Bastianini clinches first MotoGP pole at the Red Bull Ring, leads Ducati quartet
Ducati's dominance at the Austrian MotoGP is showing no signs of slowing down as Bastianini concluded Q2 at the head of a Ducati quartet that includes Bagnaia, Jack Miller and Jorge Martin.
As his main title rival Aleix Espargaro set an impressive opening lap in Q2 to go fastest, Fabio Quartararo had to abandon his first attempt after running wide at turn one.
Espargaro was then demoted to second as Miller set the fastest lap of the weekend.
With Espargaro and Quartararo both inside the top five after their second lap, Bagnaia’s response was far from what he wanted as the Ducati rider was very loose on the entry to the chicane.
With no time set following the opening run, Bagnaia was understandably eager to get back out of pit lane.
Able to find the pace he needed, Bagnaia moved up to second place before putting his Desmosedici on provisional pole.
But while it appeared as though Bagnaia would hold on for pole, Enea Bastianini delivered a stunning fourth sector in order to gain time and go quickest.
Behind the top two came Miller, while Quartararo, who was visibly on the limit, managed to split the two Pramac Ducatis for P5.
Espargaro and Di Giannantonio shine in Austrian MotoGP Q1
Second in the world championship, Q1 at the Red Bull Ring got underway with Aleix Espargaro under intense pressure to advance.
With Fabio Quartararo and Francesco Bagnaia already in Q2, Espargaro’s chances of fighting both riders during Sunday’s Grand Prix rested heavily on what he could do in Q1, a session which began with his brother Pol, Takaaki Nakagami and Alex Marquez all following the Aprilia man.
Espargaro’s first flying lap was enough to put him two tenths clear of Fabio Di Giannantonio. The Spaniard completed another impressive lap to move further clear of the Ducati rider, however, his extended lead didn’t last long as Pol cut the deficit to +0.045s.
At the start of the second time attack runs, Marco Bezzecchi and Alex Marquez suffered crashes at turn three.
Bezzecchi lost the front-end of his Ducati machine at part two of the new chicane, before Marquez went down in extremely similar fashion whilst directly behind the MotoGP rookie.
Despite back-to-back laps where he looked on course for top spot after the first two sectors, Luca Marini ultimately fell short of securing a top two spot.
Instead, it was fellow Ducati rider Di Giannantonio who managed to sneak into second place, leaving A. Espargaro and himself as the two riders that advanced.
