Pedro Acosta dominates Austrian GP Practice to lead KTM charge on home soil

Pedro Acosta maintained KTM’s dream start to its home round, topping the Austrian GP Friday Practice at the Red Bull Ring ahead of Fermin Aldeguer and Ai Ogura.

Having already laid down a marker by leading a KTM 1-2 over Tech3 replacement rider Pol Espargaro in Free Practice 1, Acosta confirmed the RC16’s pace when it mattered most. The Spaniard posted the fastest time of the afternoon to seal his spot directly into Q2 in 1:28.381.

Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer finished a strong second, while Ai Ogura impressed on his return from a thumb injury to lock down third.

Championship leader Marc Marquez ended the session in fourth, just ahead of Aprilia’s Jorge Martin, who arrived in Spielberg tied on points at the top of the standings.

Fabio Di Giannantonio and Brad Binder secured direct Q2 entries in sixth and seventh respectively.

Alex Marquez salvaged eighth place despite bringing out a red flag following an unusual crash on the straight after Turn 2. The Gresini rider quickly returned to the circuit on his second machine to secure his spot in the top 10.

Marco Bezzecchi took a quiet ninth ahead of Fabio Quartararo, who squeezed into the final automatic Q2 spot. The Frenchman capitalised on favourable cooler track conditions to put his Yamaha into the top 10 by 0.004s on a power-heavy layout where the M1 is still expected to struggle.

Luca Marini narrowly missed out on Q2, as did Johann Zarco in 12th after a late error ruined his final flying lap. Zarco’s Honda LCR teammate Diogo Moreira ended the session 13th following a hectic afternoon with several close calls. Enea Bastianini and Pol Espargaro completed the top 15.