Austrian MotoGP, Red Bull Ring - Friday Practice LIVE!
Live updates from Friday's pair of MotoGP free practice sessions at the Red Bull Ring!
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The MotoGP World Championship holds its first back-to-back races of the season with teams and riders remaining at the Red Bull Ring for a second weekend.
Rookie Jorge Martin claimed his and Pramac Ducati's first ever MotoGP victory in last Sunday's Styrian round, where he was joined on the podium by Joan Mir and Fabio Quartararo.
All three had good reason to be happy with Mir using Suzuki's new rear ride-height system for the first time and Quartararo extending his title lead over nearest rival Johann Zarco at a power hungry/hard braking circuit that is traditionally tough for the Yamahas.
Quartararo will start the second weekend with a 40-point lead over countryman Zarco (Pramac Ducati) with Mir now ahead of Francesco Bagnaia for third place (-51 points).
Bagnaia, who was leading the original race until a fiery accident for Dani Pedrosa and Lorenzo Savadori, struggled for rear grip at the restart and is now 58 points adrift of Quartararo.
With team-mate Jack Miller now 72 points behind after falling while in pursuit of Quartararo last Sunday, is the title chase down to just four riders?
Miller wasn't the only rider having a race to forget with Maverick Vinales forced to start from pit lane after stalling ahead of the restart (and being taunted by technical issues thereafter).
KTM's Miguel Oliveira retired with a front tyre defect (Michelin has changed the hard option for this weekend as a precaution) and Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro suffered a technical failure after twice clashing with Marc Marquez at Turn 1.
Pedrosa and Savadori will both be absent this weekend, the KTM test rider not (yet) planning a repeat of last Sunday's wild-card entry while Savadori underwent surgery on an ankle injury.
But Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow, riding in place of Franco Morbidelli at Petronas, will be back on track for the second of his three scheduled appearances.
One rider missing will be Maverick Vinales, sensationally suspended by Yamaha for 'unexplained irregular operation of the motorcycle' during last Sunday's race, rumoured to mean he was deliberately over-revving the bike in frustration after a stall and further technical gremblins.
