Honda’s Marc Marquez created a new MotoGP record with his Austrian GP pole from Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Fabio Quartararo and Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso.
Q1:
The first part of Austrian GP MotoGP qualifying at Red Bull Ring saw LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow and Pramac Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia lead the way in early stages but things changed as the session progressed.
Tech 3 KTM’s Miguel Oliveira went quickest in the closing stages but Crutchlow fought back with a 1m23.829s to end up at the top as Bagnaia with a 1m23.928s was second to make it into Q2.
It left Oliveira in third to start 13th for Sunday’s MotoGP race with Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Franco Morbidelli slotting in 14th from Avintia Ducati’s Tito Rabat. After the high in the last race, KTM’s Johann Zarco was only 16th.
He led the other Avintia of Karel Abraham in 17th ahead of the two Aprilia riders Andrea Iannone and Aleix Espargaro, from Tech 3 KTM’s Hafizh Syahrin and Honda’s Stefan Bradl – the latter having problems with his bike.
Q2:
The second part of qualifying saw Honda’s Marc Marquez take provisional pole from Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales and Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Fabio Quartararo at the halfway mark in the session.
It was only time for Marquez to score yet another MotoGP pole in Austrian GP with a 1m23.047s lap time, which is his seventh of the 2019 season as he edged past Mick Doohan to have most premier class poles with 59.
A late quick lap from Quartararo earned him second as he pushed Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso to third with Yamaha’s Vinales in fourth as Pramac’s Bagnaia made it to fifth after coming through from Q1 into Q2.
LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami also had a supreme session to be sixth after his late lap with Suzuki’s Alex Rins only seventh ahead of Pramac’s Jack Miller, LCR’s Crutchlow and Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi.
The lead KTM was of Pol Espargaro in 11th, with Danilo Petrucci only 12th abode the Ducati after his late crash as the Italians difficult run continues.
