Heading into the most recent MotoGP race weekend, the expectation was that a Ducati rider would win the race. It was a simple deduction, really; Ducati riders had won 5 of the 6 races held at the Austrian circuit in modern MotoGP history, and only lost on the sixth occasion due to a daring last-corner overtake from Miguel Oliveira onboard his KTM last year. Marc Marquez has been trying desperately to dethrone the Ducatis here for years with no success, so it certainly seemed that though the field has gotten much tighter in recent years, it was a safe bet that someone on a GP21 would take the top step of the podium.
They were right, of course, but it certainly wasn’t the rider most people were expecting. Jorge Martin took his first MotoGP win under incredible circumstances, keeping his cool after a red flag caused the race to be restarted and surviving relentless pressure from the Suzuki of Joan Mir to take the chequered flag in first. It was a truly exceptional ride, the young Spanish rookie holding his nerve in a manner one would expect from a class veteran. He also took the win from pole position, his second of the season, which only reinforces just how much of a special talent Martin is.
The numbers at play here are certainly awe inspiring. Martin has only raced six races this season thanks to his injuries sustained during practice at Portimao, and yet has managed to take two pole positions, a win and a podium. One has to imagine that the results could have been even better by now had he not been sidelined for so long, forcing him to spend the first few rounds back on a motorcycle simply training his body in the hopes that it would return to its peak form sooner rather than later. His story is one of grit and determination, and it was an inspiring win for so many reasons.
Should we be surprised that Martin has gelled so quickly to life as a MotoGP rider? Probably not. Martin has found success at every level of motorcycle racing he has competed in, be it Moto2, Moto3 or the Red Bull Rookies Cup. He’s an incredibly smart rider who often prefers to control races from the front rather than get mixed up in dogfights in the midst of the pack. Victories have often seemed to come incredibly easily to the Spaniard, and his Moto3 title is proof that he knows how to win a world title. When he stepped up to the class it certainly appeared like a question of when, rather than if, he would start taking race wins.
The most impressive part of his performance for me personally was how he held off the hard-charging Joan Mir. Suzuki finally unveiled their new ride height adjuster this weekend, with Mir and Rins getting it installed into one of their two bikes each, and the difference was noticeable immediately. Mir looked instantly more comfortable on the bike, returning to the style that we saw in the back half of 2020 and shedding a lot of that difficult, angular style that has come about this season as he fought desperately to keep up with the other manufacturers. Given his previous success at this track it seemed highly likely he would convert it into a victory, so seeing Martin hold him off so confidently was something incredible to witness.
It was a lopsided race for the rest of Martin’s Ducati allies. Miller looked to be in the running for a podium place but binned it in the final third of the race, exerting the front end of his bike unnecessarily when he clearly had superior pace over third-placed Quartararo. Bagnaia had a fantastic start to the first race but struggled after the restart, crossing the line in eighth but being demoted to eleventh post race. Zarco was the only other rider onboard a GP21 to have a relatively successful race, though it was a difficult last lap for the Frenchman as he conceded fourth and fifth place to the fast-charging Binder and the confident Honda of Nakagami.
This played heavily into the hands of third-placed Quartararo. The championship leader went into this weekend with a lot of uncertainty over how much his lead would be at the conclusion of the race, given three of his primary challengers this season are riding Ducatis. Incredibly, he managed to depose all three of them, and ended the weekend with his championship lead greater than it has been all season. Only Mir was able to take points away from the Frenchman, and though the Suzuki rider will see that as a major victory given his struggles in the first half of the season, it’s going to take a lot more than that to dethrone Quartararo before the season finale in Valencia.
The race also made for a fantastic showcase of just how incredible the current MotoGP grid is. The top five riders all represented different manufacturers – Ducati, Suzuki, Yamaha, KTM and Honda – and two of the five were on satellite machinery to boot. This feat of five different machines in the leading five places has only occured twice before in MotoGP, once in 2008 and once in 2007, and gives a great indicator for just how competitive all of the different bikes on the current grid are. Aprilia might have even had a say in the mix if they hadn’t had both of their riders ruled out prematurely, with Aleix Espargaro retiring due to engine woes and Savadori eliminated in the fiery crash that brought out the red flags.
This crash was terrifying as a viewer, and it also redoubles many people’s concerns regarding the safety of the Austrian circuit when it comes to motorcycle racing. We have now had three MotoGP races red-flagged here in the last twelve months, plus a fourth if you include Moto2, and that is a simply unacceptable rate of major accidents occurring at a single track. Sure, the Austrian circuit is fast and exciting to watch, but when crashes of this magnitude are happening this regularly the safety of the riders becomes a major concern. How a rider can be expected to head out on track and push themselves to the absolute maximum when they have witnessed heavy fires, bikes flipping across track at high speeds and other dramatic crashes all occur on site is beyond me.
Will we see any changes in safety here before the follow-up race this weekend? It was a topic of debate last year following the Zarco-Morbidelli crash, so it seems likely to be investigated here as well. The riders care deeply about their own safety, of course, and anything that can be done to reduce the likelihood of a repeat incident will hopefully be looked into either before racing resumes on Friday or over the course of the weekend. The fact that the majority of these incidents have occurred in the same section of the track – turn 3 – means that the FIM can focus their efforts on making this corner safer before they start to look into the circuit as a whole, so hopefully this will motivate them to listen to the riders and do what can be done regarding their safety.
All criticisms of track safety aside, it was a thoroughly enjoyable race. Having a swathe of young, talented riders battling it out for the top positions was incredibly refreshing – Joan Mir was somehow the oldest rider on the podium, despite being only 23. To me, this podium represented a changing of the guard, as we continue to see recent Moto3 and Moto2 champions moving up to the premier class and immediately contesting podiums and wins. As more of the older generation of MotoGP riders get shifted out – Dovizioso and Crutchlow last year, Petrucci and Rossi this year – we will continue to see an influx of these young, talented riders battling it out for ultimate glory, and for me that is nothing short of fantastic news.
After more than a month of waiting for this Styrian round, we have just a four day turnover before racing resumes this time, as the paddock goes back-to-back in the Austrian mountains. The Austrian grand prix will likely be closer, faster, and even more dramatic than its predecessor. I only hope there won’t be any fires involved this time.
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