Last week’s 3rd place podium hero Johann Zarco was involved in a terrifying incident when he came together with Franco Morbedelli.
From a braking point at nearly 200mph both bikes and riders were launched into the air before the on-coming fast left hand bend, where other riders were also racing.
Two other riders were so lucky to have been missed by both bikes.
The most lucky man to escape was Valentino Rossi, when one bike flew across his front wheel and a second bike just missed his head.
Rossi was extremely lucky not to have been injured in this terrifying incident and it was clearly evident that all of his guardian angels were working overtime.
One of the bikes involved in the incident also just missed Rossi’s team mate Maverick Vinales.
Following the red flag, the race was restarted and rerun over 20 laps.
The Austrian race track at the famous Red Bull Ring is the home of KTM who had hoped to repeat their winning performance from last week courtesy of Brad Binder and also have a better result from team mate Pol Espagaro.
Unfortunately for Espagaro, another incident put pay to his afternoon’s racing which left Binder to fight his way to a 4th place finish, leaving home team KTM satisfied.
The battle for top place on the podium was left to Dovizioso on his Ducati works rider. It was a sweet victory for Dovizioso who just recently announced he will leave the team at the end of this year.
Jack Miller had his work cut out for second place with Suzuki Team rider Joan Mir.
Mir originally took up the battle for second spot after his Team Suzuki team mate Alex Rims briefly took the lead after the race had restarted only to lose control of his front end and crash out.
Mir got the better of Miller’s Ducati on the last corner of the last lap to secure second place, with Miller 3rd and Brad Binder 4th.
Another good ride from Rossi resulted in a 5th place finish although his Yamaha team mate Vinales only managed to finish in 10th.
A high octane race with lots of drama and thankfully a miraculous escape for several drivers after the red flag incident.
However, the most surprising news from the MotoGP paddock this weekend was Team Ducati confirming they will loose their top rider and yesterday’s race winner Andrea Dovizioso at the end of this year.
The Ducati management must surely be asking themselves whether they have made the right decision in letting such a great rider leave their team, particularly in light of his great MotoGP Race victory at The Red Bull Ring yesterday.
- Christopher P. Reeves & John Richards, Alpha One Media