Three Ducati in the first three places, then the Yamaha from Quarterlythen another four Desmosedici: this is the starting point for the first day of free practice in Austria. Where the Ducati protagonists were expected as for now they are proving to be, despite the novelty of the chicane which reduces speed on the long uphill straight. For once they were missing Aprilia in the comparison on the fastest times, but Aleix Espargaro perhaps he has not recovered the best condition after the accident in Great Britain (race race with a fractured right heel), but Noale can partially console himself with the ninth place Vinales. The front row was instead a family derby between Zarco (in the end the fastest), Miller And Martino who alternated in first place throughout the final of the second round. And then Bagnaiafifth, and the two teammates Marini And Bezzecchi before the revived Bastianini. Seven bikes out of the eight on the track in the first eighteen positions (only Di Giannantonio is missing, who remained behind with the nineteenth time): an impressive show of strength. Reason why the fourth time stands out Quarterly with Yamaha: the leader of the World Championship was the only one capable of breaking a dominance that otherwise would have been absolute. Not even Brad Binderthe last winner on the Spielberg circuit managed to enter the fight for the front rows with the home bike, the KTM, which has to settle for the 10th time of the South African. Out of the ten, surprisingly after the excellent start in Fp1 and the encouraging start in Fp2, of Suzuki from Mir And Flushingfinished in fifteenth and thirteenth position respectively. The difficult moment for Honda continues: only twelfth Nakagamifourteenth Pol Espargaròsixteenth Alex Marquez carefully observed by the monitors of the box since brother Marc, arrived in Austria to speak with HRC technicians. In the morning Andrea had caught a glimpse of himself Doviziosothree times on the Austrian circuit, but the rider from Forlì was unable to defend the tenth place in FP1 and ended the day with eighteenth.
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The combined ranking after Free Practice 2
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Following the full story of the free practice
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14:58 – Free Practice 2 ends, Ducati hat-trick at Spielberg: 1st Zarco, 2nd Miller, 3rd Martin
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14:54 – At the moment there are three Ducatis in the top three: 1st Zarco, 2nd Miller, 3rd Martin, behind them rises Quarterly
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14:53 – Time canceled in Bastianiniwho had risen to second position: now Enea is relegated to 16th place
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14:52 – Exciting time attack at the Red Bull Ring, continuous changes in the top positions: now in front of everyone is Zarco, followed by Miller and Martin
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14:51 – Zarco snatches the first position from teammate Martino
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14:49 – Martino closes the time attack in 1: 30.119 and goes up leading the free 2
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14:47 – The pilots (stopped in the pits to prepare for the time attack) try to get back on track quickly, to try to set the time before it starts raining heavily
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14:44 – Starts to to rain again at the Red Bull Ring
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14:42 – Compared to the predictions, the Aprilia are slightly behind: Vinales is 9th, Aleix Espargaro ‘is 11th
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14:41 – Many riders pit to mount the soft tire and start the race time attack in the final part of the turn
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2:40 pm – Miller tear off the third position a Mirthe Australian is one and a half tenths away from the leader Quarterly
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14:35 – Behind the first three riders, there are four Ducatis: 4th Bagnaia, 5th Miller, 6th Bastianini, 7th Bezzecchi
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2:29 pm – Mir tear off the third position a Bagnaianow there are two pilots Suzuki behind Quarterly
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14:23 – Good session start for too Bagnaiacompared to Free Practice 1: now Pecco is in third position, now the driver Ducati he is pushing, also thanks to the finally dry track
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14:21 – Quarterly tear off the first position a Flushingnow in the lead is the French with 1: 30.285
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14:18 – Flushing climbs to the top of Free Practice 2 with 1: 30.321
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2:10 pm – Between the first and second practice sessions, there was an important announcement: GasGas will enter MotoGP as a KTM satellite team in 2023the first driver will be Pol Espargarò (for the second it will be a ballot between Remy Gardner and Augusto Fernandez)
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14:06 hours – The MotoGP riders are back on track for Free Practice 2, this time it will be an entirely “dry” session, the track has dried out compared to Free Practice 1
