Red-hot Red Bull Ring: Martin blitzes MotoGP qualifying, Marquez and Acosta pipped

Aprilia on top at Spielberg, but Ducati and KTM are right there: all the ingredients are in place for a spectacular weekend. Steps forward for Bagnaia.

Many expected pole position from Pedro Acosta, but the fastest of all in MotoGP Qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix was Jorge Martin. The Aprilia Racing rider beat Marc Marquez’s Ducati by 15 thousandths and Acosta’s KTM by 71. The front row is covered by less than a tenth at the Red Bull Ring—an impressive level.

Johann Zarco and Pecco Bagnaia were the two riders able to advance from Q1 to Q2, doing so with the exact same time. The Ducati man had a terrible Friday, so this result in the first qualifying session is a breath of fresh air.

No luck for Raul Fernandez, who will start thirteenth on the Aprilia of the SuperFile Trackhouse team. Luca Marini will start fifteenth; certainly, being beaten by an LCR Honda is a disappointment for someone racing for the factory HRC MotoGP team. Very disappointing Enea Bastianini, seventeenth on the grid and the worst KTM rider: test rider Pol Espargaro, standing in for Maverick Vinales, will line up P14. Very poor as well from Franco Morbidelli, only ninth-fastest in Q1.

Last place for Toprak Razgatlioglu, struggling badly at the Red Bull Ring, but brand mates like Jack Miller and Alex Rins were also dreadful today: they are second-to-last and third-to-last on the MotoGP grid at Spielberg, respectively.

Front row Martin-Marquez-Acosta promises fireworks, but leading the second will be a Marco Bezzecchi determined to fight for big results at the Red Bull Ring as well: he needs to claw back points after the bitter crash in the Misano race. Alongside the Rimini rider are the excellent Ai Ogura on the Aprilia Trackhouse and Alex Marquez on the Gresini Ducati.

On the third row we find a Pecco Bagnaia reborn compared to Friday’s struggles, even if not yet at the level he’d like. Next to him will start Fabio Di Giannantonio and a miraculous Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha). On the fourth row there’s the trio Zarco-Binder-Aldeguer.