Massive MotoGP/2/3/E qualifying coverage from Red Bull Ring

MotoGP 2022 – Round 13 – Red Bull Ring
CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich

For the first time in his MotoGP career, Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP) will launch from pole position after leaving it late to snatch Q2 top spot from Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) in a fantastic CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich Q2.

Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) completes the front row of the grid as Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) have to settle for second and third row starts, respectively.

MotoGP Rider Quotes

Enea Bastianini – P1

“It surely was an incredible day. I did a great lap, not a perfect one, but it was enough for pole position. I had missed this feeling for a few years and it’s great to be back in this situation. I’m beginning to perform at my best also on Saturday, even though I’m still more of a race animal. We’re working the same way we did at the beginning of the year; the atmosphere in the team is great and that surely helps. We will start ahead of everyone else tomorrow and we will aim at the top.”

Francesco Bagnaia – P2

“Both yesterday and this morning, we struggled a little bit, but then in FP4, we found something that helped me to be faster and more competitive. Unfortunately, I also crashed in that session, but my team really did an incredible job restoring the bike in the little time they had, and I was able to use it in Q2. In qualifying, on the first outing, I didn’t immediately feel comfortable with the bike, which was slipping a lot on the rear, and that’s why I didn’t set a good time. On the other hand, in the second attempt, I found an incredible feeling that allowed me to improve a lot, even compared to this morning, so I’m very happy!”

Jack Miller – P3

“Being the front row here was really important, especially considering the new chicane where there could be some confusion on the first few laps. We have completed all the work planned for today, and now we can concentrate on the race: we have a very similar pace to the others, so now we will try to see where we can make up a few tenths more. The choice of tyre won’t be easy, and it will all depend on the temperatures we find, also considering that the weather changes very quickly here and we still don’t know what to expect in the race. The goal is to be ready for any conditions and to be in the group fighting for the podium.”

Jorge Martín – P4

“I have the right pace and feeling, I feel in good shape and the track is one of my favourites. I made a small mistake in the third sector, we could have made the front row without that little mistake.”

Fabio Quartararo – P5

“I’m not happy with the grid position, but the most important thing is that I feel that I gave my 100%. Naturally, you want to be higher up the order than second row when you do one of the best hot laps of your life here, but doing 28 laps in a row will be different. Of course, we know that tomorrow’s race is not going to be easy. We need a perfect start, perfect first lap, and do a good job with saving the tyres, and then we’ll see what happens. It will be tough, but we will fight for the best result possible, without aiming for a specific target.”

Johann Zarco – P6

“It’s a shame because I always went very fast until this morning. The feeling was not at its best this afternoon, but I don’t make a drama out of it. Second row is good, it will be important to get a good start and stay with the front group from the beginning in order to fight for the podium.”

Maverick Vinales – P7

“I’m very happy with the work we did. We improved from yesterday and it was a positive day where we learned a lot about how to best exploit our potential. It will be a difficult race in terms of tyre grip but we’re ready. I have a good pace especially with used tyres, so I think we have a good chance at doing well. We just need to find a bit more grip and we are still not sure which tyre to use at the rear because the soft and medium seem to perform similarly. We’ll take full advantage of the warm-up session to work hard on that.”

Joan Mir – P8

“Overall the weekend has been positive for us so far. I was able to do a good first run at the start of Q2, and I was hoping for more laps like that in my second exit, but I ran wide on my best lap. I knew anything more than third row would be tough, we’re all separated by very small gaps, so I’m fairly satisfied with 8th. I’m hoping to enjoy tomorrow’s race…I think it will be a wild one, and I want to be in the mix!”’

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Aleix Espargaro – P9

“Despite the crash and having to go through Q1, I’m rather satisfied. Compared with yesterday, we were able to make a good step forward and the cancelled lap in qualifying would have placed me even with Fabio, so that shows that we are not far off. Starting from the third row isn’t ideal but we know that anything can happen in the race. I won’t make any tactics and I’ll simply try to give it my all right from the start.”

