Starting from pole, Martin appeared to have the Sprint race in Austria under control, but a mis‑entry into the second corner under pressure from Marc Marquez sent him off the track and dropped him to seventh.
The Spaniard regrouped, clawed his way back through the field and, on the final lap, surged past Marquez and Bezzecchi to claim his 20th MotoGP victory, his fourth of the season and the second Sprint win of the year.
Pedro Acosta, who had built a nearly two‑and‑a‑half‑second lead with three laps to go, suffered a front‑end loss on his KTM and crashed out, ending his bid for a maiden MotoGP win. The 19‑year‑old accepted full responsibility, saying he was looking at the dashboard and lost his braking point.
Marquez finished second, noting that his goal had been a podium and that he would need to watch Bezzecchi and newcomer Takaaki Ogura on Sunday’s longer race. Bezzecchi completed the podium in third place.
Martin’s victory moved him to 286 points in the championship, three ahead of Marquez and 38 ahead of Bezzecchi. He praised his team’s work and said the tyre choice would be crucial for the Sunday race.
Acosta, who is set to replace Francesco Bagnaia in the Ducati factory team next season, described the crash as a momentary lapse in concentration and vowed to learn from the mistake.
Ducati Corse general manager Gigi Dall’Igna responded to recent off‑track comments about Bagnaia and teammate Andrea Di Giannantonio, stating that terminating Bagnaia’s contract before its end‑of‑year expiry is not being considered and emphasizing the team’s unity in supporting the rider.