MotoGP Austrian GP: Miller tops wet-to-dry FP1 as new layout makes debut

Early morning rain left the Red Bull Ring, which has been revamped for 2022, damp with forecasts remaining sketchy for the entire weekend.

Following the horrific accident involving Johann Zarco and Franco Morbidelli in the 2020 Austrian GP, a new chicane at Turn 2 has been added to the Red Bull Ring to slow down the riders through that section of the circuit.

In the early stages of the damp FP1, numerous riders ran through the chicane as they got to grips with their braking points for the new section.

For much of the session lap times were set on wet tyres, with a number of riders taking turns leading the timings.

With 15 minutes of the 45-minute session remaining, the fastest wet lap was Johann Zarco’s with a 1m36.916s as the Pramac rider’s Ducati counterpart Marco Bezzecchi on the VR46 GP21 took to the track on slicks.

KTM’s Miguel Oliveira took over from Zarco five minutes later with a 1m36.5s on slicks before Ducati’s Jack Miller went top with a 1m36.236s.

Johann Zarco, Pramac Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

Bezzecchi dipped under the 1m36s with a 1m35.922s seconds later, with that trio of Bezzecchi, Oliveira and Miller trading top spot again over the next few minutes.

Miller, famed for his speed in drying conditions, moved the goalposts significantly over the closing stages as he dropped his pace to a 1m31.586s, before improving to a 1m31.139s on his following lap.

The Australian strengthened his position at the top of the timesheets with a 1m30.756s on his final lap to end FP1 0.618 seconds clear of the field.

Pramac’s Zarco was his nearest challenger in second ahead of the Suzuki of Joan Mir, who said on Thursday at the Red Bull Ring that he was “very close” to securing his 2023 MotoGP deal with Honda.

Jorge Martin – last year’s Styrian GP winner – was fourth on the sister Pramac Ducati ahead of championship leader Fabio Quartararo on the Yamaha.

Alex Rins completed the top six on the sister Suzuki with last year’s Austrian GP winner Brad Binder on the KTM, LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami, Gresini Ducati’s Enea Bastianini and RNF Racing’s Andrea Dovizioso rounding out the top 10.

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

Maverick Vinales was 0.067s outside of the top 10 in 11th on the leading Aprilia, as team-mate Aleix Espargaro was a low-key 17th behind Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia.

Bezzecchi faded to 12th after his early stint at the top of the timesheets ahead of KTM’s Miguel Oliveira.

Despite the conditions, only Tech3 KTM rookie Remy Gardner crashed in FP1 – the Australian coming off his RC16 unhurt at Turn 4.

FP2 for the 2022 MotoGP Austrian GP will get underway at 1:10pm BST.

Full FP1 results:

Cla	Rider		Bike	Time	Gap	Interval
1	Jack Miller		Ducati	1'30.756
2	Johann Zarco		Ducati	1'31.374	0.618	0.618
3	Joan Mir		Suzuki	1'31.576	0.820	0.202
4	Jorge Martin		Ducati	1'31.616	0.860	0.040
5	Fabio Quartararo		Yamaha	1'31.773	1.017	0.157
6	Alex Rins		Suzuki	1'31.875	1.119	0.102
7	Brad Binder		KTM	1'31.913	1.157	0.038
8	Takaaki Nakagami		Honda	1'31.941	1.185	0.028
9	Enea Bastianini		Ducati	1'31.976	1.220	0.035
10	Andrea Dovizioso		Yamaha	1'32.007	1.251	0.031
11	Maverick Viñales		Aprilia	1'32.074	1.318	0.067
12	Marco Bezzecchi		Ducati	1'32.321	1.565	0.247
13	Miguel Oliveira		KTM	1'32.422	1.666	0.101
14	Alex Marquez		Honda	1'32.437	1.681	0.015
15	Franco Morbidelli		Yamaha	1'32.488	1.732	0.051
16	Francesco Bagnaia		Ducati	1'32.513	1.757	0.025
17	Aleix Espargaro		Aprilia	1'32.557	1.801	0.044
18	Stefan Bradl		Honda	1'32.748	1.992	0.191
19	Fabio Di Giannantonio		Ducati	1'32.775	2.019	0.027
20	Pol Espargaro		Honda	1'32.905	2.149	0.130
21	Lorenzo Savadori		Aprilia	1'32.963	2.207	0.058
22	Luca Marini		Ducati	1'32.998	2.242	0.035
23	Raúl Fernández		KTM	1'33.796	3.040	0.798
24	Darryn Binder		Yamaha	1'35.072	4.316	1.276
25	Remy Gardner		KTM	1'35.092	4.336	0.020
View full results