Ducati in Austria where the story began: a GP in the name of the Red

The story began on this Austrian track, all braking and sudden accelerations, which seems designed to exalt the muscles of the desmodromic. It was 2016, August 14: Iannone wins ahead of Dovizioso, the Ducati returns to cross the finish line first after 6 years (Stoner, Australia 2010) and achieves a double that had been missing since 2007 (again Australia, Stoner and Capirossi). Since then, at first little by little and then increasingly stronger, the bikes from Borgo Panigale have taken the lead in the MotoGP. Today it’s a monopoly: the news is that the podium is not entirely occupied by the Reds. On Red Bull Ring in Zeltwegthen: in the last 8 seasons it has been raced 10 times, including the 2 extra occasions when the pandemic upset the calendars, and the Ducati successes are 8 (9 with the sprint of Bagnaia, who scored a double in 2023), against 2 victories for KTM.

A runway created from the military airport of Zeltweg

Welcome to Spielberg near KnittelfeldStyria: the track was born on the asphalt of the military airport of Zeltweg. The locals prefer the toponym Spielberg, but the other – Zeltweg – retains its charm, also because it was used more than half a century ago in the first Formula One races. On the circuit, owned by Red Bull, motorbikes and cars race: in June Russell won with Mercedes, the Ferrari of Sainz on the podium. It is the eleventh appointment of the championship of the 20 scheduled, after Bastianini dominated at Silverstone: halfway through the tournament Martin returned to the top of the standings, but with only 3 points out of Bagnaia.

TV times: sprint on Saturday at 3pm, GP on Sunday at 2pm

The 3 days on the track will be broadcast live on Sky Sport and streaming on Now, for free-to-air Tv8 the qualifications and the sprint on Saturday. It starts today, Friday, at 9 in the morning with the first Moto3 free practice, followed at 9.50 by Moto2 and at 10.45 by MotoGP. At 13.15 Moto3 returns, at 14.05 Moto2 and at 15 MotoGP for the «Practice»: the 10 fastest qualify directly for Q2 the following day. On Saturday Moto3 turns on its engines at 8.40, Moto2 at 9.25 while MotoGP dedicates half an hour (from 10.10) to Free Practice 2, directly followed – at 10.50 – by Q1 and Q2. The Moto3 qualifications are at 12.50, those of Moto2 at 13.45. sprint race MotoGP starts at 3pm. On Sunday, after a short warm up at 9.40am for MotoGP, the racing starts: Moto3 (20 laps) at 11am, Moto2 (23) at 12.15pm, while MotoGP (over 28 laps) starts as usual at 2pm.

A triumph of “staccate” at more than a thousand degrees!

According to Brembo technicians, who work closely with all the MotoGP riders, the Red Bull Ring (4.35 km long) falls into the category of “highly demanding” circuits for the brakes. On a scale of 1 to 6, it has a difficulty index of 6 with 4 braking sections in the “hard” category and the same number in the “medium” category. The riders use the brakes for exactly one third of the race, 30 seconds each lap. The hardest curve for the braking system is corner 4: the MotoGP bikes go from 299 to 85 kmh in 5.1 seconds, covering 243 meters. The temperature of the carbon discs exceeds one thousand degrees centigrade.