Ducati Eyes Historic Milestone at Austrian MotoGP: Five Key Storylines to Watch This Weekend

Critical achievement Ducati may reach at the Austrian MotoGP

Top five highlights to look for during this weekend’s Austrian MotoGP.

The 2024 Austrian MotoGP is the 11th event in this year's series. Enea Bastianini comes in following his initial victory of the season, KTM aims to break a two-year winless streak, and Jack Miller is working to land a 2025 MotoGP deal that once seemed improbable.

Furthermore, each of the championship hopefuls is aiming to prove themselves as the top contender, and Ducati has a major goal to reach.

KTM seeks historic home win

While KTM has previously secured victories at the Red Bull Ring—Miguel Oliveira clinched the Styrian Grand Prix in 2020 and Brad Binder won the Austrian GP in 2021—the team has not celebrated a win since October 2022, when Oliveira triumphed at the Thai Grand Prix. Additionally, their last win in dry conditions dates back to May 2022, when Oliveira emerged victorious at the Catalan Grand Prix.

Consequently, it comes to its home Grand Prix boasting the most thrilling talent in the lineup — Pedro Acosta — yet lacking a motorcycle with a proven track record of winning Grands Prix.

KTM needs to see improvements quickly if it hopes to approach 2025 with confidence about winning its first MotoGP title. One could argue that the best place for this turnaround is at the track named after the company that finances its racing endeavors.

Miller's opportunity to remain

During the British Grand Prix, Jack Miller talked about his efforts to savor his final races as a MotoGP competitor in the latter part of the 2024 season.

In the week leading up to the Austrian Grand Prix, it has been revealed that the Australian rider has a strong possibility of staying in Grand Prix racing with the newly formed Pramac Yamaha team. This move had been speculated for some time, but it appeared that Pramac was set to sign Miguel Oliveira, a seasoned rider, to assist Yamaha in making the YZR-M1 competitive again. Alongside Oliveira, a younger rider, such as current Moto2 points leader Sergio Garcia, was expected to join the team. This development seemed to have ended Miller's chances of returning to the Italian satellite team, with which he started his Ducati career in 2018.

Yamaha has shifted its focus to motorcycle development rather than nurturing rider skills, with MotoGP rights holder Dorna reportedly advising against adding another Spanish rider to the World Championship lineup. This change appears to have created an opportunity for Australian rider Miller.

As an Italian team, and given KTM's tendency to make significant announcements during their home Grand Prix weekends, it's possible that any news regarding Miller – or even Oliveira – could be held until Pramac's next home race, the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano from September 6-8. Conversely, if an agreement between Miller and Pramac is finalized before this weekend ends, we might hear about it before MotoGP wraps up in Styria.

Is Bastianini capable of replicating his Silverstone tyre performance?

Enea Bastianini's skill in managing Michelin rear tyres was well-known even before Silverstone, where this talent played a crucial role in earning him the factory Ducati seat he subsequently lost in 2022.

However, in 2022, Bastianini, who was riding for Ducati's satellite team, couldn't consistently replicate his performance to become a serious contender for the championship.

The Red Bull Ring, similar to Silverstone, is a track that demands excellent control of rear tire grip. Riders need to both utilize and preserve this grip to attain competitive lap and race times.

In contrast to Silverstone, the Austrian track puts more stress on the shoulder and center of the tire rather than the edges. The stop-and-go nature of the Red Bull Ring helps protect the tire edges better than the more fluid layout of Silverstone. Additionally, the Red Bull Ring, along with Mandalika and Thailand circuits, sees Michelin using a specially designed harder tire construction. This is done to better manage the heat generated from the numerous hard accelerations on these tracks, a number that has risen since the addition of the 2a-2b chicane in 2022.

Will Bastianini be able to replicate his impressive tyre management from Silverstone in Styria? Time will tell, but his performance could be crucial in this year's championship race.

Ducati aims for its 97th victory

Over the past year, there has been considerable excitement whenever a Ducati rider has had the opportunity to secure a win for the Italian brand, reaching a total number of victories that matches the rider's race number.

In Austria, Ducati has the opportunity to secure its 97th victory in a MotoGP race. Although none of its riders use the number 97, this milestone holds special meaning, as it would put Ducati on par with Suzuki in terms of premier class Grand Prix wins.

This would mark a significant achievement for Ducati, a brand that had minimal participation in the 500cc era and only restarted its top-tier Grand Prix racing activities 21 years ago.

Moreover, if Ducati — having secured victories in nine out of the ten Grands Prix this season and clinched the last seven consecutively — achieves this significant milestone this weekend, it would notably occur at the same location where Andrea Iannone broke the team's nearly six-year winless streak in 2016. This event marked the beginning of Ducati's journey to becoming the leading force in MotoGP today.

Title race intensifies… potentially

Should Ducati secure their 97th Grand Prix victory in Austria through Francesco Bagnaia, the Italian rider would replicate his achievement from earlier this year at Mugello and Assen: winning three times in a row at the same track.

This would mark Bagnaia's seventh victory and ninth appearance on the podium out of the 11 races held in 2024 so far. Unless he faces any setbacks similar to the Sprint race mishap at Silverstone, this achievement would place him back at the top of the championship standings.

Despite Bagnaia's five-second lead in 2023, his victory is not guaranteed.

Jorge Martin demonstrated impressive pace in Austria last year, but an incident at the first corner during the Sprint race effectively ruined his chances in both races. The crash not only knocked him out of contention on Saturday but also led to a penalty, making it harder for him to catch up with the front-runners on Sunday. If he can avoid such mishaps, the current championship leader is expected to be a strong contender for victory in 2024.

Enea Bastianini has not often been known for his time attack skills, yet he secured his first MotoGP pole position in Austria in 2022. Although he did not complete the race due to a mechanical problem, the Italian rider demonstrated his quickness at the Styrian track at that time.

Marc Marquez nearly clinched victory against Ducati on three occasions from 2017 to 2019, despite riding a Honda that was far less suitable for the Red Bull Ring's straightaways compared to the Desmosedici. Presently, the eight-time World Champion is riding a Ducati, though it is last year’s model. This change could — and perhaps should — make him a more prominent contender for podium finishes and possibly even wins. Achieving this would undoubtedly reinforce his status as a title contender.

In the end, the weather plays a significant role, as evidenced by the unusual conditions in Styria in 2021. Reflecting on that intense 2021 race, it becomes clear that before the rain began and all the frontrunners except Binder went into the pits, Bagnaia appeared to be on the verge of securing his first-ever victory.

Regardless of who emerges victorious this weekend, the outcome won't secure the title for any of the four competitors, nor will it knock any of them out of the running. Those who fall short in Austria will have two more opportunities to make a comeback in Misano.

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