Headlines
Time to lock horns at the Red Bull Ring as MotoGP returns
MotoGP: A record-setting first 12 rounds have set us up for a box office business end of the season
Headlines
MotoGP: A record-setting first 12 rounds have set us up for a box office business end of the season.
Summer is now behind us and the overseas rounds are honing into view, but not before a whistlestop tour of Europe. There are four rounds over the next five weeks and it all starts high in the Styrian Alps for the Grand Prix of Austria. With batteries recharged and spirits, goals, and ambitions renewed, it’s a circuit that’s never short of drama and 2025 is no exception. Welcome to the Red Bull Ring for Round 13!
THE TOP THREE: can Marc Marquez be stopped?
Making history by becoming the first Ducati rider to take five wins in a row, Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) has a 120-point lead in the standings but the Austrian GP has been his Achilles heel in recent years. Astonishingly, he’s yet to win here and his last podium was in 2019 after another showdown with Andrea Dovizioso. With the #93’s fixation on victory, can anyone stop him? He’s been in a league of his own but Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) needs a result too after a Brno to forget. He chases a first MotoGP podium in Austria whilst Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) is unbeaten at the Red Bull Ring since 2022 – can this be the place where Pecco takes the fight to conquer the #93?
APRILIA’S MOMENTUM: taking the fight to the top three
The Aprilia charge is really picking up some serious speed and rhythm; Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) has two Grand Prix podiums and two Sprint podiums from his last three GPs and has been pushing Marc Marquez hard. Teammate Jorge Martin, on his headline-making return, was a solid P7 at Brno, with renewed optimism in the Aprilia box. Both have rostrums at the Red Bull Ring, whilst it’s not just the factory team fighting the heavyweights. Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) has been one of the biggest improvers as we headed for summer, with five straight top ten finishes and a joint-career best at Brno of P5 on Sunday. Teammate Ai Ogura hopes that the familiarity of the Red Bull Ring returns him to a top ten challenge after a tricky Czech GP and early momentum was interrupted by some injury struggles.
MOVING ON UP: KTM in form for home round
Aprilia weren’t the only manufacturer right in contention – so were KTM. Since Aragon, the Austrian manufacturer have featured strongly and following Pedro Acosta’s (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) podium in Czechia and likewise Enea Bastianini’s (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) Sprint rostrum, all eyes will be on whether this breakthrough can be followed up at their home round. Elsewhere, Bastianini’s teammate Maverick Viñales returns to action after his Sachsenring injury, whereas Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) has memories of his 2021 Austrian GP win and hopes that he can find form again. It’s the most important round of KTM’s season but if recent results are a guideline, they’re up for the challenge.
IN THE FIGHT: a return to podium contention incoming for…
Spectacular over one lap and still in the fight in the Grands Prix themselves, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) leads the Yamaha charge. Ninth in the standings but just seven points adrift of Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR), both Frenchmen are keen to stay in top six contention overall. Brno was a disaster for Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), scoring no points at all in a weekend for the first time since Germany in 2024. He’s fifth overall, just ahead of his returning teammate Franco Morbidelli, who is still in the fight for a top five overall after his teammate’s struggles in Czechia, just three points back. Completing the top ten, Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) is top rookie into the second part of the season and now has a solid 28-point margin behind to Viñales after the #12 was sidelined.
STEPS FORWARD: hunting a top ten result
A podium finisher at the Red Bull Ring in 2022 and with back-to-back top ten finishes into summer, Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) is the second Yamaha in the standings in 14th but tied on points with the Honda of Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol). The #10’s teammate, Joan Mir, will have ordered an extra bout of good luck for Round 13 after his incident with Alex Marquez at Brno. Mir was traditionally a big fan of Austria and he’s only 10 points behind Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), whilst Miguel Oliveira (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) and Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) complete the order, the latter hopefully returning to the place of a Moto2™ podium in 2022 looking to be passed fit, and Oliveira to the scene of his first MotoGP win in 2020.
Feeling recharged? MotoGP is. The most exciting sport on Earth returns in the BWIN Grand Prix of Austria as the second half of the season begins – with Marc Marquez aiming to fill that uncharacteristic gap in his CV and the rest looking to stop his momentum. Tune in for Round 13 this weekend!
For more MotoGP info check out our dedicated MotoGP News page
Or visit the official MotoGP website www.motogp.com
©Words/Images are from an official press release posted courtesy of www.motogp.com
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