Marc Marquez extended his sprint dominance with a sixth consecutive victory at the Red Bull Ring, beating brother Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta to the podium, while Francesco Bagnaia’s race, although avoiding a disaster at the start, was poised to turn sour from the get-go.
Launching away from second on the grid, the Italian encountered massive wheelspin off the line, launching him sideways and in front of the riders starting behind him.
While large chunks of the grid were busy avoiding contact with an almost stationary factory Ducati in the middle of the grid, Alex Marquez, having started P2, made the perfect launch.
Damn lucky no one hit each other on that one 🫣#MotoGP #AustrianGPpic.twitter.com/c0saZXRswL
— MGP1 (@mgp1official) August 16, 2025
The Spaniard and his brother Marc slipped by polesitter Marco Bezzecchi, whose Aprilia was struggling for grip on the short dash towards Turn 1.
From here on out, a rather familiar sprint picture formed. Although Alex was able to edge out a half-second lead over his brother in the first half of the sprint, Marc quickly hauled him back in once comfortably clear of the Bezzecchi-Acosta fight behind.
Putting pressure on his brother ahead of him, he soon capitalised on Alex getting unsettled on the exit of the Turn 2 chicane, leaving him vulnerable for an overtake a corner later.
🔄 @marcmarquez93 makes his move and LEADS #AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/5D3vuB8qOt
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 16, 2025
Having cleared his brother, Marc Marquez quickly sped off into the distance, growing his lead to a healthy 1.2 seconds across the finish line.
KTM’s best Pedro Acosta celebrated a second sprint podium in a row, having picked off Marco Bezzecchi in the early stages of the sprint.
Hauling in the Ducatis in front of him, his hopes of more than a third-place finish soon faded despite being able to easily hold off Bezzecchi in 4th.
Binder finished the day in fifth ahead of Gresini rookie Fermin Aldeguer, who, like Bagnaia, encountered massive wheelspin off the line.
Enea Bastianini, Fabio di Giannantonio and Johann Zarco rounded out the point-scoring places, with World Champion Jorge Martin finishing tenth.
Pecco Bagnaia, after dropping back to 14th off the line, soon retired from the sprint due to persisting issues with his rear Michelin tyre. He was later joined by Raul Fernandez, whose rear ride height device got stuck, forcing him to retire from a brilliant fifth place.
