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Italian defending world champion Francesco Bagnaia retook the 2024 MotoGP championship lead with a clinical win in Austria, the 11th round of 20, at the weekend.

Bagnaia and his Ducati Lenovo Team remain undefeated at the Spielberg track in Austria, after the world No.1 put together the perfect race from second on the grid.

Second was his main title rival again this season, Spain’s Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac Racing Ducati), with Bagnaia’s team-mate Enea Bastianini having a solid showing aboard the Ducati Desmosedici GP machine as he finished third.

After an excellent start from the front row, Bagnaia took the race lead at the start of race two as he moved past pole-setter Martín.

Bagnaia dictated the pace in an impeccable way as lap by lap he slowly pulled away to cross the finish line with more than three seconds of margin on his main rival for the title.

Sunday’s success brings up to five the number of consecutive wins – between sprint and full races – for Bagnaia and the official Ducati Team in Austria, who remain undefeated since the 2022 edition of the Austrian Grand Prix.

Bastianini moved off well from seventh place on the grid as he entered turn one in third position. Bastianini managed – in the early laps – to stay in touch with the leading duo, before gradually losing ground as the race went by.

Bastianini was still able to manage his margin on the following riders as he crossed the line in third place for his sixth Sunday podium of the season.

Fourth on Sunday was multi-time former MotoG champion Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati), of Spain, forced to fight back after a ride-height equipment malfunction on the start line.

With the 11th Grand Prix of the 2024 MotoGP of the season drawing to a close, Bagnaia sits atop the championship standings with 275 points and how has a five-point margin over Martín.

Bastianini consolidates third position with a 214-point total, and he is currently 61 points behind his team-mate.

The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action from August 30 to September 1 at Alcañiz’s MotorLand Aragón circuit in Spain.

“It was a really tight race. I tried to get in the lead from the start as I knew I had a good pace, while trying to manage a pace that was slightly faster than Martín’s,” said Bagnaia afterwards.

“When I saw that he slowed down a little, I tried to keep the same rhythm for another four-five laps in order to bring my lead to at least 1.5seconds.

“From then on it was a lot easier as in the final laps: the grip level had dropped a lot and the rear was spinning picking up the bike on corner exit and it was overall hard to manage the situation, as you never know what can happen.

“I’m extremely happy because this is the third consecutive year for us winning at Spielberg and I’d like to thank Ducati and the Academy for the work we do together every day.”

Photo courtesy Ducati

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MotoGP World Championship standings after round 11: