Giving KTM fans and bosses exactly what they wanted to see, the Austrian manufacturer's homecoming got off to a dream start with Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) completing a Friday clean sweep at the Red Bull Ring. A 1'28.381 sealed the deal as the #37's latest quest for a first MotoGP win gets underway in strong fashion, ahead of Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and returnee Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team). There was a brief red flag for a strange crash with Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) but he was all OK and in the top ten by the time the chequered flag waved.
Continuing on from his strong start to the day in FP1, Acosta was once again leading the way in the afternoon and after 20 minutes, was the only rider in the 1'28s. Elsewhere, Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) was up in fourth but suffered a tip off at Turn 4 before teammate Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) followed him into the gravel. Moreira wasn't having much luck at Turn 4, running off three times in the opening 30 minutes of the session.
Into the second half of Practice, Acosta improved his time once again, this time down to a 1'28.507 to extend his advantage out to more than half a second over Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing). The Shark was mighty lap-after-lap, improving once again to a 1'28.381 and looked to be doing it with ease. Behind, Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) was up into P2 and in the 1'28 club as riders started to get dialled in and push for times. He wasn't the only Honda flying as Moreira got himself into the top three whilst elsewhere, Aldeguer moved into P2.
With 20 minutes to go there were notable names out of the top 10, including Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing), both Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team riders Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli, Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team). Teammate Marc Marquez was only 11th with less than 15 to go but donned fresh rubber for the first time in Practice and soon moved himself up to second.
As the #93 improved, brother Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) crashed on the exit of Turn 1 in strange fashion. After a small wheelie on the exit, as the front tyre touched down, a puff of smoke and then it folded away as the 2025 runner-up fell off the side, bringing out the red flag with 11:42 on the clock. Back underway after the short pause, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) had moved into P8 whilst Bezzecchi came straight back into the pits after a box call by his crew. Teammate Martin had moved into second and Ogura into P3 on his first track action since Silverstone; Alex Marquez was back out on bike #2 and into P5.
A flurry of late changes in the final two minutes as Aldeguer came up the order to second and Binder consolidated his top ten showing with another improvement. Acosta was also back out but KTM's home star had no need to worry from anyone behind as he led the way on day one. Arch-rival Aldeguer took second ahead of Ogura, whilst Championship leader Marc Marquez was fourth. 0.018s behind, Martin was fifth ahead of Di Giannantonio, Binder, Alex Marquez, Bezzecchi and Quartararo, the 2021 World Champion directly into Q2 for the first time since Barcelona. Missing out by just 0.004s, Marini finds himself in Q1 along with Zarco and Moreira, whereas Pecco Bagnaia was only 18th.
