Marc Marquez continued his dominance with a sixth consecutive win, claiming victory in MotoGP’s 1,000th race in Austria.
The Spaniard fended off a late challenge from rookie Fermin Aldeguer after a successful move on Marco Bezzecchi, with all three rounding off the podium.
Bezzecchi took the holeshot from pole into Turn 1 as Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez followed close behind.
The championship leader quickly dispatched his younger brother, before making a lunge at Turn 3 on his team-mate. Bagnaia wasn’t giving up without a fight, as the Italian immediately slotted back through.
Marquez sat back for the rest of the lap before permanently overtaking on Lap 2 at the same corner.
While the factory Ducati duo were scrapping, polesitter Bezzecchi extended his lead to 0.8 seconds by setting a consistent pace early on.
Gresini’s Alex Marquez was issued a long-lap penalty after colliding with Honda’s Joan Mir at the previous round, dropping from fourth to 11th.
The leading duo of Bezzecchi and Márquez had broken away from Bagnaia to create a second gap, with the Italian having come under pressure from KTM rider Pedro Acosta behind.
By Lap 5, the gap between the Aprilia rider and the championship leader held steady at 0.7s, but Marquez’s trademark mid-race purple patch was still to come.
On Lap 6 and Lap 7, the rapid pace from the Spaniard arrived, setting quicker lap times as he closed the gap to 0.4s.
Further behind, Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez made an aggressive lunge on KTM’s Brad Binder at the final corner, resulting in the South African to drop down to ninth.
In turn, Fernandez remained in sixth as rookie Fermin Aldeguer sneaked his way through on his inside.
Out front, Marquez closed right to the back of Bezzecchi’s Aprilia and tried to navigate the perfect overtake opportunity.
The Spaniard piled on the pressure by closing in at Turns 3 and 4, though he showed no urgency to make a move just yet.
Between Laps 12 and 13, however, Marquez dropped back to within 0.8 seconds, possibly indicating a tyre pressure issue.
Bezzecchi’s team-mate, reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Martin, lost the front of his Aprilia at Turn 7 on Lap 14.
The gap between Bezzecchi and Márquez steadily decreased over the next few laps, narrowing to 0.2 seconds. Marquez made his first attempt on Lap 19, but Bezzecchi fought back with an unconventional move into Turn 6.
The factory Ducati rider made another lunge at Turn 1 before completing the race-winning move at the start of Lap 20.
While the drama unfolded at the front, Bagnaia ran wide at the final corner, which promoted Aldeguer and Acosta to third and fourth, respectively.
Aldeguer displayed incredible late-race pace, lapping half a second quicker than the lead duo and completing a block pass on Bagnaia on Lap 23.
Although Aldeguer couldn’t overtake Marquez for the win, the championship leader picked up his ninth win of the season.
The Spaniard earned his first win on the Austrian roads, picking up sixth consecutive win for the first time since his 2014 title-winning campaign.
Aldeguer’s second cemented another podium in his debut campaign, followed by polesitter Bezzecchi.
Acosta and Enea Bastianini finished fourth and fifth on the KTM, with Honda’s Joan Mir securing his best result since 2023 in sixth.
Brad Binder managed a strong result of seventh, while two-time champion Bagnaia had to settle for eighth.
Raul Fernandez claimed ninth for Trackhouse, as Alex Marquez made only one overtake following his long lap to round off the top 10.
Franco Morbidelli posted 11th for VR46 Ducati, defeating Johann Zarco and Luca Marini in the closing stages
Ai Ogura crossed the line in 14th for Trackhouse, whereas Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo claimed 15th and the final point.
Alex Rins finished five seconds behind the Frenchman, with the Pramac duo of Miguel Oliveira and Jack Miller trailing behind the Spaniard by four and seven seconds, respectively.
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