The 2020 Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix was the fifth round of the 2020 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season and the fourth round of the 2020 MotoGP World Championship. It was held at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg on 16 August 2020.

Andrea Dovizioso was the defending race winner, having won the race in 2019. The race was won by Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso, in what proved to be final victory of his career, with Joan Mir in second for Suzuki, his first podium in MotoGP, while Jack Miller finished third for Pramac Racing.

The race day was notable for an unprecedented series of accidents in the MotoGP and Moto2 category respectively. On lap 4 of the Moto2 race, Enea Bastianini, who was fifth at the moment, suffered a huge highside on the exit of turn 1. Several backmarkers behind Bastianini were able to avoid his stranded bike, which was laying across the circuit on the approach to the back straight into turn 2. However, Hafizh Syahrin, who was running in seventeenth at the moment, came out of the slipstream of Jake Dixon and hit Bastianini's bike at over 200 kph. As a result, Syahrin was sent airborne and landed a further fifty metres ahead of the circuit. Edgar Pons and Andi Farid Izdihar were also involved in this accident. Syahrin was taken to the medical center with the suspicion of a leg injury and was therefore ruled out of the Styrian Grand Prix the next weekend.

The second crash occurred on lap 9 of the MotoGP race involving Johann Zarco and Franco Morbidelli, who came together on the approach to turn 3. By making contact with each other, Morbidelli and Zarco fell off their bikes, with Morbidelli's bike sliding across the grass on the outside of the track in full speed, then slightly taking-off before somersaulting multiple times before flying straight back on track onto the apex of turn 3 and narrowly missing out both Yamaha factory riders Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi, who were running in sixth and seventh place respectively. After missing both, the bike itself somersaulted a further multiple times before it came to a rest on the tarmac run-off, being completely destroyed. Zarco's bike however tangentially hit the safer barrier at high-speed and flew above the circuit, also narrowly missing out Viñales.

Both races were immediately red-flagged due to respective track-cleaning actions.

Background

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic The opening rounds of the 2020 championship was heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Several Grands Prix were cancelled or postponed after the aborted opening round in Qatar, prompting the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme to draft a new calendar. However, the Austrian Grand Prix was not impacted by this change and kept its original date.

MotoGP Championship standings before the race After the third round at the Czech Grand Prix, Fabio Quartararo on 59 points, leads the championship by 17 points over Maverick Viñales, with Franco Morbidelli a further 28 points behind. In Teams' Championship, Petronas Yamaha SRT with 90 points, lead the championship from Monster Energy Yamaha, who have 69. KTM Factory Racing sit 22 points behind the factory Yamaha in third, and are only 5 points ahead of fourth-placed Ducati Team, who have 42 points, while Esponsorama Racing sit 5th on 35 points.

MotoGP Entrants

Stefan Bradl replaced Marc Márquez from the Czech Republic round onwards while he recovered from injuries sustained in his opening round crash. Ducati test rider Michele Pirro replaced Francesco Bagnaia in Austria while he recovered from injuries sustained in a crash during practice at the Czech round.

Qualifying MotoGP Q1 Johann Zarco and Valentino Rossi qualified for Q2.

Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Time 1 5 Johann Zarco Ducati 1'23.865 2 46 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1'23.891 3 9 Danilo Petrucci Ducati 1'23.915 4 41 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia 1'24.151 5 35 Cal Crutchlow Honda 1'24.228 6 27 Iker Lecuona KTM 1'24.405 7 33 Brad Binder KTM 1'24.485 8 73 Álex Márquez Honda 1'24.490 9 6 Stefan Bradl Honda 1'24.662 10 38 Bradley Smith Aprilia 1'24.831 11 53 Tito Rabat Ducati 1'25.287 12 51 Michele Pirro Ducati 1'25.431 OFFICIAL MOTOGP Qualifying Nr. 1 REPORT

Q2

Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Time 1 12 Maverick Viñales Yamaha 1'23.450 2 43 Jack Miller Ducati 1'23.518 3 20 Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 1'23.537 4 4 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1'23.606 5 44 Pol Espargaró KTM 1'23.612 6 36 Joan Mir Suzuki 1'23.673 7 21 Franco Morbidelli Yamaha 1'23.719 8 42 Álex Rins Suzuki 1'23.731 9 5 Johann Zarco Ducati 1'23.828 10 30 Takaaki Nakagami Honda 1'23.872 11 88 Miguel Oliveira KTM 1'23.939 12 46 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1'23.995 OFFICIAL MOTOGP Qualifying Nr. 2 REPORT

