MotoGP Austria 2023 schedule and preview – All dates and times for Austrian GP

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After a rain-affected weekend in Silverstone, where Alex Espargaro claimed his second MotoGP victory with a last-lap pass, MotoGP is back in action. This weekend, the Red Bull Ring will play host to the tenth round of the 2023 season.

MotoGP Austria 2023 Schedule

The weekend starts with a free practice session on Friday morning. Then, another practice session follows, during which the top ten riders will earn automatic promotion to Q2. On Saturday morning, an additional practice session will take place. It will be immediately followed by Q1, which will see two more riders promoted to Q2, which will start soon thereafter.

On Saturday afternoon, it will be time for a ten-lap sprint race, a new addition for this season. Sunday is the day of the main Grand Prix, which will be decided over twenty laps.

Here is a timetable of the event, with all times on British Summer Time (GMT +1)

MotoGP Austria 2023 Weather

After a few possible showers on Friday, the sun will be out for both Saturday and Sunday. Hotter conditions are expected, as the temperature for both races will be around 29 degrees Celsius.

MotoGP Austria 2023 Preview

Francesco Bagnaia has been on fantastic form this season and holds a 41-point advantage heading into the Austrian round, despite not scoring on the Sprint at Silverstone. Marco Bezzecchi had a great opportunity to close the gap at the last race, but he fell while chasing Bagnaia and fell to third in the standings, behind Jorge Martin as well.

The other rider at the top is Brad Binder from KTM, whose excellent form in the sprint races has helped propel him up to fourth in the standings. The last race winner, Aleix Espargaro, is the top Aprilia in sixth. Fabio Quartararo had a horrible weekend in Silverstone and he has fell to eleventh, but he is still the top Yamaha.

Honda have also had a horrible season. Alex Rins will miss his fifth consecutive race and lies thirteenth in the standings and will be replaced by Iker Lecuona again. Marc Marquez is yet to finish a Grand Prix this season and he hopes his fortunes will turn around this weekend.

Last year, the race was won by Francesco Bagnaia, who came out on top of a close fight against Fabio Quartararo, in the beginning of their title fight last season. Jack Miller, a Ducati rider at the time, completed the podium in third, while the polesitter, Enea Bastianini had issues with his bike and retired.

Austrian GP History

The Austrian race on the Motorcycle World Championship calendar has been on and off the calendar at different times. From 1971 to 1994, the race was held in the Salzburgring, before moving to the A1-Ring in 1996 for a couple of years.

The race was off the calendar for a number of years, until it returned to the same venue in 2015, after it was renovated and rebranded as the “Red Bull Ring”. It is the track that also hosts the Formula 1 Grand Prix, although with the addition of a chicane early in the lap.

Since its return, the Austrian GP has been dominated by Ducati. The Italian marque won its first race in five years in the 2015 edition of the event and has won six of the seven races there since 2015 overall. The only exception to this came in 2021, when Brad Binder won the 2021 race in chaotic finish because of a rain shower towards the end.

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