Reigning Moto2 World Champion and current leader of the Moto2 World Championship returns to action at the Red Bull Ring, a track that debuts on the MotoGP calendar this season.

Johann Zarco leads the Moto2 standings after nine races with 151 points, 25 ahead of his nearest rival. This weekend the competition resumes for the second half of the 2016 season, with the Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. No motorcycle World Championship race has been held at the track since 1997, and it hosts a MotoGP race for the first time.

Ajo Motorsport rider Zarco has not raced at the Austrian circuit, but has 144 laps of experience under his belt thanks to a private test held there on July 26th and 27th. The Red Bull Ring has a total of 9 corners -2 left handers and 7 right handers, and a total length of 4.3km. Satisfied with the base setup established at the test, the objective for the French rider will be to secure a good result and extend his advantage in the overall standings, which he claimed last time out in Germany. In the last four rounds, Zarco holds three wins and a further podium.

The Austrian GP will follow the regular schedule for European events, with the Moto2 race being held on Sunday, August 14th at 12:20pm local time.

Circuit information – Red Bull Ring
Length: 4.318 m / 2.683 miles
Width: 13 metres
Left corners: 2
Right corners: 7
Longest straight: 626 m / 0.389 miles
Constructed: 1969
Modified: 1996

5 JOHANN ZARCO
“We arrive at the Austrian GP with a good feeling; I finished the two days of testing very satisfied. The Red Bull Ring is a very fast circuit because of the few corners it has. We were able to set a good pace and a good lap time in testing, but it will be difficult to find ways to lower the times because there are only 9 corners. I think it could be a fun weekend and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do. It will be very interesting to see how the races turn out here. I’m sure that slipstreaming will be very important in Moto3, but in Moto2 it remains to be seen. We were lucky to find positive references at the test we did two weeks ago; we did a great job with the bike. Overall, I feel very good, I have trained well over the summer break and I am ready to keep up the great level that we showed in Germany.”