The MotoGP travels this weekend to Austria, specifically to the Red Bull Ring, in the town of Spielberg. There comes a leading Fabio Quartararo, but in the lowest hours of the season. The Frenchman comes from not finishing in Assen and from an eighth place in Great Britain, two results that allowed Aleix Espargaró and, above all, Francesco Bagnaia, winner in both races, to reduce a distance with 'El Diablo' that now doesn't seem so insurmountable. Last year it was Brad Binder who took the win in Austria. The South African is currently in seventh position.
The thirteenth Grand Prix of the motorcycle season started this Friday with free practice. The race, the highlight of the weekend, will start on Sunday, August 21, at 2:00 p.m. (Spanish time). It can be seen live through DAZN and Movistar Plus. It can also be followed on the La Vanguardia website.
Quartararo is the undisputed dominator of this MotoGP World Championship, leader after twelve races with 180 points. However, the distance with his pursuers, who seemed light years away, has been drastically reduced in the last two dates. A disappointing eighth place and the non-finish in Assen allowed Espargaró to close to 22 points. They could have been less if he had taken better advantage of the Frenchman's downturn. In Assen he took a creditable fourth place, which added 13 points to his locker, but in Great Britain he finished ninth, one place below the leader.
The great beneficiary has been, without a doubt, Bagnaia. The Italian from the Ducati team, with his two consecutive first positions, accumulates 131 points. Although he is still far from Quartararo, he arrives at an extraordinary moment and lies in second position for Espargaró. Behind are Enea Bastianini and Johann Zarco, the latter after a big drop. He failed to finish in Great Britain and was thirteenth in Assen.
These bumps in the form of the drivers who move between fourth and seventh position are good news for the troop of Spanish pursuers who accumulate behind. Alex Rins and Maverick Viñales are eighth and ninth, Jorge Martin and Joan Mir eleventh and twelfth and Marc Márquez fourteenth. That area of the table is in a fist: 24 points separate Marc Márquez, the most off the hook, from Alex Rins.
After his fall at Silverstone, Aleix Espargaró assures that he still suffers: "My physical condition is improving day by day. The edema in my left foot has practically disappeared, while the right one, the one that was fractured at Silverstone, still causes me some pain" . However, he says that those setbacks won't stop him from being in Austria and trying to perform at his best level: "I think I won't have any problems this weekend and my goal is to have a good race. I'm curious to see how the bike will behave in the Austrian track". The Spaniard will have the opportunity to continue cutting points to a Quartararo that seemed insurmountable.
