NAKAGAMI FASTEST ON DAY 1 IN AUSTRIA
Takaaki Nakagami ended the first day of the Styrian Grand Prix weekend on top of the timesheets after setting the fastest time in the opening dry practice session.
It was a day of two halves, with practice 1 in dry conditions and practice 2 on a wet Red Bull Ring circuit in Austria.
Despite the short length of the Austrian circuit there was a large spread across the field, even in practice 1 the gap between Nakagami and Aussie Jack Miller in 10th was 1.022s, quite large for a MotoGP session.
LCR Honda rider Nakagami ended practice 1 with the fastest time, setting a 1m 23.805s time.
Reigning champion Joan Mir was within a tenth, the factory Suzuki rider ended the session 0.076s slower than the Japanese rider.
Behind Mir there was a 0.302s gap to the third placed man, factory Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro. Alex Rins made it two Suzukis in the top five, ending up in fourth.
A pair of factory Hondas were next, Pol Espargaro ended up in fifth ahead of his eight-time Motorcycle World championship-winning teammate Marc Marquez.
Next up were the factory Yamaha riders, with Maverick Vinales seventh and his championship-leading teammate Fabio Quartararo just behind in eighth.
Quartararo’s closest championship rival and fellow Frenchman Johann Zarco set an identical time to him, both were 0.775s slower than Nakagami.
Surprisingly a track famed for being a Ducati suited circuit, saw Zarco in ninth as the highest of the red Italian machines, with his factory Ducati brand mate Miller rounding out the top 10.
Dani Pedrosa impressed with wildcard return – Image: Motorsport Images
Returning as a KTM wildcard, Dani Pedrosa impressed and ended the day 11th ahead of championship contender Francesco Bagnaia.
Less than 24 hours after announcing his retirement from the sport at the end of the season, Valentino Rossi ended practice 1 in 16th.
‘The Doctor’ finished one place behind Miguel Oliveira who suffered a slow speed high side at Turn 3, Oliveira was hurt and elected to sit out practice 2.
Everyone was faster in practice 1, although the track dried throughout practice 2 it was not dry enough to set a quicker time.
Aprilia rider Lorenzo Savadori will be hoping for the wet weather to continue as he impressively topped the timesheets and showed his wet weather prowess once again.
Zarco was second quickest, 0.154s off the pace, with Mir, Bagnaia and Aleix Espargaro the only riders within a second of Savadori. Rins was next best ahead of Alex Marquez.
After a tumble in practice 1, Iker Lecuona crashed early in practice 2 at the first turn, he was fine and ended the day in eighth ahead of Vinales and Marc Marquez.
Miller was the first person to try slicks in the dying stages of the session, it did not pay off as he ended up 14th just ahead of Quartararo.
Rossi ended the wet session last of the 22 riders, he set a time behind his replacement rider teammate Cal Crutchlow and Wildcard Pedrosa.
Qualifying takes place tonight at 10.05pm AEST and can be viewed on Fox Sports 506.
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