Márquez earns Austrian pole by two thousandts of second

Reigning World Champion will start on row one ahead of both factory Ducatis

The third free practice session was another wet one, nobody was able to improve on their times from yesterday morning’s FP1. Yesterday’s times therefore determined the riders advancing directly to Q2, so it was Lorenzo, Petrucci, Marquez, Iannone, Pedrosa, Crutchlow, Rabat, Zarco and Vinales who advanced. Rossi had to fight through Q1. FP4 saw Márquez conquering the top spot with a time of 1:24.139 just in front of Lorenzo (1:24:357), Dovizioso (1:24:446), Iannone (1:24:649) and Crutchlow (1:24:699).

MOTOGP QUALIFYING 1 AS IT HAPPENED

14:10:  Rossi, Simeon, Lüthi, Abraham, Bautista, Morbidelli, Nakagami, Smith, Espargaro, Rins, Miller, Redding and Syahrin tackle Q1.
14:20: Bautista, Smith and Rins occupy the top three places half way through the session. Rossi holds on to fifth.
14:24: Rossi briefly takes over second, but is overtaken by Rins, Smith and Bautista.
14:29: Rossi back in fourth and that’s it for him. Bautista takes the best time and pushes Bradley Smith out of Q2 participation. Bautista and Rins are promoted to Q2. Smith, Rossi, Espargaro, Morbidelli, Miller, Syahrin, Simeon, Redding, Nakagami, Lüthi and Abraham are out.

MOTOGP QUALIFYING 2 AS IT HAPPENED

14:35: Dovizioso, Lorenzo, Márquez, Zarco, Petrucci, Bautista, Vinales, Pedrosa, Iannone, Rins, Crutchlow and Rabat enter Q2.
14:45: 29 Thousandths of a second – that’s how much faster Marc Márquez is over Andrea Dovizioso after the first flying lap.
14:47: Jorge Lorenzo takes over at the front, stays clear of Dovizioso who is changing tyres. Márquez steals the top spot again shortly after.
14:50: Márquez powers to 1:23:241 and takes pole – just two thousandths of a second in front of Andrea Dovizioso (1:23:243), followed by Jorge Lorenzo (1:23:376), Danilo Petrucci (1:23:503) and Cal Crutchlow (1:23:812).

The reigning world champion earned his second successive Red Bull Ring pole, his third of the season and the 77th of his Grand Prix career.

Also record breaking: Marc Márquez and his fellow Honda team mate Dani Pedrosa participate in a 1 minute and 23 seconds  “speed interview” (the same time as the lap record at the Red Bull Ring). Here is what they had to say.

QUOTES FROM THE TOP 3

Saturday’s Qualifying Press Conference was a mirror image of 2017: A happy Marc Márquez and two satisfied Ducati riders in Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo. All three feeling well, all three aiming for the win. “Tomorrow we will try to fight in Ducati country”, said Márquez.

Andrea Dovizioso: “The front row was our goal, P1, 2 or 3 doesn’t make too much difference.” He gives himself good odds for a win, but, “It will depend on the tyres and the strategy.”

Jorge Lorenzo lost a bit of time in the pits due to a misunderstanding – he pitted twice in Q2 but only got one new rear tyre. “In the end we had enough time to use a new soft rear tyre.”

FULL GAS BESIDE TRACK

The ‘Spielberg MotoGP City’ will host the main party tonight with About Kings (Mario Barth Band), Break Free (Queen cover band), the AC/DC Revival Band and Ö3 DJ Christian Prates live on stage.

SUNDAY’S RACE AWAITS

‘Spielberg MotoGP Bike City’ opens at 8:30 am before the warmups at 10:35. At 11am and 12:20pm respectively, the races of Moto3 and Moto2 will launch from the starting line. Following a stunt show and the ‘Red Bull Air Display’, fans will be upstanding for the Austrian National anthem at exactly 1:51pm. The ‘2018 eyetime Motorcycle Grand Prix of Austria’ will fire into action at 2:00pm.

LAST MINUTE TICKETS

Last-Minute-Tickets are available from the box offices on site, with opening hours on Sunday from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. More info: www.projekt-spielberg.com/en/motogp/tickets.