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Pedro Acosta was in a league of his own during Friday's practice sessions ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, topping the official practice at KTM's home circuit.
The Spaniard secured the top spot with a lap time of 1:28.381, outpacing Fermín Aldeguer of Gresini Ducati by 0.127 seconds. Ai Ogura of Trackhouse Aprilia completed the top three, 0.187 seconds adrift. Reigning world champion and championship leader Marc Márquez finished fourth, just ahead of Jorge Martín, who rounded out the top five.
Behind them, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Brad Binder, Alex Márquez, Marco Bezzecchi, and Fabio Quartararo completed the top 10. Quartararo, the 2021 world champion, snatched a spot in Q2 at the very end, qualifying for the second phase of tomorrow's qualifying session. He edged out Luca Marini by a mere 0.004 seconds, meaning Marini will have to navigate through the first 15 minutes of tomorrow's pole position battle.
Joining Marini in Q1 will be Johann Zarco, Diogo Moreira, Enea Bastianini, Pol Espargaró, Alex Rins, Franco Morbidelli, Francesco Bagnaia, Raúl Fernández, Takaaki Nakagami, Jack Miller, and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu. The official practice at the Red Bull Ring was incredibly competitive, with the top 19 riders separated by just 0.949 seconds.
The hour-long session saw two crashes. The first involved Zarco, who went down at Turn 4. Later, Alex Márquez crashed at the exit of Turn 1, leading to a brief red flag as marshals cleared debris from the track.
The Austrian Grand Prix weekend, the 15th round of the 2026 MotoGP season, continues tomorrow at 11:10 AM Bulgarian time with a 30-minute Free Practice 2. Immediately following its conclusion, at 11:50 AM, qualifying will commence, determining the starting grid for both the sprint race and the main event at the Red Bull Ring.
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