Jorge Martín wins sprint race in Austria and regains throne of the World Cup

Martín, who recovered from the eighth position, beat compatriot Marc Márquez (Ducati) for 1,026 seconds, with Italian Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) in third, at 1,675 seconds in a 14-round race at the Red Bull Ring circuit in Spielberg.

The 2024 World Champion won the 20th sprint race victory and went on to add 286 points, three more than Márquez, who had taken over the championship in the previous round in San Marino.

After winning the pole position, Martín reached the first turn ahead, but a duel with Márquez in the first lap made him fall to eighth. Acosta later took advantage of a wider trajectory of the Ducati pilot to take the lead.

Jorge Martín recovered to fourth place on the fifth lap, surpassed Bezzecchi in the seventh and Márquez in the following, placing himself second, the 2.8 seconds of Acosta.

The KTM pilot gave the Austrians hope in a homemade victory with a diabolical rhythm, but fell at the entrance of the chicane, when three laps to the final and had about two seconds of advantage.

Martin didn't reject the possibility of winning the championship.

“The leadership comes and goes. It is only important when we are in a position to win the championship”, acknowledged, in the end, the madrilene, who admitted to having suffered again with pains in the arms but “the anger for what happened in the first round”, in which he lost several positions when he was overcome by Marc Márquez, made him attack the first place.

The Japanese Ai Ogura (Aprilia) finished fourth on the return after injury, followed by the pilots of Ducati Álex Márquez and Francesco Bagnaia.

Johann Zarco (Honda), Fermín Aldeguer (Ducati) and Brad Binder (KTM) completed the nine points.

The main race of the Austrian Grand Prix, of the 15th of the 22 stages of the World Cup, will be held on Sunday.