MotoGP Styria FP1 LIVE: Nakagami contains Mir and Espargaro!

It's back to school! Long awaited, this promises a strong restart with a weekend in Austria filled with uncertainties...

Let's be clear: on the eve of this Styrian Grand Prix, the only elements of which we can be certain belong to the past, starting with the leadership of fabio quartararo who is 34 points ahead of Johann zarco, 47 on Francis Bagnaia, 55 on Joan Mir, 56 on Jack Miller, 61 on Maverick Vinales and 71 on Miguel Oliveira, while at most, if the health situation allows, a maximum of 225 points is still to be awarded.

The comfortable situation ofThe Devil is therefore nothing definitive and, as such, the two Grands Prix in Austria will be interesting, on a carefully drawn circuit favoring the V4 Ducati and KTM. The Frenchman, however, rightly points out that he qualified 2nd on the M1 in 2019 before finishing the race in 3rd position. The year 2020 started at the same pace, with qualifying in 3rd place on the starting grid before experiencing a brake problem during the race then having a duller second Austrian weekend, qualifying P 10 and crossing the finish line in 13th position.

Among the contenders for victory this weekend are obviously Johann zarco, qualified 3rd in the last edition even if he started from the pit lane following his sanction for having caused the spectacular accident that we know about. Jack Miller, 3rd and 2nd last year, and Miguel Oliveira, the latest winner and in rising form before the summer break, are also part of the big odds of the weekend...

But whoever comes out on top on Sunday at 14:40 p.m. will have gone through the complications caused by the weather forecast over the weekend: if the showers at the start of the week no longer seem appropriate for this Friday and Saturday , their return is announced for Sunday…

Among the ingredients that will undoubtedly also spice up this back-to-school season, we can obviously mention Marc Márquez which we hope will have taken advantage of this summer break to regain his previous level of form, but also the expected presence of Cal Crutchlow in replacement of Franco Morbidelli on the Yamaha of the Petronas SRT team and Dani Pedrosa as a luxury wildcard for KTM at home.

Speaking of presence, let us once again point out that of a public without any limitation of size, this time well aware of having the additional privilege of attending one of the last races of Valentino Rossi.

As the 23 pilots prepare under a spring sky with temperatures of 20° in the air and 22° on the ground, let's take advantage of these few minutes of live broadcast thanks to the official website MotoGP.com :

MotoGP™ Red Bull Ring	2020	2021
FP1	1'23.859 Jack Miller (See here)	1'23.805 Takaaki Nakagami (See here)
FP2	1'23.638 Pol Espargaro (See here)
FP3	1'23.456 Joan Mir (See here)
FP4	1'24.450 Takaaki Nakagami (See here)
Q1	1'23. 609 Johann Zarco (See here)
Q2	1'23.580 Pol Espargaro (See here)
Warm-up	1'24.126 Andrea Dovizioso (See here)
Course	Oliveira, Miller, Pol Espargaro (See here)
All time lap record	1'23.027 Marc Marquez 2019

When the red lights go out... no one rushes to get on the track and it's finally Joan mir who sets off first on the Austrian route while, once is not customary, Valentino Rossi let everyone go.

While tire choices are diverse, Joan Mir achieves the best first flying lap in 1'27.749 in front Brad Binder.

Remember that the Suzukis have the holeshot device at the rear here, thus catching up with the competition...

In the next passage, fabio quartararo imposes a 1'25.854 before passing the baton to Marc Márquez the next lap in 1'25.259.

In his fourth flying lap, Johann zarco seizes leadership in 1'24.783 before handing over command to Joan mir in 1'24.751.

After 10 minutes in the session, Iker Lecuona inaugurates the list of falls, without any seriousness, at turn number #3 while Joan mir takes his property back from the hands of a fabio quartararo ephemeral leader in 1'24.428.

At the end of the first run, the hierarchy is composed of Joan Mir, Maverick Vinales, Fabio Quartararo, Johann Zarco, Aleix Espargaro, Takaaki Nakagami, Jack Miller, Alex Márquez, Francesco Bagnaia, Dani Pedrosa, Marc Márquez, Brad Binder, Alex Rins, Pol Espargaro, Valentino Rossi, Enea Bastianini, Jorge Martin , Iker Lecuona, Luca Marini, Miguel Oliveira, Danilo Petrucci, Lorenzo Savadori and Cal Crutchlow, but the time to Marc Marquez is finally canceled, relegating the Honda driver to provisional 20th place.

At this moment in the session, we must salute the performance of Dani Pedrosa, quite simply the first KTM on the Austrian circuit!

On resumption, Marc Márquez immediately takes provisional 10th place but initially stays behind his former teammate Dani Pedrosa. This does not last and the spearhead of the Repsol Honda team immediately sets the second best time, taking advantage of the wake ofAlex Espargaro.

17 minutes from the checkered flag, we see Dani Pedrosa who abandons his RC16 placed against a rail while Miguel Oliveira, he seems to have suffered a violent highside at turn #3. The Portuguese pilot seems stunned.

Meanwhile, Takaaki Nakagami takes the provisional best time in 1'24.395 while Pol Espargaro moved up to seventh position.

10 minutes from the end of the session, Dani Pedrosa leaves on his second machine equipped with a hard tire at the front. After a long time leaning against the rail, Miguel Oliveira returned to his box. At the moment, no one comes out with a soft tire on the back and alone Jorge Martin tested this wrap so far. At least until H-6 or alex rins, very shy so far in 13th position, uses this extra grip, just like Enea Bastianini.

Alex Espargaro rises to fifth position and alex rins took advantage of his soft rubber to place his Suzuki in provisional fourth place.

In the next passage, Alex Espargaro places the Aprilia squarely at the top of the list, in 1'24.291! The Noale driver must however face the two Suzukis, Joan Mir temporarily regaining command in 1'24.183, a time equaled to the nearest thousandth a few seconds later by Alex Espargaro in 1'24.183!

This is not enough and Joan mir drives the point home in 1'23.881, 4 thousandths ahead Takaaki Nakagami, the latter finally went for the best time in 1'23.805.

If the Hondas seem to be the good surprise of this first session, it should be noted that Johann zarco remains once again the best Ducati rider from whom we expected better, just like KTM…

See you at 14:10 p.m. for FP2!

Styrian Grand Prix MotoGP FP1 Standings at Red Bull Ring:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com