Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Fabio Quartararo snuck inside the top five on the opening day of the myWorld Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich, which is no mean feat for a Yamaha rider. The 2018 Austrian Grand Prix was a weekend to forget for the Japanese factory after they failed to finish any session inside the top five. However, twelve months on, Yamaha have two riders inside the top five thanks to the efforts of Quartararo and Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales.
“Really good because in the afternoon we tried a different setup and it worked better for the braking, which is so important for this track,” began Dovizioso. “The pace is good, I’m happy. I’m very close to Marc so we are working in a good way. Still, I hope we can have a margin in the middle of the corners but, in this moment, I feel good, the pace with a very used tyre is good. Unfortunately, I made a small mistake at Turn 3 and I couldn’t improve the lap time, but the speed is there.”
The sun was shining as temperatures soared in Speilberg, but that meant improving FP1 times came a little difficult. Championship leader Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) was the early pacesetter in FP2 after the Spaniard had completed the opening Free Practice session down in ninth place, but he wouldn’t stay at the summit for long. Binder, fourth quickest in FP1, soon found himself at the top of the timesheets in FP2, but Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) and Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) were the only riders to go fastest than their FP1 times halfway through the session. Martin’s time saw him go inside the top 14 having finished FP1 in P16 and soon enough, the reigning Moto3™ World Champion was second in FP2 behind teammate Binder.
Others were going quicker though and one of the big improvers was Takaaki Nakagami, the LCR Honda Idemitsu rider finished FP1 in a solid ninth but the Japanese star was finding time. First Nakagami went to P5 overall but on the next lap, the Honda man shot to P3 on the combined times, second in FP2. Viñales, third fastest in FP1, was also ramping his pace up and sure enough, the Yamaha man went second quickest – just 0.066 behind Marquez’ early session time. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) was also building on his 10th place in FP1 to shoot up to seventh on the combined standings, with Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) then popping up into ninth overall on his last flying lap after finishing outside the top 10 in FP1.
Championship rivals Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) and Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) both failed to improve on their laps from FP1, yet both provisionally hold Q2 places ahead of tomorrow’s possible inclement weather. Dalla Porta is eleventh, one place ahead of teammate Marcos Ramirez. Canet, meanwhile, could benefit massively from Foggia’s lap cancellation as the Spaniard was promoted into the final Q2 place in 14th.
Tuuli set a 1:35.866 to lead Smith by 0.072, with Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) 0.157 back in third to make it the podium finishers from the inaugural weekend who sit top of the tree at the beginning of Round 2. Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Xavier Simeon (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) completed the top five in FP1.
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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.
The lightweight class were greeted with bright blue skies in the Austrian hills as the times tumbled throughout the session. There was plenty of swapping and changing for P1 throughout FP1 but in the end it was Kornfeil who led the way, edging out Arbolino by 0.188 right at the end of play. Vietti leads Championship contender Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) who, in turn, sits just ahead of title rival and overall standings leader Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team).
The Rookies will take part in two races this weekend and with Tatay’s closest challenger Yuki Kunii out injured after his scary Czech GP wildcard crash, the emphasis will be on Pedro Costa, David Salvador and Jason Dupasquier to try and close the gap to the top.
