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Explore the Red Bull Ring with these 8 stand-out moments
The MotoGP™ season continues this weekend with the Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, so we've scanned the archives to highlight some unusual Spielberg circuit happenings away from big events.
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With another weekend of MotoGP™ action coming up at the Red Bull Ring after last weekend's action-packed Austrian Grand Prix, what better time to take a look back at some of the circuit's most interesting moments away from the big races?
Some of the top names in sport have tested themselves in unfamiliar territory at the Red Bull Ring over the years, and this is our pick of the most memorable occasions, in no particular order.
1. Álex Márquez vs a racing drone
Álex Márquez and the racing drone on the track
© Philip Platzer/Red Bull Content Pool
Ever wondered how the small, nimble and increasingly rapid racing drones would match up against a full-throttle MotoGP™ machine? Well, wonder no more, because here's one going turn-for-turn with Repsol Honda's Álex Márquez at the Red Bull Ring. Check it out in full at the top of the page.
Does it herald a new era for a multidisciplinary racing series? Are searing new lap times set? Well, no, perhaps not. What you do get is a unique perspective on a visually stunning track, new angles on how one of our favourite riders handles those challenging corners, and a timely reminder of just how incredibly powerful that bike is.
2. Sébastien Ogier drives an F1 car – 2017
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Sébastien Ogier drives the RB7 2011 F1 car
World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier gets behind the wheel of the double-championship winning RB7 F1 car.
Six-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier had always dreamed of competing in F1 after growing up idolising the exploits of Ayrton Senna and he got his chance to have a go in June 2017.
Ogier took the wheel of the 2011 RB7 model during the summer break in the WRC season and he found it an altogether different experience to driving a rally car.
Find out if Ogier could master a car where top speeds hit 325kph and the forces bearing down on a driver exceed 4.5G in the video above.
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3. Marcel Hirscher rides a MotoGP™ bike – 2019
A different kind of speed
© Philip Platzer/Red Bull Content Pool
Like Ogier, alpine ski legend Marcel Hirscher is also used to controlled speed, but after eight World Cup overall titles, seven World Championship golds and two Olympic golds, the Austrian fancied a different challenge.
Hirscher swapped his two skis for two wheels in July of 2019 and rode a 300-brake horsepower KTM RC 16 factory machine to make his MotoGP™ debut at the Red Bull Ring on the bike of Johann Zarco.
He was put through his paces by former world-championship-racer-turned-instructor Gustl Auinger and, having been a keen enduro rider anyway, Hirscher wasn't a total novice on two wheels.
"Others have the desire to sit in a Formula One car but, for me, it was definitely MotoGP™," Hirscher said. "I'm one of the few on the planet who are allowed to ride such a motorcycle.”
4. Pierre Gasly's Red Bull Air Race experience – 2019
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Pierre Gasly gets an aerial view
Pierre Gasly takes flight with Martin Sonka for an aerial track guide of the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.
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Scuderia AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly is used to experiencing huge g-force in his F1 car, but he took it a step further in an aerobatic plane with a lap above the Red Bull Ring in June 2019.
Red Bull Air Race champion Martin Šonka teamed up with Gasly (in the passenger seat) for some stunts in a plane that has a top speed of 400kph through the air and is propelled by a six cylinder 8.9l air-cooled engine.
"I was a bit anxious because I don't like the loss of control," Gasly admitted. "The amount of Gs we pulled going around the corners of the track was unbelievable – in Turn One we hit 6G and it's like a massive slap in the face! The maximum G I've experienced in an F1 car is 5.4 under heavy braking and we went to something like 6.7 or 6.8. How fast and sharp you are able to turn was awesome!"
You can watch what happened in the video above.
5. Fastest drone lap record – 2017
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Fastest lap
Austrian Red Bull DR.ONE pilot, Walter Kirsch, flies the first ever fastest lap with his race drone in 1:39,75 min around the Red Bull Ring, in Austria.
