Moto2™ Grand Prix of Austria
Celestino Vietti is the King of the Red Bull Ring after his second victory here in two years and his first victory of the 2024 season. Alonso Lopez returned to the podium taking second and Jake Dixon’s run of form continues with his third podium in a row.
Ai Ogura was having a great start to the Austrian Grand Prix having just announced his move to MotoGP next year and topping the timings on Friday. However a heavy crash in Saturday morning’s P2 saw him break his right hand and he was declared unfit to continue this weekend.
Ogura’s teammate and Championship leader, Sergio Garcia, set a new all-time lap record in the same session with a 1m 33.461 but it was Celestino Vietti who qualified in pole ahead of Aron Canet and Garcia lined up in third on the grid for Sunday’s 23-lap race.
Tony Arbolino had qualified in fourth but a three-place grid penalty saw Alonso Lopez, Jake Dixon and Marcos Ramirez line up ahead of him.
Canet and Vietti got a great start with Garcia floundering but managed to hold third ahead of Lopez and Dixon. It wasn’t long before Vietti retook the lead and Lopez passed Garcia into third, then struck again moving into second ahead of Canet.
Jake Dixon, fresh from his win at Silverstone last time out, started pushing on in the latter part of the race, passing Garcia into fourth and closing the gap to the leading trio.
Vietti was victorious as he crossed the line for his first win of the 2024 campaign ahead of Lopez who had his best result since the season opener at Qatar. Dixon made a move on Canet on the first corner of the last lap to take third while Arbolino rounded out the top five.
Garcia had been leading the chasing group but was given a long lap penalty for exceeding track limits dropping him down to 14th. With Ogura missing the race from his injury, Joe Roberts finishing 9th and Fermin Aldeguer having a weekend to forget finishing way outside the points in 20th, the Championship remains very much alive.
The Triumph powered Moto2 field returns to action in two weeks for the Grand Prix of Aragon, 30 August - 1 September.
Triumph Triple Trophy
Triumph and MotoGP announced a new format for the Triumph Triple Trophy for 2024, where the winner will take home a Street Triple 765 RS prize bike at the end of the season.
This year, a judging panel picks a short list of three standout riders which will be published on MotoGP’s Instagram stories. Fans can then vote for their favourite.
The points awarded are in reference to Triumph’s 765cc engine:
7 points for the rider with most fan votes
6 points for the rider with second most fan votes
5 points for the rider with third most fan votes
This week’s shortlist is:
Celestino Vietti for his pole and first win of the year.
Alonso Lopez for a great ride from fifth to second and his best result since Qatar.
Jake Dixon going from sixth to third and taking his third consecutive podium.
Look out for the Instagram stories on MotoGP’s official Instagram account @motogp to vote for your favourite.
