MotoGP: Austrian GP Preview: Another Spielberg thriller awaits…

MotoGP heads to part two of its Central Europe road trip, traveling 341km south west from Brno to the Red Bull Ring in Austria for the eleventh round of the championship. Whilst Marquez may well be sporting a 49 point lead in the championship and shouting ‘catch me if you can’, he will still need to show his real steel and need for speed to keep the true grit of the revenge of the fallen behind him. After all, we are in Spielberg, where only the very unpredictable happens…

Marquez’s 49 point lead sees him with almost one hand on the trophy and usually I’d be saying that it is almost a done deal but really, anything can still happen. We have just nipped into the second half of the season and the next three circuits (including Red Bull Ring) are tracks at which Marquez hasn’t had a dry win at in the last four seasons. Having said that, Marquez has still won three of those four championships and has been a podium rider in Austria before. Can he go one better on his 2017 result and become the first Honda rider to win a premier class race in Austria since Mick Doohan in 1997?

Valentino Rossi kept his run of top-five finishes going at Brno with a last lap 4th place, nabbed from Cal Crutchlow. The Italian veteran has a mixed record at the Red Bull Ring, having taken his first ever GP podium back in 1996 when the circuit was known as the A1 Ring but not scoring a podium in the premier class at the track. Yamaha are desperate for a win but their wait may well have to be prolonged, as they have only ever achieved one podium at the circuit. Rossi needs to take points off of Marquez to remain in the title fight – will Austria be a turning point?

Andrea Dovizioso’s win at Brno has reinvigorated the runner-up of 2017, elevating him into 3rd in the standings – 19 from Rossi and 68 away from Marquez’s series lead. Dovi has been no lower than 2nd in Austria and was the winner of a titanic dual at the track last year – arguably the birthplace of his and the Marquez rivalry. Another win for the Italian this year and a poor result for Marquez and we may just see the title race come alive again. Has Dovizioso found something?

The only thing that 4th-placed in the championship Maverick Vinales found in the Czech Republic was a 4th row grid start and the gravel trap at turn three on lap one. A horrendous run of form continued and Viñales needs to get his head sorted so he can focus on what is left of his season. The 2013 Moto3 champion has never had back-to-back DNFs in his entire GP career and that is a record he will want to maintain. Viñales has been 6th for the previous two Austrian GPs and will be hoping for a podium challenge.

Jorge Lorenzo’s challenge at the front of the championship is becoming a little bit more prominent, with a thrilling 2nd place finish at Brno propelling the five-time world champion into 5th in the standings. The Ducati rider will be looking to become the 3rd rider for the manufacturer to take the Austrian Grand Prix victory. Lorenzo is a new rider in 2018 and he could well be a rider to watch with the unpredictability that is the Austrian GP. He was 3rd in 2016 for Yamaha and 4th for Ducati last year. If it is dry, I’m calling a Jorge Lorenzo win.

Frenchman Johann Zarco is 6th in the championship and he looked a little bit like his old self in the Czech Republic, with a strong ride to 7th for the Tech 3 Yamaha outfit. Zarco was a revelation in Austria last year, finishing as top Yamaha rider and setting the fastest lap of the race, subsequently becoming the new lap record of the track. A winner in Moto2 in 2016, Zarco – if his head is back in the right place after his latest flakey wobble – could well be a podium threat.

Dani Pedrosa was 8th last time out and remains 12th in the championship. The Spaniard retires at the end of the season and is yet to get a podium this year, having finished the last four races in the points – something he hasn’t done since he got eight on the bounce last year between Catalunya and Aragón. 3rd in the race last year, he may well be in with a chance of something similar this year.

The Suzuki pairing of Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins had a really mixed Austrian GP last year, with neither of them making the top ten like Maverick Vinales the year previous. Iannone was a winner at the circuit in 2016 for Ducati and Alex Rins was 3rd in the 2016 Moto2 race. Suzuki’s last podium in Austria was in 1994 with Schwantz at the Salzburgring and the manufacturer’s last win in the nation was at the same circuit with the same rider in 1993.

Aprilia have never really shone in Austria and they are not in the richest vein of form coming into the round. Aleix Espargaro was 13th last year and that remains the team’s best result in Austria in MotoGP, although back in the 500cc days, the late Doriano Romboni made it to the top ten for the Noale manufacturer. Scott Redding was 12th in 2017 and was 8th the year before – so maybe there is some hope for the team after all…

KTM managed a top ten at their home round last year with wildcard Mika Kallio. The Finnish rider is injured and out this weekend, along with full-time star Pol Espargaro. All hopes therefore rest on Bradley Smith, who was 9th in 2016 at the circuit for Yamaha and 18th last year for KTM. Can Smith put in another superb performance and bounce back being taken out at Brno?

Hafizh Syahrin has been spectacular this season considering the circumstances at which he was parachuted in to. The Malaysian sensation was 10th in Moto2 last year and he has scored points in his last two races. He has yet to score three points finishes on the bounce, so could the Austrian GP be a positive round all-round?

Pramac Ducati are back in the mix with Danilo Petrucci sitting pretty in 7th place overall in the championship. Petrucci has never had a top ten at the Red Bull Ring but will be looking to correct that this weekend. Jack Miller has also not had much luck in Austria, as he is yet to score any points at the circuit.

LCR Honda will be searching for strong results at the Red Bull Ring, despite Cal Crutchlow’s public hatred for the place. Only two 15th place finishes constitute Crutchlow’s form at the circuit, whilst Takaaki Nakagami has enjoye a slightly more pleasant Austrian experience in Moto2, with a 7th and 6th. Can Crutchlow get the Austrian monkey off his back?

The Angel Nieto Racing team are witnessing a staggering change in form as Alvaro Bautista continues his top ten streak. He heads to the Red Bull Ring having had a top ten last year with an 8th place. Karel Abraham also scored points at the circuit last year with a 14th place, so expect the Ducati’s to continue to surge forward on the fast straights of Austria.

Avintia Ducati are also having a good surge in form, with Tito Rabat being a continuous revelation. Yes, he may have retired from the Czech Grand Prix but he has scored points in Austria before, with 14th in 2016. Xavier Simeon continues his long, lost search for points, although it’s a circuit that he has never finished inside the top 20 in Moto2 at the circuit.

Marc VDS have been a bit lost in GP since the internal politics decided to spill out to everyone in the paddock but with full-time rider Franco Morbidelli back, continuity and positivity is restored. Morbidelli won in 2017 in Austria and was a sensational 2nd the year before. Tom Luthi has been 3rd and 4th in the last two years in Austria and I feel that he may get his and Switzerland’s first points in the modern era of MotoGP.