Teammates Martin & Bezzecchi Podium at GP of Austria

Heading into the GP, Martin and Marc Marquez were tied in points, but Martin had the edge, winning the Tissot Sprint race in a dramatic comeback on Saturday afternoon. Bezzecchi, however, wasn't too far behind and joined Martin on the Sprint podium, setting the stage for what would be a hectic battle to the front in the next day's MotoGP.

Getting off to a fast start on their Aprilias, Martin and Bezzecchi took the No. 1 and 2 positions early on in Sunday's contest. Bezzecchi would put his RS-GP26 near the start of Lap 2 – a lead that was quickly snatched back by Martin on Turn 3. KTM’s Pedro Acosta, who’s well back in 4th in the overall MotoGP point standings, would catch and pass Martin on Lap 9, then put up 1.4 seconds on the overall points leader by the checkers.

“It was a great weekend," said Martin. "Getting back to this level of speed and having good fitness after the doubts in Misano make me extremely happy. I wanted to fight for the win, but battling with Pedro was quite difficult – although I tried all the way to the end.”