MotoGP Roundup – Styria, Austria 2025
A good break and rain that held off resulted in some refreshingly good races at the 2025 Styrian MotoGP..
Across all classes, there were many tributes in honour of the late Asina (and some included Borga Gomez, too).
Is it just us, or has it been a rough year in motorcycle racing?
On a much lighter note: this weekend, we celebrated the one-thousandth premier-class race.
That’s a lot of racing…
Moto3:
We welcomed Irishman O’Gorman onto the Lightweight grid this weekend. He filled the injured Lunetta’s seat.
Pérez’s race started with a Double Long Lapper etched next to his name, thanks to a crash under a Yellow Flag during practice.
Having been caught cruising in the fast lane during Q2, Uriarte was also handed a Double Long Lap Penalty.
As the race commenced, more riders were off the track than on it through the first corner. It was a small miracle that there was no game of motorcycle-skittles.
Buchanan, already battered and bruised, crashed on the opening lap. He had a hard time standing up, holding his right butt cheek while doing the dying-fly-spiral.
One rider was having a weekend nearly as dismal as our South African sportsmen on the weekend. On just the seventh lap, Pérez’s bike developed a tech-bug that forced him into limp mode.
There were no more falls, crashes, or tumbles, which was quite unusual for the Juniors. What was not as unusual, was the paint-swapping get-together happening at the front.
For much of the race it remained a four-rider event, but somewhere near the end of the race Furusato was stung by an adrenaline beetle. The Japanese rider found an extra centimetre of throttle, and began closing in on the lead group at a pace that’d put fighter jets to shame.
By the penultimate lap, the lead group had doubled in size. During the last lap, it turned into a six-rider moshpit fight for top honours.
What glorious racing!
Just two riders received the dreaded Track Limits Long Lap Penalty:
First was Carraro (though we suspect he might’ve gotten a second one later too, or their graphics were glitchy again). Second was Foggia, who opted to ignore this and finish the last three laps without going through the Long Lap Loop. This earned him a three-second time penalty post-race.
At the end of the chaos, Piqueras emerged victorious, while Yamanaka finished in a career-best second place, and Muñoz snatched up third.
Our Ruche Moodley ended up in seventeenth.
Moto2:
Orradre joined in the place of Fernández, while we welcomed back Muñoz (Daniel, not David) as he kept the seat warm for the injured Öncü.
Just a reminder: Though he’d qualified in pole position, González had to start the race in fourth after a three-position penalty for going slow during practice.
Apparently, Kuuni also had to start the race with a Long Lapper to his name.
Roberto Locatelli in a pre-race interview: ‘…He (Canet) is human…’ False: He (Canet) is a motorcycle racer. They are not mere humans.
Courtesy of González’s penalty, Holgado got to start a Moto2 race from pole position for the first time.
Dixon and Roberts started the race via an alternative route through the Turn Two chicane.
Moments after this, Agius went piledriving out of the exit of the very same chicane, López desperately trying to avoid the tumbling Aussie by means of a short offroad excursion. Rumour has it that he wasn’t successful, and had run over Agius to some degree.
To everyone’s relief Agius managed to walk off on his own two feet, albeit with his shoulders slumped forward and at a geriatric pace.
During Lap Five, González abruptly slowed on his approach into Turn Four, looking utterly flustered. He soon got back to business, though he constantly checked the left side of his motorcycle.
It was all rather baffling, and he managed to carry on for two more laps before he veered off the track once more flailing his arms about with so much aggression that we were waiting for them to pop out of their sockets and fly off in a cartoon show style.
We didn’t need to see the thundercloud above his head to know that Manuel was livid. As he hopped off in front of his pit box he ripped off his gloves like he was about to throw hands at the first person to get in his way.
We soon learned that the source of González’s frustration was a damaged radiator: according to him, Agius’ crash had left a bunch of stones on the track, and one of these rocks had a grudge against González. This grudge-bearing stone had shot up, and ripped a hole in his bike’s radiator.
Roberts defaulted from the race in order to catch a scooter taxi to town around the eleventh lap.
Again, we had just two riders playing chicken with the green paint: Van den Goorbergh, and Vietti, who were both sent to the Long Lap Loop for their transgressions.
By Lap Nineteen, Alonso was doing rather swimmingly. He made his way up into third. As he dropped down the hill into Turn Nine, Alonso found himself wheels-up and sliding off the track in what we like to call the Denial Slide.
That’s a slide where the rider stays in race-mode until he hits the gravel and gets tumble-dried.
Having run a splendid race, Moreira claimed top honours, while Holgado happily accepted his maiden Moto2 podium position in second, with Vietti recovered from his penalty to grab the third step.
Binder finished the race in fifteenth. We heard he was a little under the weather this weekend; hope you feel better soon, Daz.
Post-race, the cameras spotted a very morbid-looking Dixon in his box. He looked like a dog who’d had his favourite bone stolen by the neighbour’s chihuahua.
Cheer up, Jakey boy!
MotoGP:
The aero upgrade they’d tested during the summer break is clearly paying dividends for KTM.
After putting on a brave face for Qualifying, Viñales finally gave in to the pain in his left shoulder, and withdrew from both races.
Sprint Race:
Off the line, Bagnaia and Aldeguer executed a synchronised sideways launch which looked cool on camera, but had detrimental effects on both riders’ starts. It likely also resulted in a few soiled leather suits within the group of riders directly to their left.
