Austria – Qualifications: Martin regains the advantage

Le MotoGP officially begins its second part of the season this weekend, with the eleventh round of its 2024 season which will take place in Austria. At home, KTM will try to overturn the domination established by Ducati over many events, and will be able to count on its five representatives – with Pol Espargaro – to make the brand shine. THE Red Bull Ring will also be the scene of the ever more intense fight between Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin, who are separated by only three points before the first awards.

ALSO READ > The schedule for the 2024 Austrian MotoGP Grand Prix

Free Practice 2: 

• Fabio Di Giannantonio is the big absentee this Saturday. After his crash yesterday at turn 8, his shoulder dislocated, and he was declared unfit to continue in the Austrian Grand Prix. An absence which weakens the workforce of Ducati, and of VR46, while KTM seems to be able to count on Pol Espargaro at the top of his form in the role of Wildcard that he occupies for the brand.
• It is also the latter who claims the lead in these EL2s, before being overtaken by Pecco Bagnaia. The top-4, completed by Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin, will remain frozen until the end of the session.
• Behind, fabio quartararo signs a surprise top-5, to finish his first session of the weekend in the top ten.

• Note that Jorge Martin cut his finger in his shower this Friday evening, and experiences some pain while performing certain movements.

P4 with a heavily bandaged left thumb 🩹@ 88jorgemartin will have a bit of a breather before Q2 😮‍💨#AustrianGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/pejQfeqfUN

- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) August 17, 2024

Qualification 1:

• After the impressive sessions achieved by Pol Espargaro since the start of the weekend, it goes without saying that the latter presents himself as the favorite for this Q1.
• Once the first attempts are completed, however, it is Pedro Acosta and Jack Miller who claim the lead, ahead of Fabio Quartararo, who is two tenths of a place in Q2.
• The factory KTMs then increased the pace, and Jack Miller completed Q1 in the lead (1:28.567), ahead of Pol Espargaro (1:28.635) to the applause of Pit Beirer.
• Miguel Oliveira achieves the same time as the Spaniard, in third position, while Pedro Acosta fails 24 thousandths from Q2.
• Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco will start the weekend's races from the 15th and 17th positions on the starting grid.

Qualification 2:

• Pecco Bagnaia is the first to take control of this Q2, after recording a time of 1:28.142. He then puts an option on pole, but his competitors are not far away. Jorge Martin is only 127 thousandths behind, while Marc Marquez is 244 thousandths behind.
• The trend reversed in the second part of the session, as the Pramac driver knocked out his rival with a time of 1:27.748, without the latter managing to respond.
• When it comes to reaching the limit, the KTMs seem at a disadvantage. They nevertheless achieved an excellent qualification by blocking 5th, 10th and 12th places. P.Espargaro doing it despite a fall.
• The Aprilia are doing better, since Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales manage to block the second row.
• In front of the checkered flag, Pecco Bagnaia seems to encounter some technical problems, and moves slowly before reaching an emergency exit.
• Jorge Martin therefore takes pole position for the Austrian MotoGP Grand Prix, ahead of Bagnaia and Marquez.
• The Austrian Grand Prix Sprint will begin at around 15:00 p.m. this Saturday.

MotoGP Austria – Qualifying Rankings

Ranking : MotoTiming