Spielberg, Q1: Zarco (Honda) and Bagnaia (Ducati) both through to Q2

It wasn’t until the start of the first of the two qualifying sessions that the Red Bull Ring had completely dried out – but the FP2 session beforehand had hampered the set-up work on a dry track. Due to the extremely close field in qualifying – 19 riders had completed the session within 0.9 seconds of each other – a number of big names found themselves back in Q1.

The Honda riders, in particular, were determined to secure a late place in Q2 and thus a guaranteed starting position in the top 12. Marini, Zarco and rookie Moreira were all on course for Q2 for much of Friday. In the end, the trio missed out by less than a tenth! Close behind them were the KTM riders Enea Bastianini and stand-in rider Pol Espargaro. But that wasn’t all: KTM works rider Pecco Bagnaia and Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez also took to the track at 10.50 am. Fernandez is regarded as an excellent qualifier.

Honda-LCR rider Johann Zarco made the first strong impression. The Frenchman clocked a time of 1:29.447, putting him a tenth of a second faster than Pol Espargaro. Next came the Ducati duo of Bagnaia and Morbidelli. Much to the delight of the Tech3-KTM team, Enea Bastianini then took the lead. A minute later, ‘La Bestia’ had dropped back to fifth place behind Fernández, Bastianini, Moreira and Zarco. Bringing up the rear after the first flurry of action was once again Yamaha rider and rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu, with Joan Mir’s replacement, Taka Nakagami, ahead of him.

Pecco Bagnaia wurde im FP2 Fünfter

Foto: Gold & Goose

After a brief debrief, the riders returned to the track – now glistening under a blue sky – six minutes before the chequered flag, fitted with another soft Michelin rear tyre. Jack Miller was the first to improve his time, but it was only enough for eighth place. Bagnaia and Zarco applied more pressure. Curiously, both riders clocked a time of 1:28.753! On the final lap, the KTM riders went on the attack, but it was only enough for 4th (Espargaro) and 7th (Bastianini).

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Luca Marini also moved up the field – but with a time of 1:29.110, the future KTM rider had to settle for 5th place. Once again, Topra Razgatlioglu is left with only the last spot on the grid. Due to the track conditions, Jorge Martin’s lap record (1:27.748) from 2026 remained unbroken.

Verpasste das Q2 knapp: Raul Fernandez

Foto: Gold & Goose