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Motorsport

Sport

MotoGP Austrian GP: Bagnaia fastest in second practice, Martin third

MotoGP Francesco Bagnaia Jorge Martin Ducati Franco Morbidelli KTM Aprilia Gresini Marc Marquez Honda Pramac

Reigning MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia topped second practice for the Austrian Grand Prix with a new lap record, leading Pramac duo Franco Morbidelli and Jorge Martin.

It took just five minutes for Bagnaia to beat the fastest lap from first practice, the factory Ducati rider clocking a time of 1m29.637s to take the top spot.

His championship rival Martin and Gresini’s Marc Marquez also enjoyed brief stints at the front, before Bagnaia fired back with a 1m29.280s to pull himself three tenths clear of the opposition.

Bagnaia’s time stood unbeaten until there were less than 10 minutes left in the session, when Martin put on soft tyres on his Pramac Ducati to set a breathtaking time of 1m28.917s.

Marquez went fractionally quicker with two minutes remaining on the board, before Martin and then Morbidelli found even more time to reassert Pramac’s position at the front.

However, it was Bagnaia who had the last laugh, the factory rider usurping the previous lap record with a 1m28.508s to ensure he ended Friday on top a year on from his dominant win at Spielberg.

Morbidelli ended up second in one of his most impressive practice outings of 2024, while Martin had to settle for third place, over three tenths down on title rival Bagnaia.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

Marquez was shuffled down to fourth after the late flurry of improvements, while Brad Binder put in a last-gap effort on the factory KTM to end up a strong fifth with a 1m28.969s.

Gresini’s Alex Marquez couldn’t break the 1m29s barrier but set a lap time good enough for sixth on last year’s GP23 bike, beating Aprilia duo Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales.

Seventh and eighth represented an impressive recovery over the course of the hour for Aprilia after both factory riders had struggled to break inside the top 20 on harder tyres.

Ninth place went to Marco Bezzecchi on the VR46 bike, while Enea Bastianini was able to secure a direct graduation into Q2 in 10th despite a late fall at the tricky Turn 2 chicane.

Tech3 GasGas rider Pedro Acosta just missed out on an automatic entry into the second part of qualifying after a bruising Friday that saw him crash three times, his latest fall taking place at Turn 9 halfway through the session.

His KTM stablemate Jack Miller ended up just behind Acosta in 12th despite occupying a position inside the top five for much of the session.

Fabio Quartararo was Yamaha’s highest-placed rider in 13th place, just ahead of top Honda man Johann Zarco on the LCR-entered RC213V.

A number of riders suffered crashes at Turn 2 during second practice, while VR46's Fabio di Giannantonio had a high-speed off exiting Turn 7 on his Ducati GP23. Di Giannantonio was diagnosed with a dislocated left shoulder following initial tests and is being taken to a nearby hospital for further evaluation.

Meanwhile, KTM wildcard Pol Espargaro's session ended early after he had to pull over at the side of the track with a mechanical problem. He was testing several new parts on the RC16.

MotoGP Austrian GP - FP2 results

1 - 2
Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1	Ducati	22	1'28.508		175.956
2	F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing	21	Ducati	23	+0.281 1'28.789	0.281	175.400
3	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89	Ducati	27	+0.319 1'28.827	0.038	175.325
4	M. Marquez Gresini Racing	93	Ducati	26	+0.350 1'28.858	0.031	175.263
5	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	25	+0.461 1'28.969	0.111	175.045
6	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	27	+0.548 1'29.056	0.087	174.874
7	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41	Aprilia	20	+0.599 1'29.107	0.051	174.774
8	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12	Aprilia	22	+0.609 1'29.117	0.010	174.754
9	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72	Ducati	24	+0.725 1'29.233	0.116	174.527
10	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23	Ducati	24	+0.773 1'29.281	0.048	174.433
11	P. Acosta Tech 3	31	KTM	21	+0.800 1'29.308	0.027	174.380
12	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43	KTM	28	+0.821 1'29.329	0.021	174.339
13	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	26	+0.872 1'29.380	0.051	174.240
14	J. Zarco Team LCR	5	Honda	26	+1.098 1'29.606	0.226	173.800
15	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37	KTM	24	+1.254 1'29.762	0.156	173.498
16	L. Marini Repsol Honda Team	10	Honda	27	+1.301 1'29.809	0.047	173.408
17	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	22	+1.314 1'29.822	0.013	173.382
18	M. Oliveira Trackhouse Racing Team	88	Aprilia	23	+1.373 1'29.881	0.059	173.269
19	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25	Aprilia	26	+1.444 1'29.952	0.071	173.132
20	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49	Ducati	8	+1.550 1'30.058	0.106	172.928
21	P. Espargaro Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	44	KTM	12	+1.675 1'30.183	0.125	172.688
22	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30	Honda	23	+1.913 1'30.421	0.238	172.234
23	L. Savadori Aprilia Racing Team	32	Aprilia	23	+2.037 1'30.545	0.124	171.998
24	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36	Honda	23
25	S. Bradl HRC Test Team	6	Honda	21	+2.387 1'30.895	0.350	171.336
View full results