Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso proved he was still just as strong on the Red Bull Circuit as he was a year ago when he recorded the best overall time on the opening day of practice at the Austrian Circuit with a 1:24.046 to his credit.
Yamaha's Maverick Vinales was second overall, the young Spaniard two tenths further back on the Italian, despite losing a little track time due to a damp section of track in session two as session two was wet when the session got underway.
“Considering that the Spielberg circuit is one of the more challenging tracks on the MotoGP calendar for us, today's results are quite positive,” said Yamaha's Massimo Meregalli. “It was a pity we lost some track time in FP2 because of a wet spot on track, but all in all our riders' pace is good. We‘ve been quite productive. Today we were able to compare fairings, tyre specs – both front and rear –, and also different set-ups."
"The FP2 session ended up quite well for Maverick, with a significant second fastest lap time as well as a good pace. Although Valentino felt a little under the weather this morning, he had a strong rhythm with the race tyres in both sessions. When he went out for his time-attack in FP2 the decision to use the soft front tyre didn‘t pay off, but he still has FP3 to improve his lap time and promote directly into Q2. In general, there's a margin for improvement for both riders' bikes.”
Danie Pedrosa was the quickest of the Honda riders with third place to his credit with the Yamaha of Johan Zareco close behind in fourth place.
With the new fairing attached to his Ducati, Jorge Lorenzo was a strong fifth, followed by Hector Barbera, Marc Marquez, and Cal Crutchlow rounding out the top eight.
- Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati Team - 1'24.046
2. Maverick VIÑALES, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - 1'24.280 +0.234
3. Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team - 1'24.474 +0.428
4. Johann ZARCO, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 1'24.522 +0.476
5. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati Team - 1'24.616 +0.570
6. Hector BARBERA, Reale Avintia Racing - 1'24.631 +0.585
7. Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda Team - 1'24.649 +0.603
8. Cal CRUTCHLOW, LCR Honda - 1'24.668 +0.622
9. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini - 1'24.726 +0.680
10. Scott REDDING, OCTO Pramac Racing - 1'24.765 +0.719
11. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Pull&Bear Aspar Team - 1'24.780 +0.734
12. Pol ESPARGARO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 1'24.859 +0.813
13. Valentino ROSSI, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - 1'24.883 +0.837
14. Loris BAZ, Reale Avintia Racing - 1'24.925 +0.879
15. Danilo PETRUCCI, OCTO Pramac Racing - 1'24.935 +0.889
16. Jonas FOLGER, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 1'24.992 +0.946
17. Andrea IANNONE, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - 1'25.218 +1.172
18. Sam LOWES, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini - 1'25.270 +1.224
19. Mika KALLIO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 1'25.320 +1.274
20. Jack MILLER, EG 0,0 Marc VDS - 1'25.335 +1.289
21. Karel ABRAHAM, Pull&Bear Aspar Team - 1'25.369 +1.323
22. Alex RINS, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - 1'25.452 +1.406
23. Tito RABAT, EG 0,0 Marc VDS - 1'25.616 +1.570
24. Bradley SMITH, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 1'25.664 +1.618
