MotoGP Styrian GP 2020 Pre-Race Talking Points

Welcome back to Austria… I mean Styria. Just like F1 had a double header at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, MotoGP’s fifth round of the 2020 season is being held a week after the Austrian Grand Prix. It is the Styrian Grand Prix this weekend and just like the previous round, unpredictability is the name of the game. MotoGP’s qualifying superstar and current championship leader Fabio Quartararo has faltered badly.

Pol is on Pole

Yeah, that is a very bad, but also an obvious pun as factory KTM rider Pol Espargaro took pole position for the Styrian GP. It wasn’t an entirely unexpected outcome given how much KTM has improved the RC16. The bike’s straight-line speed and brake performance make it well suited to the Red Bull Ring. However, given his two consecutive crashes in the last two races, the Spaniard was under immense pressure. Especially as his teammate Brad Binder scored KTM’s first-ever MotoGP win at Brno after coming in fourth in last week’s Austrian GP. 

The Real Pacesetters?

KTM taking pole at the Austrian manufacturer’s home circuit is obviously big news. However, one would do well to keep an eye on the riders classified fourth and seventh. The Suzukis of Joan Mir and Alex Rins were setting consistently fast times in the fourth practice session where riders focussed on race pace. Given Mir’s second-place finish last week, he could become a factor late in the race for the Styrian GP too. Not to mention, with Johann Zarco’s pit lane start penalty, Mir will start the race from third. Alex Rins’ heroics after his opening round injury could give Suzuki a strong double-point finish if he makes it to the end of the race. He was fourth in Brno and had set the fastest lap of the race last week before crashing out.

Take a Bow Taka

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Takaaki Nakagami while riding a year-old Honda RC213V, has really stepped up for Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) in Marc Marquez’s absence. Marquez is still recovering after his opening round crash, but Nagakami is sixth in the championship with 37 points. That is 30 points behind the championship leader but just 11 points behind Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales who is third. Nakagami fell 0.022 seconds short of stealing pole position from Espargaro, giving HRC something to cheer about in an otherwise miserable season so far.

Leaders Under the Radar

The two championship leaders will start the race eighth and ninth after qualifying ninth and tenth. Petronas Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo qualified 10th, breaking his streak of 12 consecutive front-row starts in MotoGP. Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso, who is just 11 points behind Quartararo in the standings, qualified ninth. Ducati has won every MotoGP premier class race held at the Red Bull Ring since the track was first used in MotoGP in 2016. The ‘Bologna bullet’ is very well suited to the high-speed blast and heavy braking, but there are numerous obstacles between Dovizioso and victory. He won last week thanks to some luck while Quartararo was only eighth. Depending on how the riders deal with tyre degradation in the hot conditions, the championship standings could shake up a bit more.