The rider most troubled after his crabby take-off was Bagnaia, who dropped down the order like a gangster in cement shoes.
He held out until Lap Eight, by which time he’d dropped to stone last. At the end of that same lap, Bagnaia peeled into pit lane, calling it a day.
As he dismounted and walked into his box, steam was whistling out from under his helmet. Later, he was seen doing the Nerdy Prom Jive in an attempt to describe just how badly his Ducati had been acting.
Shortly after Bagnaia’s retirement, Fernández – the Raúl version – also began dropping like a stone down the Timing Tower and he too retired to his garage.
It would later be revealed that his Aprilia’s rear ride-height device had malfunctioned.
Back to the head of the race. In an un-plot-twisty way, Márquez Senior claimed yet another Sprint win, making it his twelfth Sprint victory this season, and brought his overall win-tally for 2025 to around twenty.
Over-achievers, hey?
Little Brother Márquez finished second again, while third place went to the very grinny Acosta.
Brad Binder finished in a respectable fifth.
Speaking of Acosta: The Spanish wonderboy suffered a mild case of déjà vu when his KTM ran out of fuel on the Cooldown Lap. Who’s in charge of the fuelling? Can someone check that they haven’t inhaled too much race-fuel-fumes?
As the podium formalities got underway, so did the wind. By the time the confetti was blasted into the air, it was instantly deported to the neighbouring countryside.
Main Race:
Ten out of ten rendition of the Austrian national anthem by the local rock band, Velvet Wasted. Their music’s not too bad, either.
Márquez Junior started the race one Long Lap Penalty richer than the rest for his part in a collision during the previous race weekend.
At least nobody did the crab-walk off the line at the start of the main race.
Bastianini gave himself half a Long Lap Penalty at the beginning of Lap Three. In fact, quite a lot of riders did this throughout the race.
On Lap Fourteen, Martín tipped through Turn Seven, got on the throttle… and headed off the track.
He was seen sitting in a woven chair someone had snuck from their grandma’s patio set, surrounded by medics, before being carted off to the Medical Centre for a quick check-up. We would like to report that Jorge is fine, and was back in his box before the race ended.
At this stage the clouds poked their heads out over the track, and the teams got nervous enough for some of them to wheel out their rain-bikes.
This was all for naught, as nothing ever came of the threat to soak proceedings.
Bezzecchi led the race until Lap Nineteen, at which time Márquez (Senior) set down his martini, and opened the throttle in full attack mode. In less than a lap, Bez had to concede the lead – though he did fight valiantly to hold on to it.
During the twenty-first lap, a great cloud rose from the track. No, not a rain cloud, but rather a cloud of white smoke indicating that something was on a lot of fire.
Indeed, something was on fire: Di Giannantonio’s Ducati.
Like a rocket-propelled dragster in pre-staging, DiGi’s motorcycle made a bee-line off at Turn Four, flames spewing from beneath his right boot. As soon as the Ducati stopped, DiGi jumped off, yelling hotfoot-hotfoot-hotfoot!
Safe to say, his race was over.
In the latter stages of the race, Aldeguer began scything through the pack. His Speed-Bix must’ve kicked in from breakfast. Or was it Race Krispies?
Could it have been a bowl of GoGo Pops…?
Regardless, he was flying up the order at such speed, it was speculated that he could take the victory, but unfortunately, he could not quite conquer the Márquez Domination.
Marc claimed yet another victory, leaving Aldeguer in a still-respectable second, while Bezzecchi finished third.
Did we hear this right? That was Marc’s first time winning at the Red Bull Ring? There are tracks he hasn’t won at yet?
Binder, after much bumping and barging, finished the race in seventh.
MotoE:
Race One: Well done Torres, on your thirtieth MotoE race start!
The rain was circling the Ring like a salivating predator and we very nearly had a Red Flag before the race even got underway.
Casadei shot up into the lead early on, just for him to go piling off at Turn Six, full-send through the kitty litter on the very first lap. As he stomped away, clearly peeved at himself and boiling with frustration, you could see the gravel melt under his boots.
The remainder of the race went by without incident, Ferrari snatching a comfortable victory.
Garzó grabbed second, while Granado finished third, the result of an entertaining scrap between the duo.
During the cooldown lap, Ferrari caressed his bike in such a loving way, almost every girl-fan of his found themselves flushed and a little uncomfortable in their seats.
Race Two:
Arguably the best race to happen on Saturday.
Though the clouds drippled listlessly onto the track, it was far too little dampness to affect the race in any way.
It was damn windy, though.
Thank goodness these e-bikes are a little heavier. Nobody got blown away.
Zannoni’s race started and ended in a clattery fashion as he entered the first corner for the first time. Overcooking his entry, Zannoni punted Mantovani from behind – we are still confused as to how Manto stayed upright – whereafter he went skidding off, miraculously not taking a few other riders with him.
The battle at the front of the race remained utterly great for our entertainment, and equally terrible for our fingernails. Manicurists the world over wept.
Amidst the battling, Granado slipped out of what was third at that stage as he tipped into Turn One for the final time.
By the end of an epic final lap, Ferrari came out victorious, collecting a double-win in Styria, while second and third went to Casadei and Garzó, respectively.
(Garzó was a little mopey because he was pushed around earlier. It’s still a podium Héctor, chill.)
With that, we end off the action for this weekend. But don’t fret, little racing fans, MotoGP will be back in just a week!
