Bagnaia snatches Austrian GP MotoGP pole from Vinales

MotoGP championship leader Pecco Bagnaia narrowly outpaced Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales to secure pole position for the Saturday sprint and Sunday’s main race at the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.

Vinales had led after the opening round of laps, but Ducati rider Bagnaia’s penultimate attempt prevented Vinales from celebrating a first pole position with Aprilia, with the gap between the pair just 0.037s.

Brad Binder put the local KTM team on the front row in third place, on the day he was announced as staying at the team through 2026. He was followed by team-mate Jack Miller, getting through to fourth place after having dominated the first qualifying segment.

Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati), Luca Marini (VR46 Ducati) and Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati) completed the top seven.

Bezzecchi had set the new lap record of this Red Bull Ring configuration in practice on Friday, and Bagnaia was 0.006s off that with his pole time, but Bezzecchi himself was almost four tenths adrift.

Miguel Oliveira put the 2022 Aprilia eighth on the grid for RNF, followed by the lead Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo.

Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) and Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) completed the Q2 order, Martin having had his two best laptimes deleted for track limits offences. The better of the two would’ve put him sixth on the grid.

Espargaro had had a crash at Turn 3, known in the past as Remus, but wheeled the RS-GP back into the pits and was ultimately seven tenths off team-mate Vinales.

His brother Pol Espargaro (Tech3 Gas Gas) challenged for a Q2 spot in just his second race back after his injury absence, but ultimately had to settle for 13th, 0.175s away from advancing.

That 13th, however, will turn to 16th on the grid for having baulked Marc Marquez in practice – a penalty Espargaro acknowledged he fully deserved.

Instead, the fourth row will be made up of Bagnaia’s team-mate Enea Bastianini, who improved in the final moments on Q1, Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli and Honda’s Joan Mir.

The four Hondas were all split by just two tenths after their first runs in Q1, and never meaningfully challenged for a Q2 spot, but Mir outpacing the elder Marquez – who will start only 18th – by 0.025s will be a welcome pick-me up for the 2020 champion in what has been such a difficult first season on an RC213V so far.

Having ran close to the top 10 in Friday practice, Gresini’s Fabio Di Giannantonio crashed in the pre-qualifying practice session on Saturday morning, his Ducati slamming hard against the barrier in the Turn 9 run-off.

A late crash for @FabioDiggia49! 💥

A shame as Diggia was looking good on that lap 📈#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/0vJIhkXtg9

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 19, 2023

It likely compromised the Italian for qualifying, as he ended up in a distant 20th place.

Qualifying Results