Bagnaia takes pole and wins sprint race in Austria

SPIELBERG: Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (pic) claimed his fifth pole position of the season with the fastest lap in qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix yesterday to give Ducati a bike on the front row for the 50th MotoGP race in a row.Italian Bagnaia set the fastest lap with less than half a minute left in the session with a time of 1:28.539, a whisker shy of the lap record set by VR46 Racing’s Marco Bezzecchi in practice on Friday. He later won the sprint race while Brad Binder (KTM) was second while Jorge Martin (Ducati) finished third.

Bagnaia, who leads Jorge Martin in the championship by 41 points, will be joined on the front row by Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales while KTM’s Brad Binder will start third on the grid in their home race at the Red Bull Ring.