MotoGP Grand Prix of Austria 2016 Results: Winner, Standings and Reaction

Ducati’s Andrea Iannone won a thrilling Austrian MotoGP Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday following a pulsating battle with his team-mate Andrea Dovizioso. 

Iannone started on pole for this one, although Dovizioso took over the lead midway through the race. However, the former showed great composure to retake top spot late on, winning for the first time in MotoGP. Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo came home in third, with his stablemate Valentino Rossi in fourth spot.

Here's the moment the Italian crossed the line to take victory, per the MotoGP feed:

Honda’s Marc Marquez, whose lead in the championship was chopped down to 43 points, capped off a tough weekend with a battling fifth-place finish.

Here’s a recap of what was another gripping MotoGP race, as well as the full results and standings after the battle in Austria.

Pos.	Points	Rider	Nation	Team	Time/Gap
1	25	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Ducati Team	39'46.255
2	20	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati Team	+0.938
3	16	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	+3.389
4	13	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	+3.815
5	11	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	+11.813
6	10	Maverick VINALES	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	+14.341
7	9	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	+17.063
8	8	Scott REDDING	GBR	OCTO Pramac Yakhnich	+29.437
9	7	Bradley SMITH	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	+29.785
10	6	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	+37.094
11	5	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	OCTO Pramac Yakhnich	+39.765
12	4	Michele PIRRO	ITA	Ducati Team	+39.766
13	3	Loris BAZ	FRA	Avintia Racing	+44.284
14	2	Tito RABAT	SPA	Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS	+45.004
15	1	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	LCR Honda	+1'03.246
16		Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	+1'12.448
17		Yonny HERNANDEZ	COL	Pull & Bear Aspar Team	+1'14.517
18		Eugene LAVERTY	IRL	Pull & Bear Aspar Team	+1'36.510
19		Stefan BRADL	GER	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	1 Lap
		Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	4 Laps
		Hector BARBERA	SPA	Avintia Racing	0 Lap

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Marc MARQUEZ	Honda	SPA	181
2	Jorge LORENZO	Yamaha	SPA	138
3	Valentino ROSSI	Yamaha	ITA	124
4	Dani PEDROSA	Honda	SPA	105
5	Maverick VINALES	Suzuki	SPA	93
6	Andrea IANNONE	Ducati	ITA	88
7	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati	ITA	79
8	Pol ESPARGARO	Yamaha	SPA	78
9	Hector BARBERA	Ducati	SPA	65
10	Scott REDDING	Ducati	GBR	53
11	Eugene LAVERTY	Ducati	IRL	53
12	Aleix ESPARGARO	Suzuki	SPA	51
13	Jack MILLER	Honda	AUS	42
14	Bradley SMITH	Yamaha	GBR	42
15	Cal CRUTCHLOW	Honda	GBR	41
16	Stefan BRADL	Aprilia	GER	37
17	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Aprilia	SPA	35
18	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ducati	ITA	29
19	Michele PIRRO	Ducati	ITA	23
20	Tito RABAT	Honda	SPA	20
21	Loris BAZ	Ducati	FRA	11
22	Yonny HERNANDEZ	Ducati	COL	3

Iannone Keeps Cool to Grab Maiden Win

As noted by Crash.net MotoGP, Rossi, who did brilliantly to separate the Ducatis in qualifying, opted for a different tyre strategy than the pole-sitter, paving the way for a potentially intriguing race:

On Lap 1, the strategy seemed to be vindicated for the Yamaha man, as he surged past his compatriot. However, Iannone retook the lead quickly, pushing Rossi wide and allowed a fast-moving Lorenzo into second and Dovizioso into third.

As we can see courtesy of the MotoGP Twitter feed, Rossi was struggling to find his groove after the fast start:

Meanwhile, Marquez, despite dislocating his shoulder on Saturday following a fall, was keeping himself in contention, making for a star-studded front five who started to pull away from the chasing pack.

Dovizioso moved past Lorenzo into second spot, and with the assurance of a team-mate behind him, Iannone was able to up the pace before his team-mate came past.

Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images

Indeed, as the race moved toward the halfway stage, the suitability of the Ducatis to this circuit was starting to show, as they gradually moved clear of the other three riders up front. The Yamaha pair of Rossi and Lorenzo were battling hard to keep pace with them, though, with the potential for tyre degradation late on.

As former British champion Steve Brogan noted, the final stages of this looked to be becoming a four-horse race for the win:

Dovizioso was in control up front, though, and whenever Lorenzo started to close in on the Ducati duo they discovered a burst of speed. Iannone was clinging on to his coattail and evidently had little intention of following his team-mate home in a procession.

With seven laps to go, Iannone managed to squeeze his way past Dovizioso and into the lead; he then set the quickest lap of the race to consolidate his spot up front. Even so, his team-mate showed immense resolve, keeping within touching distance.

Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images

Dovizioso was breathing down Iannone’s neck on the final lap, although the latter stayed cool to clinch his maiden victory. MCN Sport paid tribute to the winner and noted just how overdue this success was for the team:

"It's an incredible feeling. It's very difficult to explain this emotion, my first MotoGP win with Ducati," said Iannone afterwards, per Valentin Khorounzhiy of Motorsport.com. "I started on this bike, and I've worked for four years with this incredible group that supported me 100 per cent from the beginning."

Ducati had been dominant over the course of the week and, overall, Iannone had been the best rider in Austria. On Saturday he showed the raw pace needed to clinch pole position, while Sunday he was meticulous and intelligent in his race craft.

Marquez will reflect on a tough weekend in Austria, although after suffering such a nasty knock on Saturday, he’ll feel he eventually did well to limit his losses overall. He’ll be hoping to be fully recovered in a week’s time in the Czech Republic and reassert his dominance in pursuit of a third world title.