Moto GP – Styrian GP – Race

What started and developed as a quite decent race, ended with another all time classic after a unexpected event turned the tables for all the riders of the grid. With a 12 lap sprint that saw all riders with large variety of strategies that spice up things at the Red Bull Ring.
Lights turn off as Suzuki rider Joan Mir grab the lead from Pol Espargaro, as he went 4th after a poor exit on turn 3, while Jack Miller and Takaaki Nakagami completed the top 3. Binder, Dovi, Oliveira and Rins were close from the front at the first laps. Mir had to give first place momentarily with Miller after a long run at turn 1, but eventually recovered it laps later. Top 3 riders Mir,Miller and Nakagami were on a close battle, until the suzuki rider started to develop a good pace.
As laps passed by, Mir gained a gap of +1 second ahead of Miller and Nakagami and +2.5 for Binder and Rins. with a few battles going on track, as Lecuona battle with Rossi or Dovizioso with Binder. A main topic from the race was that all Yamaha riders were having issues with the brakes, explaining why they were losing pace against rival riders.
And problems even got worse for Viñales, as the Bike stucked on 3rd gear, forcing him to get off the bike at 200MPH and his bike going straigt to the barrier, even catching fire after impact. fortunatelly Maverick didn´t had any injury on the incident.
But things quite changed for the riders, as a red flag appeared and teams could take a decision on how to end the 12 laps that were left on the race. Riders got back on track with another grid start. Miller had a massive start, as he attempt a soft-soft tyre compound untill the end of the race, like Dovi also did. Pol Espargaro got back to the top battle as he recovered the pace that has shown all weekend, Oliveira with a strong 3rd place and behind him, Mir, Dovi and Binder chasing the group.
Battles were getting intense at front, as Pol got first place from Miller, while Dovi was getting 4th place from Binder, as Mir was falling behind. As riders were closing to the final laps, defensive manouvers were a constant ahead. Pol holding 1st place from Miller and Oliveira trying to secure a podium spot from Dovi. Last lap and drama went skyhigh, as Miller seek for a move on Pol, as Dovi went wide against Oliveira and lost a place with Mir. Meanwhile ahead, Miller made a move on Pol, as they were at last sector, Pol tried to got back the lead, but both riders got quite poor racing lines. And on a unexpected turn of events, Oliveira took both riders from the inside and grabbed a remarkable maiden win on one of the most dramatic finishes on the premier class. As Miller crossed the line 2nd and Pol closed the last podium step.
Race results:
1. Miguel Oliveira // 2. Jack Miller //3. Pol Espargaro
4. Joan Mir // 5. Andrea Dovizioso // 6. Alex Rins
7. Takaaki Nakagami // 8. Brad Binder // 9. Valentino Rossi
10. Iker Lecuona // 11. Danilo Petrucci // 12. Aleix Espargaro
13. Fabio Quartararo // 14. Johann Zarco // 15. Franco Morbidelli
16. Alex Marquez // 17. Cal Crutchlow // 18. Stefan Bradl
19. Bradley Smirh // 20. Michelle Pirro // 21. Tito Rabat
DNF: Maverick Viñales
A historic result from Oliveira, as he becomes the first Portugese rider to win on the premier class and from KTM Tech 3, getting a first win for the team. With only Jerez repeating Quartararo as race winner, this championship has showed that everyone has a chance to get a strong result, as 4 race winners and 11 different riders have got to the podium at only 5 races of the calendar so far. Next race at Misano, as the championship standings could saw a new championship leader, in 3 weeks.