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.

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.

The scoresheet continued to read as it has since early June at the Austrian Grand Prix. But Marc Marquez faced his stiffest test yet in a battle for victory from rivals edging ever closer to Ducati’s