Austrian pilot Walter Kirsch set the fastest-ever drone record around the Red Bull Ring in a time of 1m 39.75s in September 2017, ahead of Red Bull Dr.One.
His race drone reached a top speed of 165kph and an average speed of 155kph and although it was still some way short of the fastest lap around the circuit (set by Lewis Hamilton in a Formula One car in a time of 1m 07.411s) it was closer to the leading MotoGP™ lap of Johann Zarco, clocked at 1m 24.312s. Watch Walter Kirsch's fastest lap in the video above.
6. Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen's caravan race – 2017
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Watch a caravan race with an F1 twist
See Red Bull Racing’s Ricciardo and Verstappen race their caravans around Austria’s F1 track.
Back in 2017 Aston Martin Red Bull Racing drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were used to going head-to-head in F1 machines, but ahead of that year's Austrian Grand Prix they swapped them for Aston Martin Vanquish sports cars pulling caravans!
Instead of treating the locals to a few laps in their 2017 F1 cars, the pair were given the chance to test out the souped-up convertibles with the added ballast of the caravans behind.
Not any old caravans either, stripped out ones with Pirelli slick tyres painted in Red Bull Racing livery and their very own race numbers to mark them out.
Verstappen said: "We were pretty sure that we were going to crash [the caravans]. It wasn’t on purpose, but then I started drifting the car a bit and I could see in the mirror that the caravan was on one wheel!”
See how it all played out in the video above.
7. Marc Márquez drives a Formula One car – 2018
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Marc Márquez drives F1
Four-time world champion in the MotoGP™ class Marc Márquez takes a Formula One car for a test drive.
Speaking of swapping machinery, a year after Dan and Max's caravan race, six-time MotoGP™ world champion Marc Márquez ditched his bike in favour of an STR F1 car.
Márquez first underwent a series of laps in the simulator before getting onto the track for the test run and the Spaniard had a litany of F1 big hitters to put him through his paces, with the likes of three-time world champion Niki Lauda, eight-time grand prix winner Mark Webber and Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko watching from the stands.
Hooked after just a few laps, Márquez said: “It was always my dream to race the quickest cars in the world. I had great respect for it ahead of today, and I didn’t sleep well. In the end it was an unbelievable experience and an absolute highlight of my career. There's a massive difference to MotoGP™. The limited visibility was a great challenge, in particular, to begin with. You feel a lot more constricted in the cockpit. The braking distances and timing in turns is completely different. An F1 car has much more downforce, of course, which made for a lot of fun in the part of the circuit with the most turns, in particular.”
And he didn't rule out a shock switch to F1 later in his career, either, saying: "Who knows though, maybe Formula One will be a serious idea for me in a few years’ time!"
See Márquez switch from MotoGP™ bikes to F1 cars in the video above.
8. Lindsey Vonn tries her hand in a Formula Renault – 2016
Lindsey Vonn looking good in a Formula Renault car
© Samo Vidic/Red Bull Content Pool
No stranger to extreme speed, the legendary alpine ski star Lindsey Vonn couldn't wait to test herself at speeds of up to 290kph at the Ring in Formula Renault 2.0 and 3.5 machines.
Vonn, the winner of 20 World Cup crystal globes (a record for men or women) got the chance to race the Renaults under the tutelage of Dr Helmut Marko and she saw some similarities between alpine skiing and single-seater racing after speeding round the Red Bull Ring.
"In both sports you need the right timing," she explained. "When to speed up, when to hit the brakes and how to find the best line.”
And having retired from skiing maybe Vonn's next career move could also be speed-related, but on track rather than on the piste? "I won't stop the action [when retired from skiing]," she said. "So you never know."
Still want more Red Bull Ring? Here's 10 things you might not know:
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10 facts about Red Bull Ring
Take a look back at some of Red Bull Ring's most interesting moments away from F1 and Moto races.
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