Pedro Acosta fastest in red-flagged Austria MotoGP Practice
Pedro Acosta led the way in final practice on Friday at the Austrian Grand Prix
KTM’s Pedro Acosta led Friday’s hour-long Practice session at the MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix, which was red-flagged due to a bizarre Alex Marquez crash.
Gresini Ducati rider Alex Marquez fell on the straight between Turns 1 and 2 at the Red Bull Ring with around 13 minutes remaining.
The session was halted with 11 minutes and 42 seconds to allow the marshals to clear the stricken Ducati from the side of the track.
Alex Marquez was unharmed in the crash and was able to rejoin the session when it was restarted, as Pedro Acosta led the way at the chequered flag.
The KTM rider led the way with a 1m28.508s from Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer, as Acosta holds onto the favourite tag at the end of Friday’s running.
Championship leader Marc Marquez was fourth at the chequered flag ahead of Jorge Martin, while Aprilia team-mate Marco Bezzecchi snatched a Q2 place in ninth.
Acosta, having topped FP1, led the way with a 1m28.840s after the first 10 minutes of Practice.
With around half an hour to go, Acosta had already switched to a fresh soft rear tyre and produced three successive session-best laps.
The best of them was a 1m28.381s, which he would improve on his final flying lap to a 1m28.371s, with the Spaniard doing so on a used soft rear tyre. However, this lap was scrubbed due to him exceeding track limits.
Aldeguer ended the session 0.127s from Acosta’s time, while the returning Ai Ogura was third on the Trackhouse Aprilia.
Marc Marquez was fourth after a late 1m28.585s, edging him ahead of Aprilia’s Martin.
Fabio Di Giannantonio was sixth on the VR46 Ducati, while Brad Binder was seventh on the second of the KTMs to make it directly into Q2.
Alex Marquez was eighth after his late crash, while Bezzecchi was ninth ahead of Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.
No Hondas managed to make it directly through to Q2, with Luca Marini the brand’s fastest rider in 11th on a 1m28.821s.
Johann Zarco was 12th on the LCR Honda, having crashed at Turn 4 in the early stages of the session.
Pecco Bagnaia’s difficulties continued on the sister factory team Ducati, with his run of Q1 appearances now stretching to five in a row.
