2022 Austrian MotoGP, Red Bull Ring – Warm-up Results

* Rookie

Pole position time:
Enea Bastianini ITA Ducati 1m 28.772s

Previous Red Bull Ring MotoGP records (no chicane):
Best lap:
Jorge Martin SPA Ducati 1m 22.643s (2021)
Fastest race lap:
Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati 1m 23.827s (2019)

Yamaha’s world champion Fabio Quartararo halted Ducati’s domination of the Austrian MotoGP timesheets as rain returned to the Red Bull Ring during an overcast warm-up.

Although slick tyres were used throughout, the rain flags were increasingly waved during the 20-minute session.

With weather forecasts warning of more rain this afternoon, riders practiced bike swaps this morning. It proved a visibly painful experience for Quartararo’s nearest title rival Aleix Espargaro, who fractured his right heel at Silverstone.

The increasing rain drops prompted some riders to end warm-up early.

Quartararo – who will start fifth on the grid – set his best time on lap 5 to finish half-a-second clear of Espargaro’s Aprilia team-mate Maverick Vinales. Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller was third,

Enea Bastianini, Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller – who will form this afternoon’s all-Ducati front row – were 16th, 11th and 4th respectively this morning.

Brad Binder, who won last year’s storm-interupted race by staying out on slicks, was 21st for KTM.

Fabio Quartararo takes a 22-point lead over Aleix Espargaro into this weekend’s Austrian MotoGP, but it is third in the standings Francesco Bagnaia who is very much the man of the moment.

The Ducati star had been 91 points behind Quartararo but victories at Assen and Silverstone, combined with problems for the title leaders, mean Bagnaia has slashed the gap to 49 points from the top with eight rounds to go.

That’s still a hefty margin, but from last year’s performances Bagnaia could be the man to beat not only at the Red Bull Ring this weekend, where he led for the opening 24 laps until a rain storm arrived last year, but also the following Misano (won the first race, fell while leading the second) and Aragon (winner) rounds.

The lack of long corners at the Red Bull Ring, combined with hard braking and acceleration, has certainly made the venue a Ducati favourite in the past. Andrea Iannone gave the factory its first race win since Casey Stoner at the 2016 round, followed by victories for Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo in 2017 and 2018, then Dovizioso again in 2019.

The 2020 Covid calendar featured two Red Bull Ring races. Dovizioso claimed what looks set to be his final MotoGP victory in the first race, before Miguel Oliveira finally broke the Ducati dominance – and made history for Tech3 KTM – with a debut win in the second.

Austrian again made two appearances last season, with a debut win for Pramac Ducati and Jorge Martin in the first being followed by a brave slicks-in-the-rain triumph for KTM’s Brad Binder in the second.

Maverick Vinales missed the second event after being suspended by Yamaha for deliberately over-revving his engine, following technical issues, the previous weekend.

Vinales wouldn’t ride an M1 again, but returns in red hot form on the Aprilia RS-GP with podiums at the last two races, including finishing second by just 0.426s to Bagnaia last time at Silverstone.

KTM has revealed more of its 2023 rider line-up this weekend by confirming the return of Pol Espargaro at Tech3, while Austria is also the last chance for Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin to impress Ducati before a decision is made on who will replace Jack Miller, alongside Bagnaia, at the factory team in 2023.

Friday 19 August

7.25am – MotoE FP1

8am – Moto3 FP1

8.55am – MotoGP FP1

9.55am – Moto2 FP1

11.35am – MotoE FP2

12.15pm – Moto3 FP2

1.10pm – MotoGP FP2

2.10pm – Moto2 FP2

3.50pm – MotoE Qualifying 1

4.10pm – MotoE Qualifying 2

Saturday 20 August

8am – Moto3 FP3

8.55am – MotoGP FP3

9.55am – Moto2 FP3

11.35am – Moto3 Q1

12pm – Moto3 Q2

12.30pm – MotoGP FP4

1.10pm – MotoGP Q1

1.35pm – MotoGP Q2

2.10pm – Moto2 Q1

2.35pm – Moto2 Q2

3.15pm – MotoE race 1

Sunday 21 August

8am – Moto3 warm-up

8.20am – Moto2 warm-up

8.40am – MotoGP warm-up

10am – Moto3 race

11.20am – Moto2 race

1pm – MotoGP race

2.30pm – MotoE race