10:24
About to enter the final five minutes of FP1 now, still Acosta fastest but the final runs are underway for everyone.
Pedro Acosta, 2026 MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
Austrian MotoGP Friday as it happened
Live updates from the Friday practice sessions at the 2026 Austrian MotoGP at the Red Bull Ring.
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.
18 Sep 2026
10:16
Improvement from Marc Marquez, stays third but down to a 1m30.1s.
10:16
Nakagami, here replacing the ill Mir, touring at turn four, getting in Zarco's way. It's Nakagami's first race since last year.
10:12
Bezzecchi runs in deep at the chicane, almost hit Martin so opted to bail on the corner. P6 at the moment for the Italian.
10:09
Martin up to second now, 1m31.159s. Acosta still the only rider in the 1m29s after almost 25 minutes of FP1.
10:04
Martin improves early on his second bike, 1m30.454s puts him fourth and 0.6s behind Acosta.
10:00
Martin back out on track; he's the only rider out there at the moment. Everyone else preparing their run two.
09:58
Acosta back in the pits now after that first run, some problem towards the end of that run but not entirely clear what.
Marc Marquez now up to second but still 0.4s behind Acosta.
09:54
Acosta the first rider into the 1m29s today, he's now 0.657s clear of Bezzecchi at the top.
Perhaps Espargaro was right...
09:52
Technical problem for Martin after eight minutes. Just ground to a halt exiting turn four.
09:52
Acosta with early pace
It's Acosta setting the early pace in Austria ahead of Bezzecchi, who spoke yesterday of how "painful" it was to analyse with the Aprilia team his turn 13 crash last Sunday.
09:46
FP1 start
Pit lane is open and we are underway for FP1 at the Austrian GP.
09:44
Nakagami talks MotoGP return, 850cc testing
Nakagami: Honda 850 “quite competitive”, 1000cc MotoGP return a “big shock”
Takaaki Nakagami, 2026 Red Bull Ring MotoGP.
© Gold and Goose
09:40
Moto2 FP1 has just finished in Austria and the first MotoGP practice of the weekend is just a few minutes away. Some low cloud around, but it's a dry track.
Some big crashes in that Moto2 session, especially for Angel Piqueras, Adrian Huertas, and Collin Veijer.
Keep an eye out for the penultimate corner in this one as well - Guido Pini crashed there while trying to pit in Moto3 FP1, Rico Salmela lost the front but saved it doing the same thing, and Manuel Gonzalez had a moment there in Moto2 FP1.
09:31
Ogura returns
Ai Ogura is back for Trackhouse this weekend. The Japanese rider has been absent since a crash before the Aragon GP three weeks ago.
Speaking yesterday, he said it was a mistake to go along with advice from doctors who said he should avoid surgery on his injury left hand.
Full story here.
Ai Ogura, Trackhouse Aprilia, 2026 British MotoGP
© Gold and Goose
09:28
Acosta's best chance to win?
KTM is the only manufacturer other than Ducati to have won a race at the Red Bull Ring, although the last one came in 2021.
Pol Espargaro suggested yesterday that this weekend will be one of the best chances for Pedro Acosta to take his own maiden premier class victory.
Acosta played down his chances in the pre-event press conference, although he did admit it would be a "perfect way" to end his time with KTM.
Pedro Acosta, 2026 MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix, press conference. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
09:25
Rins to F3?
Alex Rins announced at Misano that he will stop racing motorcycles full-time at the end of this year.
It was immediately rumoured that he will head to four-wheel racing in 2027, although in what capacity it currently unclear.
F3 was put forward as a somewhat surprising possibility by Rins yesterday, the Spaniard having also been linked with the Dakar Rally.
Full story here.
Alex Rins.
© Gold and Goose
09:21
Bagnaia controversy "totally disrespectful"
The candid conversation between Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Di Giannantonio after the race at Misano last weekend that was captured and published by Spanish MotoGP broadcaster DAZN has been criticised as "totally disrespectful" by Bagnaia ahead of this weekend's Austrian race.
Di Giannantonio also talked about it yesterday, saying it was "unfair".
Pecco Bagnaia.
© Gold and Goose
09:15
Austria like a home race for Razgatlioglu
Austria is home to the third-largest community of Turkish citizens - outside of Turkiye - in Europe. As such, there is a strong contingent of Turkish fans at the Red Bull Ring this weekend supporting Toprak Razgatlioglu, which the MotoGP rookie said yesterday made him "excited" for the weekend.
Full story here.
Toprak Razgatlioglu speaks to the media at 2026 MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix. Credit: Gold and…
© Gold & Goose
09:03
Welcome to live coverage of today's MotoGP practices from the Red Bull Ring, where FP1 is due to start in just over 40 minutes at 10:45 local time.