Filip Salač (OnlyFans American Racing Team) heads into the weekend as the rider to beat in Moto2 after the Czech star set a new class all-time lap record at the Red Bull Ring, a 1:32.402, to top Practice. 0.097s away in second place is Ivan Ortola (QJMOTOR – Campolor – MSI), and a further tenth in arrears is Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team), who acts as the third-quickest rider on Day 1.
Going into Practice, two riders were unfortunately ruled out of action for the weekend after separate Turn 6 crashes in FP1. Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Collin Veijer suffered a fractured left collarbone just a few days on from bagging his second podium of the season at Misano, while Angel Piqueras (QJMOTOR – Campolor – MSI) picked up a small fracture in his right hand. Both will head back to Spain and undergo surgery.
On track, FP1 pacesetter Tony Arbolino (REDS Fantic Racing) nailed home a positive day at the office with a P4 finish in Practice, but on the other side of the box, a late crash at Turn 2a cost Misano podium finisher Barry Baltus a chance of climbing into the top 14. Q1 beckons for the Belgian.
The championship frontrunners all made it into Q2 though, with Izan Guevara (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) fifth fastest on Friday. The gap between Salač and Guevara was 0.236s; Colombia’s David Alonso (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) earned P6, with title race leader Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) one place behind seventh-fastest Alex Escrig (KLINT Racing Team) in P8.
It was a quieter session than usual for Gonzalez and teammate Senna Agius, with the Australian P12 on the Practice timesheets ahead of Saturday afternoon's qualifying.
Tune in to see if anyone can beat Salač’s new all-time lap record in qualifying – it all kicks off at 13:40 local time (UTC +2).
Moto2 Practice results from Austria!