Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia won his third successive MotoGP race at the Austrian Grand Prix, with Championship leader Fabio Quartararo taking second, reports BBC Sport.
Bagnaia led from the first lap, having started second and overtaken Gresini Racing’s Enea Bastianini early.
He finished 0.492 seconds ahead of Yamaha’s Quartararo, with Ducati’s Jack Miller in third.
The victory means Bagnaia has become only the second Italian to win three races in a row after Valentino Rossi.
“It was a long race… I did too many mistakes in the first part of the year, so it was time for me to be more smart,” Bagnaia said.
“When I looked at the gap, I tried to be very cautious with the time laps because I was sure that my pace was good enough to open the gap and in the last two laps, I just tried to be calm. I am very happy with my team, they have done an incredible job.”
It was a dominant display from Bagnaia, who also won the British and Dutch GPs in recent weeks, as he overtook fellow countryman Bastianini, whose race finished early when a deflated tyre forced him out.
Miller and Jorge Martin, also of Ducati, stole in and looked good for a podium finish, but Quartararo passed the latter after he ran wide in the 17th lap.
Hunting second place, Quartararo had Miller in his sights and successfully made his move three laps from the end to increase his healthy overall lead over Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro, who finished sixth on Sunday, to 32 points.
Race result
1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita) Ducati 42 minutes 14.886 seconds
2. Fabio Quartararo (Fra) Yamaha +0.492
3. Jack Miller (Aus) Ducati +2.163
4. Luca Marini (Ita) Ducati +8.348
5. Johann Zarco (Fra) Ducati +8.821
6. Aleix Espargaro (Spa) Aprilia +11.287
7. Brad Binder (Rsa) KTM +11.642
8. Alex Rins (Spa) Suzuki +11.780
9. Marco Bezzecchi (Ita) Ducati +16.987
10. Jorge Martin (Esp) +17.144
Championship standings
1. Fabio Quartararo (Fra) Yamaha 200 points
2. Aleix Espargaro (Spa) Aprilia 168
3. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita) Ducati 156
4. Johann Zarco (Fra) Ducati 125
5. Jack Miller (Aus) Ducati 123
