Ducati Sporting Club UK > News Items > Ducati Press Releases > Pecco Bagnaia takes second place on the podium at the Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring in a race made difficult by the rain in the final laps

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MotoGP | Round 11 - Austrian GP 2021 | Sunday 15 August 2021

Pecco Bagnaia takes second place on the podium at the Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring in a race made difficult by the rain in the final laps

• Jorge Martín finishes third with the Ducati Desmosedici GP of the Pramac Racing Team

Pecco Bagnaia took an excellent second place at the MotoGP Austrian GP held this afternoon at the Red Bull Ring. The Ducati Lenovo Team rider put in a masterful performance in a race made difficult by the rain that started to fall with four laps remaining.

Starting from the front row, from the third spot on the grid, Pecco moved into first place immediately, leading for twenty-three laps while cleverly defending himself from the attacks made by Quartararo and then Márquez. When the rain began to fall, the Italian rider dropped back into fourth place, but he quickly made the bike swap, returning to the pits along with the riders in the leading group. Pecco rejoined the race in the eleventh position with the Desmosedici GP in wet configuration and soon caught up with the remaining riders on slick tyres, overtaking them and recovering up to second place in just one lap to take his fourth podium of the season. Thanks to today's result, Pecco climbs into the second position in the overall standings, 47 points behind leader Quartararo.

It was an unfortunate race for his teammate Jack Miller. As he got off from sixth on the grid, the Australian rider was able to make a good start, but after a few laps, the lack of grip did not allow him to push, and he eventually fell back into eighth place. When the rain started to fall, Miller was one of the first to enter the pit to change his bike, but the strategy adopted did not allow him to take advantage of it. The Australian rider crossed the line eleventh, and after today's race, he is fifth in the championship, 76 points off the top of the standings.

Jorge Martín, who took pole position yesterday and won last Sunday's Styrian GP, also held at the Red Bull Ring, completed the podium in the race won by Brad Binder. The Pramac Racing Team rider finished today's race in third place, bringing the number of Ducatis on the podium to two. After the Austrian GP, the Bologna manufacturer is now first in the constructors' championship, while the Ducati Lenovo Team occupies second place in the teams' classification.

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) - 2nd
"Again, today we went close to winning, but I'm still happy! We did our best and worked really well. Both when I was leading in the dry and the wet, we managed the situation well. I let Márquez through when I saw the first drops of rain, to see what he would do because I didn't know if I should go back and change the bike. I saw that many riders didn't stop, and I thought I had made a mistake by doing the flag-to-flag. After the first lap on the rain tyres, I found my rhythm and was able to pass a lot of riders to take second place. We will try again! The next race is at Silverstone, and I'm sure we can fight for a good result there too!"

Jack Miller (#43 Ducati Lenovo Team) - 11th
"This morning in the warm-up, I had a good pace, but during the race, I wasn't able to replicate it. After the start, I tried to stay close to the front group, but after a few laps, I started to have grip problems and lost a few positions. When I saw the first drops of rain, I thought to go back in for the bike change, but it started to rain seriously only a lap later. We tried: these were definitely not the results we expected from these two races in Austria, but now we have to move forward and come back stronger at Silverstone".

The Ducati Lenovo Team riders will be back on track in approximately two weeks, from 27th-29th August, for the British GP at the Silverstone Circuit.