Bastianini takes his first MotoGP pole at the Red Bull Ring and leads the Ducati quartet

Ducati’s dominance in Austrian MotoGP shows no signs of abating as Bastianini concluded Q2 leading a Ducati quartet that includes Bagnaia, Jack Miller and Jorge Martin.

While main title rival Aleix Espargaro put in an impressive first lap in Q2 to go fastest, Fabio Quartararo had to give up his first attempt after going wide at the first corner.

Espargaro was then demoted to second place as Miller set the fastest lap of the weekend.

With Espargaro and Quartararo both in the top five after their second lap, Bagnaia’s response was far from what he wanted as the Ducati rider was very loose entering the chicane.

With no time allowed after the opening race, Bagnaia was understandably eager to get out of the pit lane.

Able to find the rhythm he needed, Bagnaia moved up to second place before placing his Desmosedici on provisional pole.

But while it looked like Bagnaia would retain pole, Enea Bastianini put in a superb fourth sector to save time and go fastest.

Behind the first two was Miller, while Quartararo, visibly on the edge, managed to separate the two Pramac Ducatis for the P5.

Espargaro and Di Giannantonio shine in Austria MotoGP Q1

Second in the World Championship, Q1 at the Red Bull Ring started with Aleix Espargaro under intense pressure to advance.

With Fabio Quartararo and Francesco Bagnaia already in Q2, Espargaro’s chances of fighting both drivers in Sunday’s Grand Prix hinged heavily on what he could do in Q1, a session that started with his brother Pol, Takaaki Nakagami and Alex Marquez who were all following the Aprilia man.

Espargaro’s fast first lap saw him take a two-tenths lead over Fabio Di Giannantonio. The Spaniard completed another impressive lap to pull further away from the Ducati rider, however, his extended lead didn’t last long as Pol cut the deficit to +0.045s.

At the start of the second attack race, Marco Bezzecchi and Alex Marquez suffered crashes at the third corner.

Bezzecchi lost the front of his Ducati machine in the second part of the new chicane, before Marquez crashed in an extremely similar fashion while directly behind the MotoGP rookie.

Despite consecutive laps where he was looking for the top spot after the first two sectors, Luca Marini ultimately failed to secure a place in the top two.

Instead, it was fellow Ducati Di Giannantonio who managed to sneak into second place, leaving A. Espargaro and himself as the two riders who advanced.