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MotoGP Austria 2023 qualifying result – Bagnaia pips Vinales for Austrian GP pole

Francesco Bagnaia was the fastest rider in the MotoGP Austria 2023 qualifying session
Photo by Gold and Goose / Icon Sport

Francesco Bagnaia took pole away from Maverick Vinales in the closing stages of qualifying, as the riders set the order for both the Sprint later today as well as the Grand Prix tomorrow.

Practice round-up

As always, the Friday afternoon session decided which riders got the promotion straight to Q2. The big surprise among the riders that missed the all-important top ten was Jack Miller, who was only fourteenth in practice. Luca Marini also didn’t make it, albeit by just 26 thousandths of a second, in a session that saw many riders be very close.

The session was topped by Marco Bezzecchi, who has been very fast recently. Surprisingly, second place went to Maverick Vinales, who was only 44 thousandths of a second behind the Italian. Francesco Bagnaia, Brad Binder and Johann Zarco completed the top five.

Fabio Quartararo has had a season to forget, but last weekend at Silverstone was a disaster overall. This weekend, he bounced back by getting automatic promotion to Q2. Miguel Oliveira on the satellite Aprilia from RNF also made the cut in another positive surprise.

MotoGP Austria 2023 Qualifying: Q1

Jack Miller needed a good session to start his day and get promoted to Q2. He did just that, by dominating Q1, which he finished on top by almost three tenths of a second. The other rider to get promoted was Luca Marini, who beat Pol Espargaro comfortably to bump him out. The Spaniard was second for the first half of Q1, but a cancelled lap for track limits ruined his hopes of something better.

Enea Bastianini continues to struggle after his early-season leg injury and will start down in fourteenth, ahead of Franco Morbidelli. With Joan Mir and Raul Fernandez following, Marc Marquez finds himself just sixteenth on the grid, again seeming unwilling to take the extra risk that’s needed for him to have any chance of promotion.

The back end of the grid will feature Takaaki Nakagami, Fabio di Giannantonio, Iker Lecuona and Augusto Fernandez, while last place went to Lorenzo Savadori, the Aprilia test rider who makes a wildcard appearance this weekend.

MotoGP Austria 2023 Qualifying: Q2

In a thrilling fight that came down to the finale, but ultimately the party was spoiled by Francesco Bagnaia. The battle looked to be between Maverick Vinales and the two KTM riders, but it was the Italian that came out on top with a late effort that beat all three bikes.

Vinales has been one of the stars of the weekend and the Spaniard kept the good momentum up in Q2 and qualified second, 37 thousandths of a second behind the polesitter. Both Brad Binder and Jack Miller showed great speed in their team’s home race and will start third and fourth, so expect them to be factors in the race, especially after a good start.

Alex Marquez was fifth, in a good performance, ahead of the two Mooney VR46 bikes. Luca Marini beat Marco Bezzecchi, who was one of the disappointments of Q2 today. Miguel Oliveira also kept up his good weekend with eighth on the grid, while Fabio Quartararo could do no better than ninth.

Johann Zarco was tenth, while Aleix Espargaro was eleventh and the lone rider to crash in the session. A week after his second MotoGP victory, he fell at Turn 3, but remounted and returned to the session. Jorge Martin was last, after a messy session with plenty of mistakes.


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