VIDEO: Moto GP Star Does a Bold Wheelie After Late Heroics at the MotoGP Austrian GP2023

Racing action returned to the tracks after a two week summer break and the bandwagon now makes a stop at Styria for the Austrian MotoGP 2023. After the high-octane drama and crashes at Silverstone, riders across all levels of competition were hoping for better racing conditions.

The Moto2 championship, the second largest league in motor cycle racing had its practice scheduled today at the Red Bull Ring and it threw up some great surprises that promise to make the racing weekend a one to watch out for.

Austrian MotoGP starts with a bang!

The first practice session for Moto2 commenced at 9:45am local time and gave both viewers present and fans watching online a mouth-watering session. After the mayhem and madness of Silverstone, teams were delighted with the racing conditions on offer and wore an excited look on their faces.

A good and clean track meant that the teams could test strategies and fix any minor puzzle pieces they think are missing before the main race day. The practice started with no hiccups, a relief to everyone watching. The track conditions were dry and the temperature too was not high, standing at 22 degrees.

Humidity for the morning stood at 77% and the track temperature too was in check, at 23 degrees. The session went quite smooth for most teams but Honda’s rider, Somkiat Chantra had some minor hiccups mid session but was able to quickly overcome them and had a wonderful race thereafter.

The rider reached the top of the standing mid race but fell back after a mistake cost him precious seconds. His misery was only short lived as the rider did not get bogged down by the situation and improved his racing to finish P1 back at the top!

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Chantra and Reb Bull Ring’s romance

Somkiat Chantra was elated on starting the day with such a positive note. MotoGP uploaded a video on their X page that showed just how excited and joyful Chantra was after grabbing pole position in the Austrian Moto2 FP1.

To top that off, the rider also bagged the fastest lap of the session, putting to close a very successful first stint for him and his team Honda.

Chantra could not contain his happiness, and the clip uploaded showed the rider doing a wheelie in celebration of his finish at the top. He arrived on the final turn doing a wheelie and showed just how confident and good he was feeling after the race. He ended with a time of 1:34:160, the fastest of the day and even left behind current Moto2 table topper Perdo Acosta.

The Red Bull Ring has proved to be a great hunting track for Chantra, whose best performance in the previous season came here itself. The rider struggled since then to string together consistent performance and establish himself as a threat in the competition but after an impressive race in Germany and strong performance in Silverstone, a good first P1 will only help boost his confidence.

The next practice session for them will commence at 14:00 local time and Honda fans will be hoping for a similar if not better performance from their team.

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