Jorge Martin claimed victory in a chaotic Austrian MotoGP sprint after long-time race leader Pedro Acosta crashed with three laps to go.
Martin dropped from first to eighth on the opening lap on the race after several close calls with Marc Marquez on the opening lap, but fought back to earn his 20th career sprint win.
Martin had initially made the best start from pole position and was able to hold the lead at Turn 1, although he ran well wide on the corner exit.
Martin going wide allowed Marquez to take the momentum running up the hill towards the chicane, and although the Aprilia rider tried to tough it out, the nine-time champion tucked underneath to claim the race lead.
Martin once again , skating across the chicane and dropping all the way down to eighth, while Marquez then outbraked himself at Turn 4 to gift the lead of the race to Pedro Acosta.
As Acosta set the pace and broke into a one-and-a-half second lead out front, Martin began to make his way back through the field and easily moved into the top five before dispatching Alex Marquez at the chicane for fourth.
The next rider in Martin’s sights was Aprilia team-mate Marco Bezzecchi, and the Spaniard was able to use his exit from the final corner and slipstream on the main straight to pull a pass into Turn 1 for third.
Martin’s next overtake was on championship rival Marquez, and the Aprilia rider pulled another move into Turn 1 and forced the Ducati man wide on the corner exit to move back into second, although he remained almost three seconds behind race leader Acosta.
However, the race wasn’t done there as Acosta misjudged his braking point heading into the chicane with three laps remaining. The KTM rider skidded through the run-off and out of contention, gifting Martin the lead back as he exited the race.
Martin held his nerve in the final few laps of the race as he fought back to claim sprint victory and return to the lead of the championship after relinquishing it in Misano.
Marquez finished second after holding off Bezzecchi, who completed the podium of title contenders in third.
Ai Ogura took fourth after pulling a late move on Alex Marquez, who took a comfortable fifth over Francesco Bagnaia.
Johann Zarco finished seventh ahead of Fermin Aldeguer, while Brad Binder rounded out the points finishers for KTM in the manufacturer’s home race.
Fabio Di Giannantonio took the chequered flag after a lonely race in 10th, with Enea Bastianini 11th and Fabio Quartararo 12th.
Luca Marini finished 13th after battling with illness, while stand-in riders Pol Espargaro and Takaaki Nakagami took 14th and 15th respectively.
Diogo Moreira was one of two riders to be given double long lap penalties for jump starts in the sprint, but the Brazilian still managed 16th ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alex Rins.
Raul Fernandez was the other rider penalised for a jump start, but finished 19th after a late mistake from Jack Miller dropped him down to the final finishing position in 20th.
Acosta’s crash saw him join Franco Morbidelli as the only non-finishers of the sprint race.
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