenge and kept Aldeguer at bay to take the chequered flag but the rookie was over the moon with his best result in MotoGP. "I'm super happy because at the end, Austria is not one of my favourite tracks like Le Mans," he said. "Making two podiums on bad tracks for me is incredible."
CNA
2 days ago
- Sport
- CNA
Marquez wins Austrian GP for first time to extend MotoGP championship lead
SPIELBERG, Austria :Six-times MotoGP champion Marc Marquez marked the 1,000th premier class race in history by winning the Austrian Grand Prix for the first time in his career to take a 142-point lead over his brother Alex in the championship. Having won Saturday's sprint from the second row, Marquez claimed the sprint-race double for the sixth Grand Prix in a row, with the Spaniard unbeaten since the British Grand Prix in May. Not since 2014 had Marquez claimed six Grand Prix wins in a row as he inches closer to a seventh MotoGP crown with nine rounds left. Gresini Racing rookie Fermin Aldeguer found late race pace to finish second while Aprilia's pole sitter Marco Bezzecchi finished third while Alex Marquez finished 10th after serving a long-lap penalty.
CNA
29-06-2025
- Automotive
- CNA
Former supremo Ecclestone makes F1 podium debut at 94
SPIELBERG, Austria :Bernie Ecclestone, the former Formula One supremo who rarely stayed to watch races beyond halfway when he was in charge, made his first grand prix podium appearance at the age of 94 in Austria on Sunday. The Briton was present at the Red Bull Ring to hand out a medal on behalf of the president of the governing FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, to McLaren's race winner Lando Norris. Norris hopped off the top step of the podium so that he would be standing at the same level as his diminutive compatriot. "I think it's really nice that the president gives a personal congratulations to the winning competitor," said Ecclestone, who ran the commercial side of the sport for some 40 years until being ousted in 2017. "As he could not attend the race here in Austria, he asked me to present his medal for him which I am pleased and honoured to do. "It was also great to be there as, though it might seem strange, this was the first time in almost 70 years in this sport that I've actually been on the podium." Norris won Formula One's 1,136th championship grand prix and Ecclestone attended the first at Silverstone in 1950. He once said he left races soon after the start because by then his business was done. The President's Medal was first presented to Red Bull's Max Verstappen at the season-ending 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and each one carries the race number and highlights the event's history.
CNA
29-06-2025
- Automotive
- CNA
Apologetic Antonelli given Silverstone grid drop
SPIELBERG, Austria :Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli was given a three-place grid drop for the British Grand Prix after dumping Formula One champion Max Verstappen out of Red Bull's home race in Austria on Sunday. The 18-year-old Italian rookie lost control and collided with the four-times champion on the opening lap, after narrowly missing Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson, with neither able to continue. It was Verstappen's first retirement of the season and left him still third in the championship but now 61 points adrift of McLaren's Oscar Piastri after 11 of 24 rounds. Piastri finished second in a McLaren one-two with race winner Lando Norris. "I braked hard because I was behind other cars, and in that moment I locked the rears. Then I just couldn't stop the car," said Antonelli, who had taken his first career F1 podium in the previous round in Canada. "The car was just taking speed and the crash was inevitable. I just feel super sorry to the team, and to Max of course, because obviously he was just a passenger." Stewards ruled that Antonelli was fully at fault and also gave him two penalty points. At a circuit where he has won a record five times, Verstappen had started seventh on the grid, with Antonelli lining up ninth, "I'm out, I got hit like crazy," Verstappen said over the team radio, with an additional expletive. "It's just unlucky, like yesterday in qualifying," he told Sky Sports television later. "But overall, we didn't really have that great pace anyway this weekend, so a lot of learning for us how we can hopefully do better next weekend. "My mentality doesn't change. We've won a lot in the past. Sometimes you have to accept that you are not winning, and we just try to do the best that we can." The retirement ended a run of 31 grands prix in the points for the Dutch driver, whose fans throng in their thousands to the Red Bull Ring but this time never got to see him race. The start was later than scheduled after Carlos Sainz's Williams got stuck on the grid as cars moved away for the formation lap.
CNA
29-06-2025
- Automotive
- CNA
Verstappen out of Austrian Grand Prix
SPIELBERG, Austria :Max Verstappen suffered his first retirement of the Formula One season on Sunday after a collision with Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli on the opening lap of Red Bull's home Austrian Grand Prix. The four-times world champion had started seventh on the grid, with Italian rookie Antonelli ninth, at a circuit where he has won a record five times. Antonelli, who clearly caused the Turn Three collision, also retired and the safety car was deployed. "I'm out, I got hit like crazy," Verstappen, third in the championship going into the race, said over the team radio. "Sorry about that, I locked the rear," Antonelli told his team. The retirement ended a run of 31 grands prix in the points for the Dutch driver, whose fans throng in their thousands to the Red Bull Ring. The race had started later than scheduled after Carlos Sainz's Williams was stuck on the grid as cars moved away for the formation lap. Sainz eventually got going and returned to the pitlane, where his car's brakes caught fire before being extinguished by mechanics with smoke still billowing out as he was pushed back and into retirement.
