Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi led much of the race after starting from pole position before Marquez pounced. The Italian then succumbed to charging Gresini Ducati rider Fermin Aldeguer, who took his best MotoGP result with second place.

Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi took pole position for MotoGP's Austrian Grand Prix after emerging from Q1 to top the timesheets in one of the most entertaining qualifying sessions of the season. Championship leader Marc Marquez will start from the second row after a low-speed crash late in the session cost him dear.

SPIELBERG, Austria, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Six-times MotoGP champion Marc Marquez marked the 1,000th premier class race in history by winning the Austrian Grand Prix for the first time in his career to take a mammoth 142-point lead over his brother Alex in the championship.