Spielberg, Aug 17 : The Red Bull Ring jinx is over for Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) as for the sixth time on the spin, the runaway MotoGP title race leader clinched maximum points. His path to BWIN Grand Prix of Austria victory wasn't a simple one though as eventual third place finisher Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) led for large parts before rookie star Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), the Sunday silver medallist, mounted pressure on Marquez in the closing stages. However, neither were able to stop the #93 winning MotoGP's 1000th race.

Having fluffed the start in the Sprint, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) nailed it to flirt with claiming the holeshot from polesitter Bezzecchi, but it was the latter who held onto P1. It was red vs red on the opening lap as Marc Marquez chucked it up the inside of Pecco and Turn 3 from deep, but Pecco was able to hold onto P2 on the run down into Turn 4.

A lap later, Marc Marquez made that Turn 3 effort stick to move past his teammate into P2, with Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) making Alex Marquez's life difficult after the KTM star got a great launch from the third row. Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) then grabbed P5 from Acosta before the Italian ran wide at Turn 1, as Alex Marquez took his Long Lap penalty a lap later that saw him drop to P11.

At the front, Bezzecchi set the fastest lap of the Grand Prix on Lap 4 to hold Marc Marquez 0.6s behind him, while Pecco defended P3 from Acosta. That lead was being chipped away at by Marquez though and at the start of Lap 8, it was 0.2s between Bezzecchi and Marquez, with Pecco 1.1s behind in P3.

A few laps down the line saw Marquez drop to 0.9s behind Bezzecchi in what was now the biggest gap between the pair for pretty much the entire Grand Prix. Was the #93 just cooling his front tyre, or was this Bezzecchi demonstrating superior pace? Meanwhile, Bezzecchi's teammate Jorge Martin saw his Grand Prix end after Aprilia Racing's #1 crashed at Turn 7 on Lap 14.

On Lap 18 of 28, the gap was back down to 0.2s as Marquez reeled in Bezzecchi. And in the battle for P3, Acosta put an aggressive move on Pecco at the penultimate corner on the same lap to move into P3, and it's a move that cost the Italian two places as Aldeguer followed Acosta through.

Then, the blue touch paper was lit in the battle between Bezzecchi and Marquez. Turn 3 saw Marquez throw it up the inside and down the hill into Turn 4, Marquez led. Bezzecchi counterattacked at Turn 6 to retake the lead, before Marquez parked his Ducati on the inside of Bezzecchi at Turn 1 on Lap 20 to snatch the race lead baton.

Aldeguer was a rider on the move. The rookie shoved his way past Acosta at Turn 2B and his pace was unbelievable. Aldeguer was the fastest rider on track and on Lap 22 of 28, the #54 was 1.7s behind Marquez and 1.1s away from Bezzecchi.

That soon became 1.1s away from Marquez and 0.5s off Bezzecchi. Aldeguer set a 1:30.120 on Lap 22, over half a second quicker than the top two ' and it was the same on the next lap. And on Lap 24, Aldeguer was P2 at Turn 3 to now act as Marquez's main threat for victory.

Four to go. Aldeguer was 0.9s away from Marquez and after passing Bezzecchi, two tenths were taken out of Marquez's lead. Two more tenths were taken on the next lap, so it was now 0.7s between the Spaniards at the front with three to go.

Marquez steadied the ship with two to go though. His lead was up to 0.9s and now, it was only a mistake that would cost him another victory as Aldeguer just ran out of steam. And heading onto the final lap, the buffer remained at 0.9s.

No mistakes were made on the run to the chequered flag as Marquez won the 1000th MotoGP race, and grabbed a 25-point haul for the first time at the Red Bull Ring. Double wins in the last six Grands Prix, and that seventh MotoGP title creeps closer. Aldeguer was superb to push Marquez in the latter stages, and Bezzecchi's weekend was another to remember as the Italian's strong form continues ' that's back-to-back podiums for the first time since 2023 for Bez.

Acosta led the KTM charge on home turf in P4 and 1.8s behind was another KTM in the form of Bastianini. No podium, but a double top five signals a good day at the office for the Austrian manufacturer. Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) battled his way to a positive P6, while Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) came home in P7 after he was embroiled in some intense fights. Eighth went the way of a disappointed Bagnaia, who lost ground in the latter stages.

Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) held off Alex Marquez for P9, with the latter unable to recover from his Long Lap penalty. Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) pocketed P11 ahead of Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR), Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol), Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and first of the Yamahas, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) ' the Frenchman taking the final point in a weekend to forget for the Iwata factory.

/IANS