Marc Marquez continued his season-long dominance by completing a clean Austrian MotoGP practice sweep as the MotoGP paddock regrouped at Red Bull Ring after summer break.
The Red Bull Ring, a circuit where the six-time premier world champion had previously come up short despite his legendary status in the sport, became the center stage for a remarkable show of speed and tactical brilliance.
Saturday morning’s Free Practice 3 (FP3) served as the final pre-qualifying shakeout and Marc Marquez confirmed his relentless grip on the proceedings.
Once more, Marquez topped the timesheets this time clocking a blistering 1:28.751, pulling another sizeable gap (0.326s) to closest challenger Francesco Bagnaia.
KTM’s Pedro Acosta continued his impressive adaptation to MotoGP with a third-place finish, just +0.364s from Marquez despite his spill the day before.
The competitive order remained consistent with Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) and Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) rounding out the top five, separated by mere thousandths.
Luca Marini (Honda HRC) took sixth while Raul Fernandez and Fabio Di Giannantonio fought for every hundredth to finish seventh and eighth respectively. Joan Mir and Franco Morbidelli secured the remaining Q2 spots.
The session was punctuated by further drama: Johann Zarco suffered a dramatic high side at Turn 7 but was unharmed, while Jack Miller faced disciplinary action for unsportsmanlike conduct the previous day, resulting in a delay to his running and a 1,000 euro fine.
Full 2025 Austrian MotoGP Free Practice 2 Results
MotoGP Riders wives and girlfriends: Who are current stars dating?
Marc Marquez claims Friday’s Austrian MotoGP practice sweep
Marc Marquez led the charge in Friday afternoon’s practice, unfazed by the resurfaced track and mild interruptions as uncertainty from earlier showers lingered.
Marquez’s control over the session remained unquestioned, closely monitored by Pedro Acosta who recovered from a mid-session crash at Turn 1 to finish second.
Marquez’s Factory Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia followed in third ahead of Gresini’s Alex Marquez with Raul Fernandez marking the fastest Aprilia in fifth.
Honda’s Joan Mir delivered a quietly effective sixth-place while Franco Morbidelli took seventh for VR46 Ducati. Johann Zarco followed in eighth as Fermin Aldeguer and Brad Binder rounded out the top 10.
Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi and Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo found themselves outside the top ten after running on less-preferred tire compounds.
Elsewhere, Jorge Martin struggled to replicate the front-running pace in FP1, finishing down in 16th in what was a humbling demonstration of the sport’s ruthless competitiveness.
Maverick Viñales who is still recouping from earlier injuries carefully managed his workload and completed enough laps to remain classified, later confirming his participation in subsequent sessions.
Full 2025 Austrian MotoGP Friday Practice Results
Marquez leads Bagnaia in opening practice at Red Bull Ring
Friday morning’s Free Practice 1 (FP1) set the tone for the weekend as the field of 21 riders pushed their machines to the limit around the 4.35km Austrian circuit.
Marc Marquez astride the Ducati Lenovo GP25 wasted no time in stamping his authority as he proceeded to set a commanding lap of 1:29.376, immediately reminding everyone why he leads the World Championship.
Marquez’s pace was more than three-tenths of a second clear of his nearest rival, team-mate Francesco Bagnaia who posted a 1:29.686 which was an impressive performance from a rider with five consecutive Red Bull Ring wins.
While both Marquez and Bagnaia chose to run on old soft front and medium rear tires other top contenders like Marco Bezzecchi, Alex Marquez, and Franco Morbidelli went for new rubber in pursuit of crucial setup data and outright pace.
Bezzecchi continued his upward trajectory with Aprilia with a third-place finish behind the Ducati duo, while the younger Marquez returned from a turbulent first half of the season to claim fourth as he prepares to serve a long lap penalty on race day for a previous incident in Brno.
Franco Morbidelli rounded out the top five in FP1, a promising sign after missing the previous round due to injury.
Honda’s Joan Mir led the Japanese effort by placing sixth and outperforming Fabio Quartararo who emerged as the top Yamaha rider in seventh amid a minor fall but still performed good enough to keep his team in contention for Q2.
Reigning World Champion Jorge Martin took eighth for Aprilia Factory and was closely tailed by Pedro Acosta who was the fastest KTM representative at the factory’s home venue while Tech3’s Enea Bastianini rounded out the top ten.
Meanwhile, Somkiat Chantra missed his third consecutive event as he recovers from knee surgery leaving LCR Honda with only one bike on the grid until Aleix Espargaro’s anticipated return at the next round.
HRC test rider Takaaki Nakagami was also sidelined by injury, further stretching Honda’s resources and focus.
READ MORE:
Zarco and Takahashi win Suzuka 8 Hours to extend Honda HRC’s streak