Fabio DiGiannantonio – P10

“It wasn’t easy, because we encountered a lot of traffic in Q1, but in the end we made it through with also a bit of luck. We needed it, and to be starting in the top ten tomorrow is surely a confidence boost. We’re working well and we improved compared to yesterday so I don’t see the reason why we cannot continue this way and make another step tomorrow, too.”

Alex Rins – P11

“Today wasn’t so bad, I improved my feeling with the front in the morning’s FP3 and that helped me to get into Q2. Then when it came to qualifying I gave my all for a quick lap, I set a good time, but even at around four tenths of a second off the top you’re in 11th place! I’ll try to recover some positions in the race, and let’s see how we can manage against the Ducatis, who seem to have an advantage.”

Brad Binder – P12

“I did my best and gave everything I could and it ended up with a 12th today but the conditions were a bit more tricky this afternoon. It was harder to do a lap-time in qualifying than it was in FP3 this morning. In general, I think our pace is good so let’s see. I’m excited and I know we can do a lot better than our position today.”

Luca Marini – P13

“It was not the day I expected: compared to yesterday, in FP3 we have struggled and we had no feeling especially with the rear tire. I couldn’t ride as I wanted and in the time attack it was like being on the ice. In the FP4 we recovered and worked well with both the soft and the medium. In qualifying then, the first attempt was not bad, while in the second I was unable to perform with the soft tire which, on the long run instead, gave us good feedbacks also in terms of the race. Let’s analyse the data and understand how to best face the GP.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P14

“In FP3 we tried our best, but in the last few minutes I couldn’t find my best lap time so we just missed out (on a top-10 place) by 0.047 seconds. Also in the (Q1) qualifying session I gave my best, but again the lap times were so tight and we missed out by less than one tenth. So I’m a little bit disappointed, but on the other hand I gave my best. Our race pace looks good, there are still some details and small improvements we need to understand, but I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s race and hopefully we can get a good result.”

Pol Espargaro – P15

“Another tricky Saturday but we come here and keep pushing like always. The best Honda was Taka today, just a little bit ahead of us and I think we both did close to the maximum. We need to improve in Warm Up because right now we are not with the top group and we need to work specifically on the spinning with this bike. But let’s see what happens tomorrow when the lights go out, we line up and we give our best like always.”

Franco Morbidelli – P16

“It was good. I keep progressing and this is positive. Today we were close to getting into Q2 during Q1. So, that’s progress. I was having fun, especially in qualifying today. We improved a lot from FP4 to qualifying, which is what should be happening. So, I’m going forward, and it’s an encouraging day.”

Miguel Oliveira – P17

“Qualifying was tough. We knew going through to Q2 would be difficult and we didn’t quite have enough in the pocket to play with. We’ll analyse what we can improve for tomorrow. For sure the race will be a bit better for us – it’s usually like that – and we just need to make a good start and good recovery with the positions.”

Stefan Bradl – P18

“The results continue in line with what we have been experiencing but I am continuing to get faster and faster. If it goes our way tomorrow, I would like to be fighting for some points. There’s still work to do and the track isn’t helping us at the moment, but this is what it is. The first lap will be critical tomorrow, even with the chicane it will be a really big fight. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow and then start looking to Misano.”

Andrea Dovizioso – P19

“Unfortunately, I had a crash just a few minutes before the Qualifying started and this was definitely not helpful in terms of feeling and confidence. Due to that, we also couldn’t use our setup, because the other bike didn’t have the things we tried before. I was trying, but I couldn’t do a very special lap time. I’m a bit disappointed, because we were improving our pace a bit, which was also important for the position, but anyway, the race here in Austria is very long. Let’s see tomorrow, if we can fix the setup.”

Marco Bezzecchi – P20

“A real shame we crashed in the crucial stages of qualifying because our pace is very good and we are really fast for the race. I’ll have to start strong, try to recover in the early laps, but it won’t be easy at all. On the other hand, I am satisfied with the FP4, even if we have not yet chosen the tire for the race. Soft and medium seem the best option, because for the hard the temperatures are too low. Let’s analyse the data and understand what to do.”

