Jorge Martin takes career-best sixth place in Austrian GP

Spanish teenager Jorge Martin (Team Aspar Mahindra) led the way to a double points-scoring finish for the official Mahindra team in the sunny Alpine foothills today, claiming a career-best sixth place.

It was a thrilling climax to an exciting race as the paddock returned to Austria for the first time since 1997; with the Pull & Bear-sponsored MGP3O Mahindras battling in a huge pack of riders across the sun-soaked hillsides. The 4.318-km Red Bull Ring is the fastest track on the calendar, and the Moto3 riders made the most of the slipstreaming opportunities, changing places corner by corner for all of the 23 laps.

Martin’s teammate Bagnaia had qualified in sixth and got away well, in the thick of a big leading group. But he was battling minor but costly set-up issues, and it was Martin making forward progress, from the fifth row of the grid.

He quickly moved through the pursuing pack to tag on to the back of the lead group, in sixth by lap six. From there to the end he was under constant attack, but managed to fight back every time to maintain the position at the finish.

His previous best finish was seventh in mixed conditions. Today’s sixth in perfect racing conditions was a feather in the cap for the former Red Bull Rookies champion, and further proof of the growing strength of the Mahindra racing machine.

The team now heads across the border to the Czech Republic, for next weekend’s GP in Brno as racing resumes to a hectic post-holiday schedule.

Jorge Martin – Sixth Position
“Finally we’ve had a good race. We’ve always been there in the points but something was always a little wrong. Today we had the pace for the whole race. It was an almost perfect weekend; I worked alone since the start of the Grand Prix, making my own pace. In the race I saw that when I was running alone it was better. It’s a shame the front group escaped me, but I’m happy. The fall of Navarro upset me a little because I lost him as a reference, but it didn’t slow me down too much. I was able to overtake well in the final laps and I finished within four seconds of the leader, which is very important. I’ve also achieved my best result in the World Championship, a great day!”

Source: Mahindra Racing