We’re back! The summer break has officially come to an end with track action at the Red Bull Ring igniting on Friday. Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) returned to where he left off at Brno with P1 straight out of the crate and a warning signal to his challengers and title rivals already in Austria.
The #93 was back to his best and was relentless in the first session back after the summer break, with a three-tenth gap over the opposition, headed up by teammate Francesco Bagnaia. Pecco’s won the last three GPs at the Red Bull Ring but needs to overcome the Championship leader if he’s to extend that run. As has so often been the case recently, the next rider after the factory Ducatis was Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing). A solid opening session of the weekend saw him improve on his final flying lap but remain in P3, just ahead of Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP). The #73 had a trial run of the Long Lap Penalty lane during the session as he’ll need to complete one on Sunday, whilst making it four Ducatis in the top five, Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) clinched fifth.
Top Honda honours went to 2020 World Champion Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol), less than half a second from Marc’s top time, with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) the best of the Yamahas just behind in seventh. A late lap following Marc Marquez welcomed reigning World Champion Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) to P8. KTM’s home Grand Prix got off to a steady start after their magical Brno weekend a few weeks ago with Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in ninth and Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) in tenth. Notable riders out of the top ten were Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) in 13th and Maverick Viñales’ (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) return to action in P20.