Darryn Binder – P21

“Today has been a positive day. We made a nice step forward this morning. I felt good in FP3. In FP4 I had quite a good pace on the race tyres, in race conditions, so I was really happy. In Qualifying I was looking for a bit more, but I still managed to improve a little bit. Overall, I’m happy, feeling confident and quite comfortable on the bike and I feel we are heading in a good direction, so I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow. I hope it’s going to be a good one.”

Remy Gardner – P22

“Of course I am disappointed about my lap cancellation because it would have been a good one. Our pace is not so bad, but it is not amazing either. We have room to improve and go a bit faster. I look forward to the race tomorrow and I think that we can have a good one. Full gas!”

Raul Fernandez – P23

“Today we really focused on making improvements on the bike but also on how I feel on it. I think that we had a good pace today and I hope that we can have a good race tomorrow. The weather looks a bit uncertain, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I have enjoyed today, and look forward to tomorrow.”

Lorenzo Savadori – P24

“Today was anything but simple. My shoulder was bothering me. There are no injuries, but the muscles don’t respond the way they should and that created some difficulties for me. In any case, we managed to work well, completing the comparison tests we had on the schedule. However, in qualifying, we decided on a more cautious approach in order to avoid stressing my shoulder. For the race, we’re still not sure about rear tyre choice but our pace is good and we have the potential to do well.”

Álex Márquez – P25

“I think it was a really positive day for us; not in terms of results, but just the feeling and how we worked and we used all the insight and info we had. We have to keep working, today I need to say sorry to the team because I made a mistake in qualifying and this cannot happen again. I wasn’t able to make any laps and then I crashed, so sorry to the team. But we have a really good pace for tomorrow and we showed that in FP4 and I was really confident in that. We need to keep working on the pace, tomorrow we will try to make a really good start and give 110% all the race.”

MotoGP Q1

For the first time since the Americas GP, Aleix Espargaro found himself in Q1 and with both Quartararo and Bagnaia looking in fine form, progression into Q2 was all that mattered. And it was the title-chasing Spaniard who set the first couple of benchmarks, with younger brother Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) slotting into P2 just 0.045s behind.

Luca Marini’s (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) best effort on his first run put him third as the top three sat 0.068s apart with seven minutes of Q1 left. Drama then unfolded at Turn 2B as both Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) crash in quick succession, thankfully both riders were ok, as Aleix Espargaro improved his lap by a couple of tenths to strengthen his grip on a Q2 spot. But it wasn’t over.

Marini was on a flyer as Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP) pounced to P2, but Marini lost time in the second half of the lap and couldn’t beat his Ducati counterpart to the second promotion spot. With no one else threatening the top two, Aleix Espargaro was safe and joining him in Q2 was Italian GP polesitter Di Giannantonio.

MotoGP Q2

Miller slammed in the first benchmark – a 1:29.164 – but the pace was upped on the second flying laps. Espargaro went top with a 1:29.032 before Miller bounced back to set a 1:28.898, the fastest lap of the weekend so far. Espargaro’s lap was then cancelled so the Spaniard dropped to P5 behind Bastianini, Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) and Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), with Quartararo and Bagnaia P6 and P12 respectively – the latter yet to set a time after running wide at the new Turn 2 chicane.

Pecco was the first rider to emerge on a fresh set of soft Michelin rear rubber and pounced straight up to P2 to make it a factory Ducati 1-2, 0.101s splitting Miller and Pecco. The in-form Italian was then at the summit of the times by 0.102s after a storming second effort, with Quartararo only able to grab P5. That soon turned into P6 as Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) went P5.

As the clock ticked down, a beast was on the prowl. And sure enough, Bastianini was able to beat Bagnaia’s time by 0.024s to claim his first premier class pole position to front a Ducati armada at the spearhead of the grid.

Behind Bastianini, Bagnaia and Miller, 2021 Red Bull Ring race winner Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) will start from P4 ahead of reigning World Champion Quartararo, who is once again the first non-Ducati rider in the standings. Zarco will start sixth alongside his compatriot, with a trio of Spaniards making up the third – including Aleix Espargaro. Viñales and Mir finished 7th and 8th in Q2 with Espargaro’s lap time cancellation for exceeding track limits at Turn 8 causing him to start from 9th.

