Martin penalty hands Bezecchi first Moto2 win

SPIELBERG (Austria):

Marco Bezzecchi

crossed the line second but was awarded his first

Moto2

victory on Sunday after

Jorge Martin

was docked a place for straying off the track on the last lap.


"I cried like a baby," said Bezzecchi, a 21-year-old Italian immediately after learning he had won.

Bezzecchi had closed a gap of almost 1.5 seconds in the closing laps but could not quite overtake.

"I wasn't strong enough in braking to pass him, so I tried to make him make a mistake," said Bezecchi.

Spaniard Martin, who won the previous week on the same track, did just that, riding onto the green paint exiting corner eight, an offence that leads to an automatic penalty in the last lap.

"We won in a racing way," said Martin. "I'm happy with my performance."

Australian

Remy Gardner

, like the two riders ahead of him on a Kalex, was third.

Italian

Luca Marini

was sixth and remained in first place of the riders' standings, eight points ahead of both Martin and Enea Bastianini, who finished 10th a week after his spectacular crash in the Austrian Grand Prix.

The opening laps were marked by a series of crashes, including incidents that knocked Spaniard Aron Canet, who started from pole position, and Briton Sam Lowes out of the race.

Moto2 results from the Styrian motorcycling Grand Prix in Spielberg on Sunday

1. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Kalex 37 minutes 12.461 seconds, Jorge Martin (ESP/Kalex) same time, 3. Remy Gardner (USA/Kalex) at 1.027sec, 4. Tetsuta Nagashima (JPN/Kalex) 1.974, 5. Thomas Lüthi (SUI/Kalex) à 3.230

World championship standings

1. Luca Marini (ITA) 87 points, 2. Enea Bastianini (ITA) 79, 3. Jorge Martin (ESP) 79, 4. Tetsuta Nagashima (JPN) 68, 5. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA) 65