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Austrian GP

2016 MotoGP Austrian GP

Austria
Aug 12, 2016 to Aug 14, 2016
Red Bull Ring, AT
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MotoGP Austrian GP

Red Bull Ring MotoGP - Race

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Here's our report from that historic grand prix for Ducati and for one Andrea Iannone.

The Maniac's stint with Ducati in MotoGP will end at the end of this year - but we now know he will definitely have a premier class win to show for it.

Whether him and Dovizioso can add a couple more trophies until the end of the season is anyone's guess, but this will have almost certainly rescued the Italian marque's season.

Next up - Brno, in just one week's time. See you then.
Riders' championship after 10 races of 18:
1 Marquez 181
2 Lorenzo 138
3 Rossi 124
4 Pedrosa 105
5 Vinales 93
6 Iannone 88
7 Dovizioso 79
8 Pol Espargaro 78
9 Barbera 65
10 Redding 53
11 Laverty 53
12 Aleix Espargaro 51
13 Miller 42
14 Smith 42
15 Crutchlow 41
16 Bradl 37
17 Bautista 35
18 Petrucci 29
19 Pirro 23
20 Rabat 20
21 Baz 11
22 Hernande 3
Quote
Iannone: "Its an incredible feeling. It's very difficult to explain this emotion, my first MotoGP win with Ducati.

"I started on this bike and I've worked for four years with this incredible group that supported me 100 percent from the beginning.

"I finish my contract at the end of this season, but this is a very good present [to them]."
Quote
Dovi: "I'm disappointed about that [tyre choice]. The bike was perfect, I was braking better than Andrea, but I didn't have the same grip on the right side [of the tyre].

"I pushed really hard at the end, to close on braking, but I couldn't stay very close. But for Ducati to come first and second is great."
Quote
Lorenzo: "[Podium] is very important because the last few races not so many points and a lot of bad feeling.

"Finally a good weekend, good race. At the beginning Iannone was not as fast I expected but he got faster and faster with the soft tyres.

"We were not so far as we expected, because this track was better for them."

Correction: The previous Ducati 1-2 was actually Casey Stoner - Loris Capirossi in 2007 in Australia.

That Bayliss win was a lot more exotic though.

Iannone and his Ducati crew are going absolutely crazy in parc ferme right now. Well-deserved, fellas. What a race.

It's Ducati's first 1-2 since 2006, when Troy Bayliss headed Loris Capirossi for his maiden premier class win.

Iannone's final lap was a thing of beauty, just a few hundredths off his own fastest lap of the race.

Ace.

Finishing order:
1 Iannone
2 Dovizioso
3 Lorenzo
4 Rossi
5 Marquez
6 Vinales
7 Pedrosa
8 Redding
9 Smith
10 P. Espargaro
11 Petrucci
12 Pirro
13 Baz
14 Rabat
15 Crutchlow
16 Bautista
17 Hernandez
18 Laverty
19 Bradl
DNF Espargaro
DQ Barbera

Crash
Eugene Laverty down while fighting Danilo Petrucci on the final lap.
Dovizioso is second, Lorenzo completes the podium.
Maiden premier class win, Ducati's first since 2010. How about that for a parting gift?
Chequered Flag
Andrea Iannone WINS the 2016 Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix!
Two sectors to go for Iannone, and he's half a second in the clear.
Iannone is gaining time in the first few corners, although Dovi is making up ground later on in the lap.

One to go.
Barring disaster, the Yamahas are not in this. It's all about the Andreas.
Two laps to go, Ducati 1-2. They're a quarter of a second apart.
Aleix Espargaro has called it a day in the pits.
Three laps to go - Dovizioso is back with Iannone.
Lorenzo almost two seconds down on Dovizioso now.

Fastest lap of the race from Andrea Iannone - 1m24.561s.

That's fastest lap, with four laps to go, on the softest tyre selection.

For P5, Vinales has dropped off from the back of Marquez - but Pedrosa is still nowhere near troubling the Suzuki rider.
Iannone hitting his marks in the lead right now, the gap between him and Dovi oscillating between two and three tenths.

Current order:
1 Iannone
2 Dovizioso
3 Lorenzo
4 Rossi
5 Marquez
6 Vinales
7 Pedrosa
8 Redding
9 Smith
10 Laverty
11 A. Espargaro
12 P. Espargaro
13 Petrucci
14 Pirro
15 Rabat
16 Baz
17 Crutchlow
18 Hernandez
19 Bautista
20 Bradl
DQ Barbera

The Yamahas are still a second down on the Ducati battle, but they're gaining time on the leaders.
Andrea Iannone back into the lead with seven laps to go.
As expected, Iannone is absolutely not interested in following Dovizioso home in a Ducati 1-2. He's pushing his teammate hard.

Uh-oh, Lorenzo has dropped more than a second behind the Dovizioso - Iannone battle.

The Italian marque's bosses can breathe for a bit.

1m24.686s from Dovizioso, best lap of the race.

Still no more than three tenths between him and Iannone.

The Dukes are picking up the pace through S1 and S2, but the top four are separated by less than a second yet again.

10 laps to go.
Sudden mid 1m25s laps for the Ducatis and Lorenzo is back with them.
Many will attribute Marquez's pace drop-off to his injury, but he's gaining on Pedrosa with every lap.

Perhaps that's just the best the Honda bike can do here.
Stopwatch

And now, a fantastic lap from Andrea Iannone - a 1m24.697s, best of the race.

He's not necessarily all over Dovizioso, but he's close enough.

Lorenzo back into the 1m24s and quickest of all that time around. Not over yet?
Even if the points leader surrenders P5, he's got five seconds on the next rider - teammate Dani Pedrosa.
Marquez almost two seconds down on Rossi now, but he's still keeping Vinales at bay.
High 1m24s laps for Ducatis, Lorenzo has dropped into the 1m25s.
Dovizioso has found another two tenths on Iannone - and Lorenzo is now struggling to keep in touch with the Ducatis.
Marquez looks to be struggling for pace now, one second adrift of the top four and seemingly holding up Vinales.
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