There won’t be:
#46
The greatest motorcycle rider of all time, the absolute fan favourite, nine-time world champion, valeyellow46, the Doctor. He completed his final lap at the Red Bull Ring in 2021. How fantastic it was that he was briefly in third position in his final race here! How fantastic it was to hear the chants of Vale! Vale! as he crossed the finish line! Out of respect for him, no rider has chosen the number 46 for years. It’s time to retire his race number for good – like Wayne Gretzky’s number 99 in ice hockey and Michael Jordan’s number 23 in basketball.
BUT:
Perhaps it is too early to leave the yellow T-shirt and cap with the number 46 in the cupboard along with the Niki Lauda autograph and Gustl Auinger poster. In 2022, Valentino Rossi will be boss of his own MotoGP team for the first time. You definitely would not want to miss that.
There won’t be:
A race like 2021
A rider made himself immortal at the Red Bull Ring and acquired a nickname for life in the process. The heroics of Big Balls Binder on slicks in torrential rain in his KTM RC16 at the 2021 Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring is something fans will tell their grandchildren about. To avoid crashing in those conditions is surely something that nobody can repeat.
BUT:
It isn’t a wild suggestion to already predict the 2022 Austrian GP will be a great race. Every MotoGP race at the Red Bull Ring has been one to keep fans on the edge of their seats. At no other circuit have there been so many races decided at the final turn with drama until the very end. We start to get goosebumps when we think back to Marc Márquez v Andrea Dovizioso or Miguel Oliveira v Pol Espargaro and Jack Miller.
There won’t be:
A lap record
1:22.643. You could engrave the time into the pit wall at the Red Bull Ring, if the Ducati guys haven’t already done it. 1:22.643 was the lap record set in qualifying by Jorge Martin at the 2021 Austrian GP. Never before was a motorcycle so fast between the start and finish line. There won’t be a chance to better it. Due to the introduction of a chicane where turn 2 currently is, this time is set to remain out of reach forever.
BUT:
The new chicane, which is being built in the winter, will not only make the Red Bull Ring safer for motorcycle riders, but will also provide an additional element of excitement for fans. In the final third of the uphill straight, riders can expect a fluent left and right combination – ideal for overtaking manoeuvres. If not in the chicane itself, then in the following turn 3, where there will be a totally new racing line, which will be vital to find for accelerating out from there into the Schönberg straight.
What there won’t be:
The old guard
We have already shed a tear at Valentino’s departure. Some other beloved familiar figures won’t be on the starting grid again in 2022. Sentimental fans might feel a tug at their heartstrings in 2022.
BUT:
Anyone who wants to discover the fresh faces and young guns battling to become the stars of the future has to come to the 2022 GP of Austria at the Red Bull Ring. In Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez, two youngsters are coming into MotoGP who tore up Moto2 this year and will be giving their absolute all for Tech3 KTM Factory. Fabio Di Giannantonio is to ride a MotoGP Ducati and has what it takes to become a Tifosi favourite. Who knows – the future is unknown, and the time is ripe for some stars to emerge!
SO:
There were fantastic spectator numbers for 2021 at the Red Bull Ring. Instead of two races at the Red Bull Ring, there will just be one in 2022. You don’t have to be a doctor to realise what this means – there will be huge interest in tickets the next time MotoGP visits the Red Bull Ring.
Massive interest. Probably more than the circuit can accommodate.
There will only be one place you want to be between 19 and 21 August 2022.
Be smart and secure your tickets for the MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX OF AUSTRIA 2022, in which there will so much that is different, and therefore new and exciting. Get them here right now, with no buts about it. Where? Here: LINK
