Francesco Bagnaia dominated the MotoGP practice sessions at the Austrian Grand Prix, setting a new track record of 1:28.508 at the Red Bull Ring. The reigning world champion’s performance underscored Ducati’s strong showing, with seven of their eight bikes finishing in the top 10. This result grants these riders direct access to Saturday’s Q2 session.Jorge Martin, who had led the morning session, finished third behind Franco Morbidelli. Marc Marquez secured a fourth-place finish, 0.350 seconds behind Bagnaia. The KTM of Brad Binder finished in fifth place, a partial consolation for the Austrian team at their home event.The practice sessions were not without incident. Pedro Acosta, making his MotoGP debut at Spielberg, crashed multiple times but fortunately remained unharmed. More seriously, Fabio Di Giannantonio suffered a suspected shoulder injury in a high-speed crash at turn 8 and was taken to hospital for further examination.In the other classes, Ai Ogura topped the Moto2 practice session, while José Antonio Rueda led in Moto3.The day’s results set the stage for an intense qualifying session on Saturday, with Bagnaia looking to convert his practice pace into pole position. However, with the tight competition and unpredictable nature of the sport, the Austrian Grand Prix remains wide open.
Key points
- Francesco Bagnaia set a new track record of 1:28.
- Ducati dominated the practice sessions with seven of their eight bikes finishing in the top 10.
- Pedro Acosta crashed multiple times in his MotoGP debut at Spielberg, while Fabio Di Giannantonio suffered a shoulder injury in a high-speed crash.
508 in MotoGP practice at the Austrian Grand Prix.