Di Giannantonio, Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) completed the Q2 running order in P10, P11 and P12 with just 0.7s covering the top 12.

With 0.4s splitting polesitter Bastianini to 9th place Aleix Espargaro there is little in it when it comes to one-lap sprint pace, but who will be able to best go the race distance…?

MotoGP Qualifying Results

MotoGP Championship Points Standings

Moto2 Qualifying

Idemitsu Honda Team Asia’s Ai Ogura claimed Moto2 pole position at the CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich, the Japanese rider eventually clocking a 1:33.933 in Q2 at the Red Bull Ring – Spielberg to finish the session just 0.048 seconds up on CAG Speed Up’s Alonso Lopez. World Championship leader Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) also earned a spot on the front row for Sunday afternoon’s race.

Lopez was the early pace-setter in Q2 and the 20-year-old Spaniard was back on top when he set a 1:33.981 on his third flying lap. Ogura soon took up second position, albeit at more than two tenths of a second off the pace, and he continued to be a threat. He was setting a succession of ‘red’ first and second sectors, but was struggling to improve over the course of the whole lap.

Jake Dixon (Zinia GASGAS Aspar Team) capitalised somewhat by moving into second on a 1:34.104 with less than three minutes to go, before Ogura finally strung all four sectors together well enough to clock a 1:34.001. Having closed the gap to Lopez, the Saitama-born pilot then completely overcame it when he punched out a 1:33.933 just before the chequered flag. For Ogura, who is second in the World Championship, it is a second career Moto2™ pole, but Lopez’s reward is a still commendable front row start to follow up his first ever podium taken at Silverstone. Fernandez, meanwhile, earned third with an even later 1:34.101.

Dixon was therefore classified fourth, with Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) fifth at just a single thousandth of a second slower again. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo), who is back in the saddle after breaking a femur in a motocross training crash, took an impressive sixth with a late 1:34.126, while Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) was seventh on a 1:34.170.

Rounding out the top 10 were Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP), Albert Arenas (Zinia GASGAS Aspar Team), and Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Italtrans Racing Team), while Q1 fast man Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) would be classified 11th after a mid-session spill at Turn 1. Fermin Aldeguer (CAG Speed Up) came from Q1 but was at one point fastest in Q2 before being shuffled back to 12th in the final classification, with Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) finishing 13th after he also crashed at Turn 1. The rest of the Q2 classification was Filip Salac (Gresini Racing Moto2™), Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team), Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team), Jorge Navarro (Flexbox HP40), and Barry Baltus (RW Racing GP).

Back in Q1, Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) and then Jeremy Alcoba (Liqui Moly Intact GP) both improved after the chequered flag. However, Alcoba was still 0.084 seconds shy of the top four and Roberts 0.120 seconds outside the cut-off, with the two set to start 19th and 20th respectively.

Aussie wildcard entry Senna Agius continued to familiarise himself with the MarcVDS Moto2 machine and the Red Bull Ring, and qualified just outside the top 20, P21 for the Aussie teenager making his debut in the World Championship.

Senna Agius

“P21 for tomorrows race. We made a really good step today in FP3 and I closed to gap down to +1.0 from pole position in qualifying just missing out on Q2 by a few tenths. Did my best and I’m excited for tomorrow.”

Moto2 Qualifying Results

Moto2 Championship Points Standings

Moto3 Qualifying

Red Bull KTM Ajo rookie Daniel Holgado has his first pole position in the Moto3 World Championship after qualifying fastest for the CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich. The Spaniard was already set to start from the front row when he clocked a 1:41.234 with the chequered flag out on Q2 at the Red Bull Ring – Spielberg, beating Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) by just 0.010. Joining them on the front row will be Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3), while World Championship leader Sergio Garcia (AutoSolar GASGAS Aspar Team) is set to get away from Row 4.

Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) set the fastest initial flyer in Q2, a 1:41.632, but Sasaki was top once the first runs were done on a 1:41.244 which had him more than three tenths of a second up on the field. When the riders headed back out for their second runs, Holgado moved to second with a 1:41.410 just before the chequered flag, then Öncü set a 1:41.379 on his final lap.

