2017 Austrian MotoGP - Dovizioso Wins Last Lap Thriller

The second race of the 2017 MotoGP season after the summer break was held at the fast and flowing Red Bull Ring. The Austrian track has always favoured the Ducatis and it was no surprise to see the Italian team start on the front row of the grid with Andrea Dovizioso qualifying second and Jorge Lorenzo in third. The surprise though was Marc Marquez who put in a great performance to qualify on pole. The Repsol Honda rider made a great start to capitalise on his pole advantage but Jorge Lorenzo, who was running on soft compound tyres at the back, utilised his Ducati’s superior drive to grab the lead from Marquez as Dovizioso got pushed to third. Valentino Rossi, who had qualified seventh, made amends to his poor qualifying performance by rising up to fourth while Pedrosa was in fifth and Vinales in sixth. 

Lorenzo was flying as he magnified his race lead to over a second within the first lap itself. There was a close fight between Dovizioso, Marquez and Rossi for second place. The pecking order remained unchanged but Vinales was making steady progress and closing down on his team-mate. In an overzealous move to pass Rossi, Vinales ran wide off Turn 1 which dropped him to seventh place. The MotoGP legend was coming into his groove as he posted the fastest lap of the race and was battling hard with Dovizioso for third place.

Up ahead, Marquez was cutting down Lorenzo’s lead. With 22 laps remaining in the race, Johann Zarco was on the charge as he posted the fastest lap of the race and was putting immense pressure on Rossi along with Dani Pedrosa. Dovizioso got promoted to second place as Marquez ran wide off the track but the reigning champion was quick to retaliate as he regained his spot in the following lap itself. With 17 laps to go, Lorenzo finally buckled as a persistent Marquez passed him to grab the race lead.

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In the following lap, Rossi and Zarco clashed for fourth place and this allowed an eager Pedrosa to make the most of this scuffle and pass both the riders. Rossi was getting desperate to regain his fourth place and this despair cost The Doctor dearly as he missed his braking point on Turn 1, to be relegated to seventh place behind Vinales. Lorenzo was struggling to maintain his initial race pace as he was pushed down to fourth while Dovizioso was in close pursuit of Marquez for the lead. With 11 laps in the race remaining, it was clear that the race winner would be either Dovizioso or Marquez. The Ducati and Honda riders were engrossed in a cutthroat scuffle for the race lead as they exchanged positions on a regular interval to the delight of the Austrian MotoGP fans. 

With 3 laps to go, Marquez almost lost the front tyre of his Honda as he tried hard to pass Dovizioso but somehow managed to avoid crashing. Despite the close shave, the Spanish rider was unfazed and was soon on the rear tyre of Dovizioso’s Ducati. Fittingly, the battle for the race lead went to the last lap of the race; it seemed that Dovizioso had enough lead to seal victory but Marquez wasn’t giving up so easily. The reigning champion was shadowing the Italian rider as they entered the last corner of the race. As expected, Marquez went for the last corner manoeuvre to win the race but Dovizioso had some other plans.

The Italian rider knowingly left a gap for Marquez to dive in, which he did, but the Ducati rider knew that his bike had better drive out of the corner, and he powered his way out of the corner waving at Marquez to register his best win of his career. The Italian rider summed up his battle with Marquez with the following quote in the post race interview, "The worst thing in MotoGP is to have Marc Marquez on your back in the last lap of the race." For Dovizioso this win means a lot as it gives him the confidence that he can beat the toughest competitor in MotoGP, which will do him a world of good in his pursuit for the championship crown.

Marc Marquez on the other hand will be a happy man as he gave his 100 per cent and more to win the race, and the second place finish means that he now leads the championship by eight points over Dovi. It was a forgettable outing for factory Yamaha riders Vinales and Rossi as they finished sixth and seventh respectively at a track where the Yamahas have traditionally struggled. Vinales now trails Marquez by 24 points while Rossi is fourth in standings, 33 points behind the leader. The Yamaha riders have to bounce back quickly as only seven races remain in the 2017 season and they will have to grapple with the Marquez and Dovizioso juggernaut or else their championship dreams will be over soon.