Austrian MotoGP Friday as it happened

Live coverage of the FP1 and Practice sessions at the 2026 Austrian MotoGP. Pedro Acosta topped FP1 this morning, and Practice is due to start at 15:00 local time.

Key Moments

• Pedro Acosta tops Practice as Ogura impresses & Fernandez struggles
• Bezzecchi squeezes into Practice top-10 in P9
• Red flag out with 11 minutes to go after odd Alex Marquez crash
• Acosta continues Friday dominance early in Practice, first rider into 1m28s
• Pedro Acosta tops FP1 ahead of Pol Espargaro, Jorge Martin
• Alex Marquez suffers bizarre aero failure in closing minutes of FP1
• Early technical problem for Martin at turn four in FP1

The championship lead is shared coming into this weekend, as Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez both arrive at the Austrian Grand Prix with 274 points. Marquez has won more races, so he holds that top position in the standings for the first time in 2026. It was Martin, though, who got the better of Marquez in FP1 this morning, finishing third to Marquez's fourth despite an early technical problem for the Aprilia rider.

Of course, Marquez - winner of the last four MotoGP races, including Sprints - is no stranger at this point to a title battle in the premier class, and he said yesterday that it was his first-year fight with Jorge Lorenzo that put him under the most pressure.

For 2024 champion Martin, the position is not alien, either, but the Spaniard - who suffered with arm pump in his slump from the lead to fifth at Misano - said yesterday it's "crazy" that he is still joint-leader with Marquez. 

Marco Bezzecchi sits third in the standings after his Misano disaster, crashing out of the lead on the first lap. He admitted yesterday the analysis of that lap one, turn 13 crash with Aprilia afterwards was "painful". It was a low-key start for Bezzecchi in Austria - P6 in FP1 this morning.

Bezzecchi's compatriot and future team-mate Francesco Bagnaia was caught up in controversy in the week since Misano. Bagnaia was caught on camera by Spanish broadcaster DAZN speaking to Fabio Di Giannantonio after he crashed out of the Misano race. Bagnaia was appearing to explain to Di Giannantonio that Ducati was not allowing him to try different bike setups as he continues to struggle with the 2026 Desmosedici GP. 

Bagnaia himself spoke to the media yesterday, saying the way the footage was published by DAZN was "disrespectful". 

Di Giannantonio also spoke on the subject yesterday, saying the way the footage was captured and released was "unfair".

It wasn't a great start for either Italian in FP1 this morning, Di Giannantonio finishing 12th while Bagnaia was down in 14th.

Ducati has won the last four races at the Red Bull Ring. Indeed, it's only been beaten twice here, both times by KTM, which itself hasn't won since 2021. Pol Espargaro said yesterday that this weekend will be a good chance for Pedro Acosta to claim his first MotoGP win, although the Ducati-bound Spaniard was more realistic, even if he admitted it would be a dream scenario given his history with KTM that is about to conclude in a few months. It was certainly a good start to the weekend for Acosta, who was fastest and the only rider in the 1m29s this morning, while Espargaro used the Murcian's tow to take second place.