Race MotoGP The race, scheduled to be run for 28 laps, was red-flagged after 8 full laps due to an accident involving Johann Zarco and Franco Morbidelli. The race was later restarted over 20 laps with the starting grid determined by the classification of lap 8. Pos. No. Rider Team Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Points 1 4 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Team Ducati 20 28:20.853 4 25 2 36 Joan Mir Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 20 +1.377 6 20 3 43 Jack Miller Pramac Racing Ducati 20 +1.549 2 16 4 33 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 20 +5.526 17 13 5 46 Valentino Rossi Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 20 +5.837 12 11 6 30 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda Idemitsu Honda 20 +6.403 10 10 7 9 Danilo Petrucci Ducati Team Ducati 20 +12.498 13 9 8 20 Fabio Quartararo Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha 20 +12.534 3 8 9 27 Iker Lecuona Red Bull KTM Tech3 KTM 20 +14.117 16 7 10 12 Maverick Viñales Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 20 +15.276 1 6 11 41 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 20 +17.772 14 5 12 51 Michele Pirro Pramac Racing Ducati 20 +23.271 22 4 13 38 Bradley Smith Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 20 +24.868 20 3 14 73 Álex Márquez Repsol Honda Team Honda 20 +24.943 18 2 15 35 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda Castrol Honda 20 +27.435 15 1 16 53 Tito Rabat Esponsorama Racing Ducati 20 +28.502 21 17 6 Stefan Bradl Repsol Honda Team Honda 20 +28.609 19 Ret 42 Álex Rins Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 10 Accident 8 Ret 44 Pol Espargaró Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 8 Collision 5 Ret 88 Miguel Oliveira Red Bull KTM Tech3 KTM 8 Collision 11 Ret 21 Franco Morbidelli Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha 0 Did not restart 7 Ret 5 Johann Zarco Esponsorama Racing Ducati 0 Did not restart 9Fastest lap: Álex Rins (Suzuki) – 1:24.007 (lap 7) Sources:

Moto2 The race, scheduled to be run for 25 laps, was red-flagged after 3 full laps due to an accident involving Enea Bastianini, Hafizh Syahrin, Edgar Pons, and Andi Farid Izdihar. The race was later restarted over 13 laps. Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Points 1 88 Jorge Martín Kalex 13 19:24.723 2 25 2 10 Luca Marini Kalex 13 +2.195 8 20 3 23 Marcel Schrötter Kalex 13 +4.782 3 16 4 22 Sam Lowes Kalex 13 +7.249 6 13 5 97 Xavi Vierge Kalex 13 +7.325 16 11 6 72 Marco Bezzecchi Kalex 13 +7.771 10 10 7 12 Thomas Lüthi Kalex 13 +9.405 9 9 8 37 Augusto Fernández Kalex 13 +9.598 12 8 9 44 Arón Canet Speed Up 13 +10.023 5 7 10 16 Joe Roberts Kalex 13 +10.890 11 6 11 7 Lorenzo Baldassarri Kalex 13 +11.170 13 5 12 77 Dominique Aegerter NTS 13 +11.803 24 4 13 35 Somkiat Chantra Kalex 13 +13.002 17 3 14 96 Jake Dixon Kalex 13 +13.385 15 2 15 40 Héctor Garzó Kalex 13 +15.865 21 1 16 11 Nicolò Bulega Kalex 13 +15.897 14 17 62 Stefano Manzi MV Agusta 13 +15.913 19 18 42 Marcos Ramírez Kalex 13 +16.222 26 19 19 Lorenzo Dalla Porta Kalex 13 +18.830 27 20 24 Simone Corsi MV Agusta 13 +22.614 28 21 21 Fabio Di Giannantonio Speed Up 13 +25.079 23 22 64 Bo Bendsneyder NTS 13 +29.300 29 23 99 Kasma Daniel Kalex 13 +36.648 30 Ret 87 Remy Gardner Kalex 4 Accident 1 Ret 45 Tetsuta Nagashima Kalex 3 Accident 18 Ret 9 Jorge Navarro Speed Up 0 Accident 7 Ret 33 Enea Bastianini Kalex 0 Did not restart 4 Ret 55 Hafizh Syahrin Speed Up 0 Did not restart 20 Ret 57 Edgar Pons Kalex 0 Did not restart 22 Ret 27 Andi Farid Izdihar Kalex 0 Did not restart 25 OFFICIAL MOTO2 RACE REPORT

