MotoGP Austrian GP: Martin tops FP1 as Acosta suffers major crash

Jorge Martin led a 1-2 for Pramac in the opening practice for the Austrian Grand Prix after a late red flag caused by Pedro Acosta.

Having suffered a relatively low-speed fall at the chicane just minutes before, Tech3 rider Acosta was involved in another incident in the closing stages of the session, losing control of his GasGas-branded KTM at high speed on the run down to Turn 4.

Although the Spaniard was able to walk away unscathed from the incident, his bike heavily smashed the barriers before bouncing back on track, spewing debris on the racing line and prompting race control to deploy the red flag.

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 crash (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

The session resumed after a short break with under 3m30s left on the clock, but no rider at the front was able to improve their lap time, leaving Martin at the top of the order ahead of team-mate Franco Morbidelli.

Championship leader Martin had gone quickest just seconds before the red flag was deployed for Acosta’s crash, a 1m29.654s putting him two tenths clear of long-time pacesetter Morbidelli and eventually securing him the top spot.

KTM riders set the early pace in practice, with Acosta laying the initial marker with a 1m30.876s before factory rider Brad Binder streaked clear with a 1m30.236s.

KTM wildcard Pol Espargaro then broke the 1m30s barrier to move the goalposts, lapping the Austrian circuit in 1m29.933s on an experimental version of the RC16.

With 15 minutes on the board, Morbidelli ended KTM’s stranglehold on the top spot in the timesheets, courtesy of a 1m29.872s effort on his Ducati GP24.

The Italian’s time remained unbeaten until the five minutes of the session when Martin put on a set of soft tyres, with the red flag preventing any further improvements.

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Behind the Pramac duo, Espargaro finished third for KTM based on his early-session pace, with Francesco Bagnaia taking fourth on the factory Ducati.

Binder took fifth spot, while Acosta was able to keep sixth place despite his late shunt.

Maverick Vinales led Aprilia in seventh place on a day when his team-mate Aleix Espargaro suffered two crashes in the space of 15 minutes, both at the tricky Turn 2 chicane that caught out a number of riders.

Eighth place went to the VR46 of Fabio di Giannantonio, while Joan Mir was a surprise ninth on his Honda ahead of the Gresini of Alex Marquez.

His team-mate and elder brother Marc Marquez lost his best lap due to track limits and was classified 18th, although the red flag meant the times were largely unrepresentative.

The top Yamaha rider was the returning Alex Rins in 13th with a best effort of 1m30.482s, one spot clear of team-mate and 2021 champion Fabio Quartararo.

MotoGP Austrian GP - FP1 results

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Rider	#		Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89		Ducati	20	1'29.654		173.707
2	F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing	21		Ducati	19	+0.218 1'29.872	0.218	173.286
3	P. Espargaro Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	44		KTM	18	+0.290 1'29.944	0.072	173.147
4	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1		Ducati	18	+0.310 1'29.964	0.020	173.109
5	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33		KTM	21	+0.582 1'30.236	0.272	172.587
6	P. Acosta Tech 3	31		KTM	16	+0.629 1'30.283	0.047	172.497
7	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12		Aprilia	21	+0.646 1'30.300	0.017	172.465
8	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49		Ducati	20	+0.685 1'30.339	0.039	172.390
9	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36		Honda	16	+0.734 1'30.388	0.049	172.297
10	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73		Ducati	20	+0.746 1'30.400	0.012	172.274
11	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43		KTM	21	+0.782 1'30.436	0.036	172.205
12	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23		Ducati	20	+0.826 1'30.480	0.044	172.122
13	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42		Yamaha	19	+0.828 1'30.482	0.002	172.118
14	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20		Yamaha	18	+0.898 1'30.552	0.070	171.985
15	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72		Ducati	19	+0.930 1'30.584	0.032	171.924
16	J. Zarco Team LCR	5		Honda	22	+0.973 1'30.627	0.043	171.842
17	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25		Aprilia	19	+1.156 1'30.810	0.183	171.496
18	M. Marquez Gresini Racing	93		Ducati	21
19	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30		Honda	20	+1.185 1'30.839	0.029	171.441
20	L. Marini Repsol Honda Team	10		Honda	20	+1.299 1'30.953	0.114	171.226
21	L. Savadori Aprilia Racing Team	32		Aprilia	18	+1.331 1'30.985	0.032	171.166
22	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37		KTM	26	+1.376 1'31.030	0.045	171.082
23	M. Oliveira Trackhouse Racing Team	88		Aprilia	19	+1.386 1'31.040	0.010	171.063
24	S. Bradl HRC Test Team	6		Honda	20	+1.880 1'31.534	0.494	170.140
25	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41		Aprilia	14
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