SPIELBERG – One of MotoGP's most enduring taboos has finally been broken, and it does so in the best possible way: after nearly three years of trying and a record 15 podiums (a record for the category), Pedro Acosta wins his first race in the premier class. It's an irresistible joy for him and his team, Austrian KTM, given that the Murcian rider's triumph came at the Austrian Grand Prix. The Spaniard's victory was well-deserved, erasing the blunder that cost him victory in the Sprint Race, especially since he beat the Aprilias of Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi, and Ai Ogura, who finished second, third, and fourth, respectively. Marc Márquez was only fifth, limiting the damage as much as possible on a difficult day. Pecco Bagnaia was a happy man, seventh after a nightmare few months and a week dominated by controversy.
But while the fireworks at the Red Bull Ring were concentrated on the first lap on Saturday, they spread out more on Sunday. At the start, Martin and Bezzecchi took the lead, with Acosta also finding himself fourth behind Ogura. Marquez gave the first taste of his difficulties by already finding himself fifth, ahead of a surprising Bagnaia. The two Aprilia riders then put on a show, with "Bez" outpacing his teammate on the straight at the start of the second lap, but was forced to relinquish the lead already at Turn 3, while Acosta moved back into the podium zone, overtaking Ogura. The Spaniard from KTM, already by far the fastest of the field in the Sprint Race, was not done yet: on the fourth lap, he also passed Bezzecchi, who even risked running wide at Turn 10, then at the start of the ninth lap, he also outpaced Martin and moved into the lead. Meanwhile, Marquez continued to struggle with his difficulties: having passed Ogura, on lap ten he ran wide at the first corner, at least avoiding a crash but dropping to seventh place. The rest of his Austrian Grand Prix focused on making up ground: mission accomplished for Aldeguer and a very inspired Binder, but not for Ogura. And his fifth-place finish dropped him to 12 points behind Martin, whose lead in the standings over Bezzecchi increased to 42.
Acosta, on the other hand, is the new fourth force, overtaking a still-unclear Fabio Di Giannantonio (only ninth on a struggling Team VR46 Ducati) in the championship standings and now sees points leader Martin 72 points behind. The man of the day, so happy that he faked Saturday's accident after the race to celebrate with the Austrian crowd, is above all his due to the numbers: not only did he achieve three consecutive MotoGP podiums in Spielberg for the first time in his career, but he also ended his record of top-three finishes without a win at 15. But it's also a complete celebration for his KTM, especially as the Austrian manufacturer is experiencing a decidedly difficult financial period: now, however, he has a victory, the first since Miguel Oliveira won in Thailand in 2022. It had been 1,449 days since a bike other than the Ducati-Aprilia duo had won: after 30 consecutive victories, the undisputed dominance of the Italians has come to an end. But above all, in Noale the faces are anything but frowning: Bezzecchi seems to have recovered once and for all, while the points collected by Martin could count for a lot in the world championship race.
