Pedro Acosta delivered a commanding performance on Friday at the Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring, topping both sessions as KTM made an emphatic start to their home Grand Prix weekend.
The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider ended Practice with a 1:28.381, finishing 0.127 seconds clear of Fermín Aldeguer and 0.187 seconds ahead of returning Trackhouse Aprilia rider Ai Ogura. With the result, Acosta secured the fastest time of the opening day and put himself directly into Saturday’s Q2 session.
The result continued an impressive opening to the weekend for Acosta, who had already topped FP1 earlier in the day with a 1:29.851. KTM also began the morning strongly, with Pol Espargaró completing an FP1 one-two behind his fellow KTM rider.
Acosta in a Class of His Own
Acosta immediately carried his FP1 momentum into the afternoon Practice session. After 20 minutes, he was already the only rider to have broken into the 1:28’s.
As the session progressed, the KTM rider continued to find time. The gap eventually closed as the rest of the field switched to softer tyres and completed their qualifying simulations, but nobody could dislodge Acosta from the top of the standings.
Aldeguer emerged as his closest challenger in the closing stages, moving into second place and ending the session just over a tenth behind. Ogura, competing in his first MotoGP weekend since returning from injury, produced an impressive third-place finish.
For Acosta, the performance was particularly significant given his ongoing search for a first MotoGP victory. The Spaniard has yet to stand on the top step of the premier-class podium, and his KTM contract is set to end after the 2026 season.
Championship Leaders Stay Close
Behind the front two, the championship battle remained tightly packed.
Marc Márquez finished fourth, only 0.204 seconds behind Acosta, while Jorge Martín was fifth at 0.222 seconds. The two arrived at the Austrian GP level on points at the top of the championship standings following the previous round at Misano.
Fabio Di Giannantonio placed sixth, ahead of KTM’s Brad Binder, while Álex Márquez recovered from a crash to take eighth. Marco Bezzecchi finished ninth, with Fabio Quartararo completing the top ten.
Quartararo’s result was particularly notable as it secured the Yamaha rider direct passage into Q2 for the first time since the Barcelona Grand Prix.
Red Flag After Álex Márquez Crash
The afternoon session was briefly interrupted by a red flag with just over 11 minutes remaining after Álex Márquez crashed at Turn 1.
The Gresini rider appeared to lift the front of his Ducati slightly on corner exit before the front tyre touched back down and folded away. Márquez was unhurt and returned to the circuit on his second bike once the session resumed. He ultimately recovered to finish eighth and remain inside the top ten.
There had already been several incidents earlier in the Austrian sessions. Johann Zarco crashed at Turn 4, while his LCR Honda teammate Diogo Moreira also ran into trouble at the same corner, going through the gravel multiple times during the opening half-hour.
Bagnaia Faces Q1
While Acosta and KTM enjoyed a strong day, Francesco Bagnaia endured another difficult Friday.
The Ducati rider could manage only 18th place, finishing 0.885 seconds away from Acosta’s benchmark. That leaves Bagnaia facing Q1 on Saturday, continuing a difficult run of qualifying performances.
Luca Marini also narrowly missed out on direct Q2 qualification, finishing 11th and just 0.004 seconds behind Quartararo’s top-ten time. Zarco and Moreira were also outside the automatic Q2 places.
Friday could hardly have gone better for KTM at its home circuit. But Friday’s timesheets only set the stage. With qualifying and the Tissot Sprint still to come, the focus now turns to whether Acosta can convert his early pace into a strong starting position at the Austrian track.
Feature image courtesy of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing / Rob Gray (Polarity Photo)