Pedro Acosta swept the opening day of the Austrian MotoGP round at the Red Bull Ring, while Australian Jack Miller was left facing a fight through Q1 after finishing 21st in Friday Practice.

Acosta gave KTM the start it wanted at its home Grand Prix, topping both Friday sessions and setting the Practice benchmark at 1m28.381s.

The factory KTM rider finished 0.127s clear of Fermin Aldeguer, with Ai Ogura producing an impressive return to competition to put the Trackhouse Aprilia third.

Championship leader Marc Marquez was fourth on the factory Ducati, only 0.018s ahead of fellow championship leader Jorge Martin in fifth.

Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the top six ahead of Acosta’s KTM teammate Brad Binder, Alex Marquez, Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Quartararo.

The top 10 secured direct passage into Q2.

Acosta controlled much of the session before the late qualifying runs began, holding an advantage of around half a second before the field switched onto fresh tyres.

Aldeguer closed the margin late, but Acosta still appeared to have more available. His final lap was shaping as another improvement before he abandoned the attempt after setting the fastest times through the opening three sectors.

Alex Marquez produced one of the stranger moments of the session when he crashed exiting Turn 1, bringing out the red flag with a little under 12 minutes remaining.

The Gresini Ducati appeared to lose the front as the wheel returned to the ground under acceleration. Marquez was unhurt and returned on his second bike to secure eighth.

Francesco Bagnaia was one of the biggest names caught outside the top 10, finishing only 18th and joining Miller in Q1.

For the Australian, it was a difficult afternoon aboard the Prima Pramac Yamaha.

Miller finished 21st with a 1m29.949s, 1.568s away from Acosta’s benchmark.

That leaves the Queenslander needing to find significant time on Saturday if he is to advance through Q1 and into the final qualifying session.

MotoGP Practice, top 12

Pos	Rider	Team	Time/Gap
1	Pedro Acosta	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	1m28.381s
2	Fermin Aldeguer	BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP	+0.127s
3	Ai Ogura	SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team	+0.187s
4	Marc Marquez	Ducati Lenovo Team	+0.204s
5	Jorge Martin	Aprilia Racing	+0.222s
6	Fabio Di Giannantonio	Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team	+0.252s
7	Brad Binder	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	+0.269s
8	Alex Marquez	BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP	+0.321s
9	Marco Bezzecchi	Aprilia Racing	+0.430s
10	Fabio Quartararo	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team	+0.436s
11	Luca Marini	Honda HRC Castrol	+0.440s
12	Johann Zarco	Castrol Honda LCR	+0.484s

Agius safely into Moto2 Q2

Senna Agius delivered better news for Australia in Moto2, securing direct passage into Q2 after finishing 12th in Practice.

Filip Salac set the pace with a new Moto2 lap record around the Red Bull Ring, stopping the clock at 1m32.402s for the OnlyFans American Racing Team.

Ivan Ortola was only 0.097s behind in second, with Daniel Holgado third and Tony Arbolino fourth.

Izan Guevara completed the top five ahead of David Alonso, Alex Escrig and championship leader Manuel Gonzalez.

Agius finished 0.626s behind Salac with a 1m33.028s, putting the Australian comfortably inside the top 14 required to progress directly into Q2.

His Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP teammate Gonzalez was eighth, 0.359s from the fastest time.

Two riders were ruled out of the remainder of the Austrian weekend following crashes earlier on Friday.

Collin Veijer suffered a fractured left collarbone in a Turn 6 crash during FP1, while Angel Piqueras suffered a small fracture to his right hand. Both were set to return to Spain for surgery.

Moto2 Practice, top 12

Pos	Rider	Team	Time/Gap
1	Filip Salac	OnlyFans American Racing Team	1m32.402s
2	Ivan Ortola	QJMOTOR Campolor MSI	+0.097s
3	Daniel Holgado	CFMOTO Inde Team	+0.198s
4	Tony Arbolino	REDS Fantic Racing	+0.223s
5	Izan Guevara	BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2	+0.236s
6	David Alonso	CFMOTO Inde Team	+0.254s
7	Alex Escrig	KLINT Racing Team	+0.272s
8	Manuel Gonzalez	Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP	+0.359s
9	Celestino Vietti	BETA Tools SpeedRS Team	+0.393s
10	Alonso Lopez	ITALJET Gresini Moto2	+0.545s
11	Mario Suryo Aji	Idemitsu Honda Team Asia	+0.567s
12	Senna Agius	Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP	+0.626s

Auto Action

Message History

Delivery option(s)