Austrian MotoGP: Bagnaia dominates practice
Francesco Bagnaia sent a strong message to his rivals on Friday, dominating practice at the Austrian MotoGP with a blistering performance. The Ducati rider, and two-time world champion, set the fastest lap time of 1 minute 28.508 seconds in the second session, marking him as the man to beat at the Red Bull Ring.
Bagnaia, who has previously won at Spielberg in 2022 and 2023, looks set for a hat-trick this weekend. He finished ahead of Franco Morbidelli on the Prima Pramac Ducati by 0.281 seconds, while Jorge Martin, Bagnaia’s closest rival in the championship standings, came in third, just 0.319 seconds behind.
Marc Marquez, who will join Bagnaia in the factory Ducati team next season, secured fourth place on his Ducati-satellite Gresini bike, followed by KTM’s Brad Binder, the only non-Ducati rider in the top five.
The day was not without its challenges, as Fabio Di Giannantonio suffered a dislocated shoulder in a crash during practice, ruling him out for the rest of the weekend. Exciting rookie Pedro Acosta also experienced a high-speed crash but was fortunately uninjured.
The top ten fastest riders from practice will advance directly to Saturday’s second qualifying session, which will determine the starting grid for Sunday’s race. Bagnaia’s dominant performance solidifies his position as the favorite going into the weekend.
(Source: AFP)