Holgado, however, managed to find almost another two tenths of a second to not only get himself back ahead of Öncü, but also knock Sasaki off pole position. Still, the Japanese rider is set to start from second position and it will be especially important for him to get a good start when lights go out on Sunday morning, given he is to serve a double Long Lap Penalty for irresponsible riding back at the British Grand Prix.

Heading up the second row will be Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse), who clocked a 1:41.506 with the chequered flag out. Foggia claimed sixth having improved to a 1:41.588 early on his second run, and he will have Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) starting on his outside given the Silverstone pole-sitter went as quick as a 1:41.627 in Q2 in the hills of Spielberg.

Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) had to go the long way about it after missing the top 14 in the three Free Practice sessions, but the Japanese rider comfortably progressed from Q1 and eventually earnt seventh on the grid courtesy of a 1:41.638. Izan Guevara, who is just three points behind AutoSolar GASGAS Aspar Team team-mate Garcia in the World Championship, claimed eighth on a 1:41.642, and Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power) was marginally slower in ninth.

Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) rounded out the top 10, while Garcia had lifted himself as high as sixth on a 1:41.772 with the chequers flying, only to be shuffled back to 11th all-told. Garcia is down in 12th as he aims to move back forward on Sunday, with high powered fellow front-runner Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) for company. Masia had a spill at Turn 3 halfway through the second stanza of qualifying but remounted and would be classified 12th.

The rest of the Q2 results was young Aussie Joel Kelso (CIP Green Power) in 13th, from Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team), Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI), David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports), Scott Ogden (VisionTrack Racing Team), and John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max). On his return from injury, Kelso had managed to escape Q1 at the last moment, as did Migno, meaning they bumped Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) and Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) back to 19th and 20th on the grid, respectively.

Moto3 Qualifying Results

Moto3 Championship Points Standings

MotoE Race One

Eric Granado (LCR E-Team) emerged victorious from a dramatic Race 1 in the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup at the CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich as Mattia Casadei (Pons Racing 40) crashed out of the lead on the final lap. The Brazilian eventually beat main title rival Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE) by 1.2s with Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) picking up the final podium spot in third.

It was a fast and dramatic start at the Red Bull Ring as Casadei grabbed the holeshot ahead of polesitter Granado, as we saw Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE) crash on the exit of Turn 1. Thankfully both Ferrari and his bike weren’t collected by the field, and soon after at Turn 2B, Bradley Smith (WithU GRT RNF MotoE™ Team) went down. The British rider was able to walk away but took a trip to the medical centre after suffering from left ankle pain.

Casadei got his head down and built up a 1.1s lead over the chasing pack, as Granado picked off Kevin Zannoni (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse) for P2 at Turn 2 on Lap 2. Cup leader Aegerter then passed Zannoni for P3 at Turn 1 at the beginning of Lap 4, the Swiss rider had 2.2s to bridge to race leader Casadei – who in turn was being hunted down by Granado.

By the end of Lap 4, Granado had reeled Casadei right in. On Lap 5, the Brazilian had one bite at the cherry that didn’t work on Casadei and on Lap 6 at Turn 1, a second one came. But that didn’t work either, and Granado was out of shape and wide, costing him time.

Heading onto the final lap, Casadei boasted a 0.6s lead and half a lap later it was up to 0.8s. It looked like it was going to be a comfortable cruise to victory for the Italian but at the penultimate corner, he was down. A mistake two corners from home saw a win slip away from Casadei, meaning Granado would cross the line as Race 1 winner by 1.2s over Aegerter.

Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE) claimed P4 in what was an intense battle for the top five. The Japanese star managed to fend off Hector Garzo (Tech3 E-Racing) by a couple of tenths who in turn beat teammate Alex Escrig by 0.030s, the latter claiming P6 ahead of Zannoni – who was out of the saddle on the penultimate lap at Turn 3 – and reigning Cup winner Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40). Octo Pramac MotoE teammates Xavi Fores and Kevin Manfredi rounded out the top 10.

The gap between Aegerter and Granado has been cut to 26.5 points in the overall standings with just three races to go.

MotoE Race One Results

MotoE Championship Points Standings

TBC

CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich Schedule
Times in AEST

Sunday

2022 MotoGP Calendar