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MotoGP Styria: Oliveira takes shock maiden win with last-corner move

Miguel Oliveira took a shock maiden MotoGP victory on the last corner of a red-flagged Styrian Grand Prix after Jack Miller and Pol Espargaro ran wide on the final lap

Suzuki's Joan Mir grabbed the holeshot for the first start, though had to relinquish his lead to Pramac's Jack Miller for running off at Turn 1 and gaining an advantage.

Mir was then demoted by Takaaki Nakagami on lap four, though the Suzuki soon rallied and by the end of the tour was once again in the lead.

He was able to open up a lead of over two seconds by the end of lap 16 before the red flag brought the race to a halt after Maverick Vinales suffered a scary crash at Turn 1.

Having seemingly been battling brake issues all race, Vinales was forced to jump off his Yamaha at 130mph when it wouldn't slow, with the bike bursting into flames as it hit the air fence.

Restarted over 12 laps, Mir took the lead again from Miller off the line, though the Ducati moved ahead into Turn 4.

The Pramac rider fitted fresh softs to the front and rear of his bike, while Mir had to suffer with a medium front that had already done 18 laps.

Mir could do nothing to fend of the riders behind coming through, with Espargaro on the KTM and Oliveira moving through to chase down Miller by lap six.

Espargaro, who was struggling to run the pace of the leaders before the red flag, blasted past Miller at the final corner on lap seven having made a failed attempt at Turn 1 the lap before.

The factory KTM rider ran a defensive line into Turn 3 on the final tour, which allowed Miller to get the run on him down into Turn 4.

Espargaro tried to respond on the inside of Turn 5, but the Ducati rider held the position, with Oliveira in third poised to take profit of any drama ahead.

At the penultimate corner, Espargaro launched a raid on Miller, but ran slightly wide and allowed the Pramac rider to draw alongside into the final turn.

Miller muscled through and parked his bike on the exit, forcing Espargaro wide.

But this allowed Oliveira to come through to score his maiden MotoGP victory in the 900th premier class race and the first win for Tech3.

Miller held Espargaro at bay for second, with Mir fourth at the chequered flag ahead of Andrea Dovizioso - the Ducati rider dropping out of podium contention after running wide on the last lap.

Alex Rins was sixth on the Suzuki, while Nakagami's podium hopes faded in the second race and he was seventh in the end, with Brad Binder (KTM), Valentino Rossi on the Yamaha and Tech3's Iker Lecuona completing the top 10.

Danilo Petrucci grabbed 11th on the works team Ducati ahead of Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro, while a struggling Fabio Quartararo on the Petronas SRT Yamaha maintains a slender three-point lead over Dovizioso after finishing 13th.

Johann Zarco came from the pitlane in the first race to score two points with 14th on the Avintia Ducati, with Franco Morbidelli completing the top 15 on the SRT Yamaha.

MotoGP Styrian GP results

Pos Rider Team Bike Gap
1 Miguel Oliveira Tech3 KTM KTM 16m56.025s
2 Jack Miller Pramac Ducati Ducati 0.316s
3 Pol Espargaro KTM KTM 0.540s
4 Joan Mir Suzuki Suzuki 0.641s
5 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 1.414s
6 Alex Rins Suzuki Suzuki 1.450s
7 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda Honda 1.864s
8 Brad Binder KTM KTM 4.150s
9 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha 4.517s
10 Iker Lecuona Tech3 KTM KTM 5.068s
11 Danilo Petrucci Ducati Ducati 5.918s
12 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia Aprilia 6.411s
13 Fabio Quartararo Petronas Yamaha Yamaha 7.406s
14 Johann Zarco Avintia Ducati Ducati 7.454s
15 Franco Morbidelli Petronas Yamaha Yamaha 10.191s
16 Alex Marquez Honda Honda 10.524s
17 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda Honda 11.447s
18 Stefan Bradl Honda Honda 11.943s
19 Bradley Smith Aprilia Aprilia 12.732s
20 Michele Pirro Pramac Ducati Ducati 14.349s
21 Tito Rabat Avintia Ducati Ducati 14.548s
- Maverick Vinales Yamaha Yamaha Retirement

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