Marc Marquez finished his first Austrian day in seventh place. Just by stating this simple observation, there is nothing to rejoice about, but nevertheless, it was a smiling world championship leader who took stock of his Friday in Styria. And for good reason: he says he is much more in the know than last year.
« A year ago the Ducatis were a level or two higher, but this time we are much closer ». Marc Márquez warns, this year, you will have to rely on your Honda on the Red Bull Ring. “ Dovi has a very good pace, but we are very close. We will see tomorrow if we can do even better on one lap and in race pace. We still have to wait and see because the others will also progress until Sunday. But I'm already faster this Friday than Sunday last year and my race pace is also better. So I'm happy ».
« We started with different settings than last year, we were inspired by those found in Brno on Monday during testing. I feel comfortable on the bike, everything is going quite well. I can brake later, the data shows I'm faster ". As for what's new, Márquez is like Casa Particular in Viñales, quite cautious: “ I tried the carbon fork. I didn't feel any big difference, but it saved weight. But we were limited on that side ».
For his part, his teammate Dani Pedrosa finished his start to the Austrian Grand Prix in third place.
#AustrianGP MotoGP J.1: Chronos
| 1 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'24.046 | ||
| 2 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 1'24.280 | 0.234 | 0.234 |
| 3 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 1'24.474 | 0.428 | 0.194 |
| 4 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | 1'24.522 | 0.476 | 0.048 |
| 5 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | 1'24.616 | 0.570 | 0.094 |
| 6 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 1'24.649 | 0.603 | 0.033 |
| 7 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'24.668 | 0.622 | 0.019 |
| 8 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 1'24.726 | 0.680 | 0.058 |
| 9 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Ducati | 1'24.765 | 0.719 | 0.039 |
| 10 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | 1'24.780 | 0.734 | 0.015 |
| 11 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | 1'24.859 | 0.813 | 0.079 |
| 12 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 1'24.883 | 0.837 | 0.024 |
| 13 | 76 | Loris BAZ | Ducati | 1'24.925 | 0.879 | 0.042 |
| 14 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 1'24.935 | 0.889 | 0.010 |
| 15 | 94 | Jonas Folger | Yamaha | 1'24.992 | 0.946 | 0.057 |
| 16 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | 1'25.218 | 1.172 | 0.226 |
| 17 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati | 1'25.258 | 1.212 | 0.040 |
| 18 | 22 | Sam LOWES | Aprilia | 1'25.270 | 1.224 | 0.012 |
| 19 | 36 | Mika Kallio | KTM | 1'25.320 | 1.274 | 0.050 |
| 20 | 43 | Jack Miller | Honda | 1'25.335 | 1.289 | 0.015 |
| 21 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 1'25.369 | 1.323 | 0.034 |
| 22 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 1'25.452 | 1.406 | 0.083 |
| 23 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Honda | 1'25.616 | 1.570 | 0.164 |
| 24 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 1'25.664 | 1.618 | 0.048 |
