Prima Pramac Racing is enjoying the last moments of its Ducati adventure to the fullest, as Paolo Campinoti’s team monopolized the first two positions in the opening free practice session of the Austrian MotoGP Grand Prix, which was marked by a very bad fall that involved Pedro Acosta, fortunately without consequences.
The GasGas Tech3 rider had slipped at turn 2, the new chicane of the Red Bull Ring, and immediately got back on the track without going through the pits, despite the visible damage on his RC16. When he relaunched, he lost the front in a rather unusual way as soon as he touched the brakes for braking at turn 4 (he had the hard tire on the front, probably very cold) and the bike ended up hard against the barriers, also forcing the red flag to be shown about 3 minutes from the end. Pedro, however, got away without even a scratch.
Returning to the standings, as mentioned, in front of everyone are the two Desmosedici GP24s of Prima Pramac Racing, with the world championship leader Jorge Martin who managed to set the best time in 1’29″654. It must be said, however, that the rider from Madrid mounted a new soft tyre on the rear to achieve this performance. In his wake, 218 thousandths behind, is his teammate Franco Morbidelli, fresh from signing with VR46 for next year, who finally seems to have found the right feeling to exploit the Ducati and was very fast with the medium tyre.
The surprise of the morning was the wild card Pol Espargaro, who brought a “laboratory” KTM to the track on which one could notice above all an interesting aerodynamic profile on the swingarm, as well as a new exhaust and a new mudguard. The Spaniard had recently done a test here in Austria, but his third time at 290 thousandths is certainly interesting. Also because in the very top positions there are also Brad Binder, who also fell at the chicane, and the aforementioned Acosta, who are fifth and sixth.
In the middle of the RC16s, reigning world champion Pecco Bagnaia slipped in, also starring in a straight in the gravel towards the end. The Ducati rider rode the same medium tyre until the end of the session, so his gap of 310 thousandths from Martin is definitely good. Also because the pace is quite interesting.
You have to go down to seventh position to find the first of the Aprilias, which is that of Maverick Vinales at 646 thousandths. It was instead a particularly troubled session for his teammate Aleix Espargaro, who fell twice at the 2A-2B chicane and was therefore relegated to the back of the group with a time almost two seconds away from the top.
In the top 10 there is also room for Fabio Di Giannantonio, first among the Ducati GP23 for the Pertamina Enduro VR46 colors with the eighth time, and for the Gresini Racing branded one of Alex Marquez, tenth. Missing from the roll call is the most famous of the Marquezes, Marc, who was unable to do better than the 18th time, but because he saw several laps cancelled due to track limits and yellow flags. His potential has therefore remained unexpressed for the moment.
Very interesting is the ninth time signed by Joan Mir, with Honda that has brought an evolution of the engine here in Austria. Probably what brought the Majorcan so high, as first among the Japanese bikes, was however the new medium tyre mounted on the rear in the final. Slowed down for now instead the star of the Silverstone weekend, Enea Bastianini, who is only 12th with his Ducati, behind also the KTM of Jack Miller, and pays more than eight tenths.
Following are the two Yamahas of Alex Rins and Fabio Quartararo, with the Spaniard returning after the forfeit at Silverstone due to pain in his operated hand and also losing several minutes in the session due to a warning on his M1. However, he managed to be faster than “El Diablo”, despite the latter also having mounted a soft rear tyre at the end.
Only 15th Marco Bezzecchi, but once again the weekend of the Pertamina Enduro VR46 rider started uphill, with a slide at turn 3. After returning to the box to get the second bike, the rider from Rimini was unable to find the rhythm and therefore finds himself just under a second from the top. Speaking of Italians, only Luca Marini and Lorenzo Savadori did worse than him, who are respectively in 20th and 21st position. The Aprilia test rider also debuted a slightly revised fairing, as he himself had anticipated yesterday.
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