Five MotoGP riders that shocked us during qualifying at the Red Bull Ring
When Ducati claim pole position for a MotoGP race, which happens with regularity, Francesco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin or even Johann Zarco are the names we usually see pop up.
And while all three managed to secure a first or second row start for Sunday’s Austrian MotoGP, none of them were able to get the better of an Italian rider who has done little to hurt his chances of securing a 2023 factory seat.
With that said, here are the five riders that shocked us during qualifying.
Enea Bastianini - 1st
So often a rider who delivers his best on Sundays, Bastianini proved he can also be the fastest rider when it comes to one-lap performance.
Bagnaia looked set for his second pole in three races, however, a brilliant final sector saw Bastianini pip his fellow Italian by -0.024s.
The Gresini Ducati rider, who remains fourth in the championship and with a slender chance of fighting for the world title, will start on pole for the first time in his MotoGP career.
Bastianini already has three wins this season, but given Ducati’s performance this weekend and his late race pace, could a fourth be on the cards?
Fabio Quartararo - 5th
While fifth would normally be seen as a poor result and one that’s well below Quartararo’s extraordinarily high standards, the Yamaha rider once again showed why he’s the world champion.
For the fourth time this weekend Quartararo got everything out of his M1 machine and ended the session as the first non-Ducati rider.
Visibly on the limit during Q2, Quartararo reminded everyone that he will be a factor come Sunday’s race even though Ducati remain the clear favourite.
While there were other impressive showings from the likes of Joan Mir and Fabio Di Giannantonio, there were also riders who would have expected much more from their Austrian qualifying.
Luca Marini - 13th
With six out of eight Ducati machines making it through to Q2, Marini would have been expecting to be one of them.
And although the second-year MotoGP rider flashed serious potential in free practice, the former 2020 Moto2 runner-up lacked pace in sectors three and four when he needed it the most.
Twice Marini was on course to dislodge Aleix Espargaro at the top of the Q1 standings, however, the Mooney VR46 rider instead lost out to Di Giannantonio.
Miguel Oliveira - 17th
With team-mate Brad Binder clinching a rare automatic Q2 appearance thanks to his top ten finish in FP3, expectation was that Oliveria, who has also looked very quick at times this weekend, could join him.
But that was far from the case for the Portuguese rider, who instead finished close to three tenths off Di Giannantonio in Q1.
With KTM at their home round, fighting through to the top ten will be the minimum aim for Oliveira although that has been made a lot tougher due to another disappointing qualifying performance.
Alex Marquez - 25th
A terrible third season in MotoGP continues to get worse for Marquez, with the LCR Honda rider crashing out before even setting a representative time.
Marquez, who needed to find pace on his second run in Q1 after failing to get a clear lap, crashed directly behind Marco Bezzecchi when the Italian lost control of his Ducati at the new chicane.
Although Marquez held on to his RC213V until the apex of 2b - the new chicane is called 2a-2b - seeing Bezzecchi crash resulted in a somewhat sympathy-looking fall from the Spaniard who lost the front-end going across the curb.
