REPORT OF THE FIRST DAY OF MOTOGP WEEKEND
MotoGP has returned from summer break in Austria, with Marc Marquez dominating both practice sessions on Friday.
The Spaniard kicked off the weekend topping the times in Free Practice 1 ahead of his team mate Pecco Bagnaia and a wonderful Marco Bezzecchi on Aprilia.
Alex Marquez only in P4 has practiced long lap penalties as he will need to serve one in the race due to a crash with Joan Mir in the Czech Grand Prix.
Maverick Viñales showed a good initial pace putting his bike in P13 despite suffering from a bit of pain due to his injury in Germany.
Reigning champion Jorge Martin also impressed with a P8 finish in Practice 1.
Free Practice 2 however saw the Spaniard crash at the very beginning, completely destroying his first bike, but he got back on track slightly afterwards.
Pedro Acosta led the session after 30 minutes but a red flag came out right after he got P1. A liquid leakage from Jack Miller’s Pramac caused both Miguel Oliveira and Fabio Quartararo to crash in turn 6. The session stopped for 25 minutes in order to clean the track and repair the air fence.
The qualy simulations to try to get into the top 10 started with 15 minutes to the end and the first rider into the top was Ai Ogura, but he did not last too much in the first position, which was immediately taken back by Acosta.
Marc Marquez and Bagnaia then occupied the first place showing once again Ducati’s domination, ahead of the KTM driver.
Alex Marquez finished P4 ahead of incredibles Raul Fernandez and Joan Mir. Fabio Quartararo was highly influenced by the crash and did not make it into the top 10. Zarco, Aldeguer, Morbidelli and Binder were the last ones to make it into the top 10 and they will take part in tomorrow’s Q2.
The riders get on track tomorrow for Q1 at 10:50 CET Time, with the fight for last two spots in Q2 on fire.
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