The grid for the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Austria is locked in. Jorge Martín will start from pole position in Spielberg after finishing with the best time attack of 1:27.917. This result gives him a great advantage as he tries to break away with the championship lead at the Red Bull Ring. Read on for all the MotoGP qualifying action at the Austrian GP.
Zarco and Bagnaia Finish Q1 on Identical Lap Times
As seen at the end of the earlier Free Practice 2 session, conditions were now bone dry as the Q1 contenders came out of the pit lane. With only two spots up for grabs in Q2, it was all on the line, for some more than others. Francesco Bagnaia, plagued with performance issues for a few rounds now, came up to the top of the board in the 1:29s. But he was quickly pushed off by Johann Zarco and Pol Espargaró.
Enea Bastianini and Diogo Moreira were the next up the order, before Raúl Fernández took his turn on top. With times clocking into the 1:28s, riders swung back into the respective garages to prepare for their second time attacks.
Fernández jumped on the other Trackhouse MotoGP bike after reporting some vibration issues with the first. Bagnaia found pace again, setting a 1:28.573. But Zarco set the exact same lap time, putting both in the top two advancing places.
The question was put to the rest of the pack: who could improve their time by even a quarter of a second? However, no one was able meet the challenge, and Zarco and Bagnaia moved up to Q2.
Joint Championship Leaders Qualify on the Front Row
After topping Friday’s Free Practice 1 session and Practice to come straight into Q2, all eyes were on Pedro Acosta. Both Ducati Lenovo Team bikes were still available for Marc Márquez to ride with a quick repair job after his FP2 crash. The Q2 session began as another 15 minutes counted down at the Red Bull Ring.
Acosta’s Red Bull KTM Factory Racing slid a little sideways as the #37 trying to get it under control and trailed behind Martín. It was an Aprilia Racing rider who went into provisional pole in the first time attack, with Marco Bezzecchi just scraping into the 1:28s.
On the next lap, both Márquez brothers came up to the front with Martín on the final provisional front row spot. But Acosta was not letting this chance slip past. Just before riders returned back to the pit lane, the Spaniard put in a lap time of 1:28.328.
With time ticking down, it was now or never to secure a premium spot on the grid. Despite a bit of instability, Martín pushed the limits to set a flying lap of 1:28.223. But he wasn’t quite done, clocking the first 1:27s lap of the weekend, followed by Acosta.
Álex Márquez crashed into Turn 1 with a couple of minutes remaining, scrapping any chance of a front row start. This triggered every other rider to settle into their times, with Martín, M.Márquez and Acosta qualifying on the front row.