Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) followed up his second at Brno with another podium finish in Austria, also taking second. The rider from Cervera was in the fight at the front from the start, and held off Tom Lüthi (CarXpert Interwetten) under intense pressure for much of the race – with the two then closing in on race leader Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS).
Making a small mistake to take him out of victory contention, the 2014 Moto3 World Champion did manage to escape the clutches of Lüthi, however, coming home in a comfortable P2 to complete the EG 0,0 Marc VDS team’s first 1-2 result since 2014.
Alex Marquez, P2: “I had a lot of fun in the race, especially the fight with Tom, which was very close. Late in the race I thought I had a chance to challenge Franco for the win but I made a small mistake at turn three and lost the gap to him. But I am very happy to be on the podium, it has not been an easy weekend at this track so this is an important result for me.”
Podio trabajado en una carrera que se ha decidido por detalles! ???????????? A very worked podium in a race decided on details! #AustrianGP #Moto2 pic.twitter.com/A7PwNewjtt
— Alex Márquez (@alexmarquez73) 13 August 2017
After the race, it was back on track for the EG 0,0 Marc VDS team at the one day Official Moto2 and Moto3 test on Monday – with Marquez focused on front feeling in Spielberg’s hard-braking areas.
AM73: "We tested a few different options with the chassis set up as well as some changes to the geometry, mainly to improve the feedback from the front in the hard braking areas here. Not big changes, because I was happy with the set up I had in the race, but just a few small things that we thought might bring an additional tenth or two. I'm happy with the progress we've made; we found a few small improvements but we also confirmed that the race set up we went with was definitely the right one. Now we need to look forward to the next race in Silverstone, which is another of my favourite tracks."