Ducati leads Honda and Yamaha on Friday morning at the Red Bull Ring
On his final flying lap in FP1 at the myWorld Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) jumped ahead of Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) to lead the way on Friday morning in the premier class, the duo was split by 0.185 as Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) made it three manufacturers inside the top three.
Championship leader Marquez immediately set the pace in the opening session of the weekend as none of his competitors could get within half a second until Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) was able to go 0.432 slower than the number 93 with just under 15 minutes to go. Viñales was then Marquez’ closest challenger with just over 10 minutes remaining but with under two minutes to go, the fresh rubber was put in for some of the riders as Dovizioso went within 0.036 on the soft-soft compound.
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Almost everyone was improving. Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory KTM) was dicing it out inside the top 10, as was fellow KTM rider Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3). Dovizioso was the man making moves though as the Italian took P1 from Marquez as the chequered flag. Marquez remained second fastest having not come in for fresh Michelin rubber, Viñales set his best time on his final lap to sit third. Miller was a threat throughout to finish fourth as Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) claimed P5 on his last run.
Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) made it three Yamahas inside the top six on a track that doesn’t typically suit the YZR-M1 machines, the Frenchman heads Alex Rins in seventh – the sole Team Suzuki Ecstar ride on track this weekend. Zarco led the KTM charge on home soil, the double Moto2™ World Champion sits P8 ahead of Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) and Oliveira, the latter duo completing the top 10 in FP1.
Hafizh Syahrin (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) crashed in FP1 at the penultimate corner and was taken to the medical centre for a checkup.