Moto3 Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 75 Albert Arenas KTM 23 37:25.323 2 25 2 5 Jaume Masiá Honda 23 +0.049 4 20 3 17 John McPhee Honda 23 +0.447 3 16 4 79 Ai Ogura Honda 23 +0.121 13 13 5 13 Celestino Vietti KTM 23 +0.292 5 11 6 40 Darryn Binder KTM 23 +0.275 22 10 7 14 Tony Arbolino Honda 23 +0.487 8 9 8 53 Deniz Öncü KTM 23 +1.083 10 8 9 25 Raúl Fernández KTM 23 +1.136 1 7 10 24 Tatsuki Suzuki Honda 23 +1.177 6 6 11 2 Gabriel Rodrigo Honda 23 +2.221 7 5 12 16 Andrea Migno KTM 23 +1.924 12 4 13 71 Ayumu Sasaki KTM 23 +2.596 16 3 14 52 Jeremy Alcoba Honda 23 +2.228 18 2 15 82 Stefano Nepa KTM 23 +2.609 19 1 16 11 Sergio García Honda 23 +2.866 20 17 55 Romano Fenati Husqvarna 23 +2.920 30 18 54 Riccardo Rossi KTM 23 +3.486 9 19 23 Niccolò Antonelli Honda 23 +4.276 15 20 27 Kaito Toba KTM 23 +4.309 17 21 7 Dennis Foggia Honda 23 +5.776 11 22 99 Carlos Tatay KTM 23 +8.485 25 23 21 Alonso López Husqvarna 23 +10.963 31 24 6 Ryusei Yamanaka Honda 23 +23.563 21 25 73 Maximilian Kofler KTM 23 +23.814 26 26 92 Yuki Kunii Honda 23 +23.970 24 27 9 Davide Pizzoli KTM 23 +23.929 27 28 50 Jason Dupasquier KTM 23 +24.064 29 Ret 12 Filip Salač Honda 22 Retired 14 Ret 70 Barry Baltus KTM 6 Accident 23 DNS 89 Khairul Idham Pawi Honda 0 Did not start 28 OFFICIAL MOTO3 RACE REPORT Khairul Idham Pawi withdrew from the event due to effects of a broken finger suffered at the previous round in Czech Republic.

Championship standings after the race Below are the standings for the top five riders, constructors, and teams after the round.

MotoGP

Riders' Championship standings Rider Points 1 Fabio Quartararo 67 2 2 Andrea Dovizioso 56 1 3 Maverick Viñales 48 1 4 Brad Binder 41 2 5 Valentino Rossi 38

Constructors' Championship standings Constructor Points 1 Yamaha 81 1 2 Ducati 67 1 3 KTM 57 1 4 Suzuki 44 1 5 Honda 37

Teams' Championship standings Team Points 1 Petronas Yamaha SRT 98 2 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 86 1 3 Ducati Team 76 1 4 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 60 2 5 Team Suzuki Ecstar 50

Moto2

Riders' Championship standings Rider Points 1 1 Luca Marini 78 1 2 Enea Bastianini 73 3 3 Jorge Martín 59 4 Sam Lowes 59 2 5 Tetsuta Nagashima 55

Constructors' Championship standings Constructor Points 1 Kalex 125 2 Speed Up 48 3 MV Agusta 13 4 NTS 9

Teams' Championship standings Team Points 1 1 Sky Racing Team VR46 118 1 2 Red Bull KTM Ajo 114 1 3 EG 0,0 Marc VDS 84 1 4 Italtrans Racing Team 73 5 Openbank Aspar Team 60

Moto3

Riders' Championship standings Rider Points 1 Albert Arenas 95 1 2 John McPhee 67 1 3 Ai Ogura 65 4 Tatsuki Suzuki 50 5 Raúl Fernández 43

Constructors' Championship standings Constructor Points 1 1 KTM 111 1 2 Honda 110 3 Husqvarna 17

Teams' Championship standings Team Points 1 Valresa Aspar Team 108 3 2 Leopard Racing 71 1 3 Sic58 Squadra Corse 71 2 4 Petronas Sprinta Racing 67 1 5 Honda Team Asia 65

Notes

References

External links