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The times of the races – The MotoGP is back on track at 14:05 with the second free practice sessionto follow live on TV on Sky Sport MotoGP (channel 208) and on the web with real-time updates from skysport.it. We remember the times of the races on Sunday 21 August: Moto3 at 11, Moto2 at 12:20, MotoGP at 14to follow LIVE on Sky Sport MotoGP, Sky Sport Uno and streaming on NOW
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The results of Free Practice 1
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10:45 am – Miller (Ducati official) closes Free Practice 1 in first position, followed by Zarco (Ducati Prima Pramac) e Mir (Suzuki)
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10:40 am – Miller still lower your best time with 1: 30.756the Australian is firmly in the lead in Free Practice 1
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10:36 am – Miller climbs to the top of Free Practice 1 with 1: 32.064
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10:35 am – After mounting the slick tires, all pilots are lowering their times
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10:33 am – Fall without consequences for Remy Gardnerthe pilot KTM gets up on his own and goes back to the pits
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10:32 am – The track is now almost dry, all the riders have returned to the pits for change tires, fitting slicks
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10:30 am – At the moment the best Italian is Bezzecchi with the fourth fastest time, five tenths from the leader Zarco
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10:27 am – Nice round of Zarcoauthor of the famous accident with Morbidelli last year. The French rises ahead of everyone with 1: 36.916
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10:23 am – At the moment there are two Suzuki in front of everyone: Mir takes the lead, followed by Rins
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10:19 am – Flushing climbs to the top of Free Practice 1
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10:18 am – Lap after lap, the track is slowly drying: the asphalt is still in mixed conditions, there are some wet sections, but during the session the track will be increasingly dry
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10:16 am – Vinales climbs to third place with 1: 38.371, is three and a half tenths behind the leader Oliveira
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10:14 am – Miller climbs to second position, three tenths from the leader Oliveira
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10:13 am -Dani PedrosaKTM test driver, to Sky’s microphone: “For now I don’t expect wild cards this season. We had a lot of fun on the track, but now we have to enjoy the riders racing today “
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10:11 am – Marquis he is still recovering from the fourth operation on his right arm, but has decided to follow Honda’s work closely to help the team develop the bike. Here he is on the track at the Red Bull Ring
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10:08 am – Oliveira climbs to the top of Free Practice 1 with 1: 38.843
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10:05 am – The “new” Red Bull Ring features a modification to the straight before Turn 3, where last year there was the famous accident between Zarco and Morbidelli (when the Frenchman’s bike made an incredible flight between Vinales and Rossi): now a chicane was inserted before that fast section, to increase the safety of the drivers
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9:57 am – During the night it rained in Spielberg, the asphalt is partially wet, all the riders entered the track with rain tires
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9:50 am – The MotoGP riders on track for the first free practice session of the Austrian GP
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The preview of the Austrian GP
After a week off, MotoGP runs the Red Bull Ring on the trackin Styria, for the Austrian Grand Prix
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The Austrian GP is live exclusively on Sky Sport MotoGP and streamed on NOW
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The second session of MotoGP free practice is scheduled at 14:05
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The last two practice sessions are scheduled for Saturday 20 August, before exciting qualifications, which start at 2:10 pm
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Sunday 21 August the grand finale: Moto3 race at 11, Moto2 race at 12:20 and finally the “main event” of the Red Bull Ring, that is the MotoGP race starting at 2pmto follow LIVE on Sky Sport MotoGP, Sky Sport Uno is streaming on NOWwith the comment of Guido Meda And Mauro Sanchini
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This weekend don’t miss the World Rally Championship of Belgium (live on Sky Sport Action and Sky Sport Uno) and the NTT Indycar Series with the Indy Bombarito Automotive Group 500 (live on Sky Sport F1)
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