Enea Bastianini has achieved the first pole of her career in MotoGP at the Austrian Grand Prix with a time of 1:28.772. Ducati’s dominance at the Red Bull Ring was confirmed on a day in which the first four positions on the grid have been for motorcycles of the Italian firm. Behind the ‘Beast’ will start the factory team drivers Pecco Bagnaia and Jack Miller. Madrid’s Jorge Martín’s Pramac Racing will lead the second row.
The weekend seemed marked by events taking place off the track. In addition to Marc Márquez’s visit to the paddock, the news of GasGas as the new MotoGP manufacturer with Pol Espargaró In their ranks, the overwhelming dominance of the Ducati in free practice subtracted some of the prominence. Already on Saturday morning, the announcement of the sprint races for all grands prix next season he seemed destined to monopolize the conversations of the day.
However, Q1 returned the prominence to the pilots of the premier category. Aleix Espargaró saved the procedure which he was forced to go through after some very rough free practice for him. The one from Aprilia got his pass to the final Q2 thanks to a time of 1:29.231. He was accompanied by the Italian Fabio DiGiannantonio. Those who would lose any chance of fighting for pole before time were Álex Márquez and Marco Bezzecchi after crashing simultaneously at turn 3.
The fight for pole seemed to be up to the Ducati riders. Aleix Espargaró led Q2 for a few moments, but his Aprilia could compete for the top spot on the grid, as would be shown a few minutes later. Pecco Bagnaia surpassed his boxing partner and occupied the privileged position with a few moments to go, but an impeccable Enea Bastianini would end up taking the cat to the water to get his first pole position in the premier class.
To find the first non-Ducati bike in the standings we have to go down to fifth position. Fabio Quartararo controlled the obvious problems he is experiencing with his Yamaha this weekend to be in a second row that will close Johann Zarco. Maverick Viñales finished seventh ahead of Joan Mir and Aleix Espargaró, who had his last lap canceled for exceeding track limits. Fabio DiGiannantonio has completed the ‘top 10’.
Photos: MotoGP / Ducati