A Pramac Ducati 1-2 display stole the show in the opening practice session of the Austrian Grand Prix, with championship leader Jorge Martin at the top of the classification list.
His lap time of 1.29.654s put him 0.218s ahead of team-mate Franco Morbidelli, with the GP24 rider duo looking strong around the fast Spielberg layout.
KTM had a successful opening session in its home Grand Prix weekend, with wildcard and test rider Pol Espargaro finishing as lead rider in third. KTM tested new aero pieces, hoping to get the second half of the season off to the best possible start come race day.
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia finished in fourth, with Brad Binder finishing fifth despite his own crash at Turn 4 earlier in the session.
Future 2025 factory KTM team-mate Pedro Acosta, aboard his GasGas, entered Turn 2 too hot in the closing stages and had a minor crash, but was lucky to walk away unscathed in a much faster crash only a few minutes later down the back straight heading into Turn 4.
Maverick Vinales finished as the lead Aprilia rider, with Fabio Di Giannantonio finishing as the lead GP23 rider in eighth.
Joan Mir put in his best practice performance of the year to put his Repsol Honda in ninth, with Gresini rider Alex Marquez rounding off the top ten.
Jack Miller and Enea Bastianini led the Yamaha duo of Alex Rins and Fabio Quartararo, who occupied the 13th and 14th slots in the pecking order, with Marco Bezzecchi aboard his VR46 Ducati finishing a lonesome 15th.
Johann Zarco placed his LCR Honda in 16th, with Trackhouse’s newest renewal Raul Fernandez struggling down in 17th.
Marc Marquez endured his first proper test aboard the Ducati and finished in a lacklustre 18th, ahead of Honda duo Takaaki Nakagami and Luca Marini.
Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori finished in 20th, ahead of full-time GasGas rider Augusto Fernandez and Trackhouse’s Miguel Oliveira.
Stefan Bradl took second to last place, but Aleix Espargaro occupied the surprise final spot. The Spaniard had a turbulent session, crashing out in Turn 2 twice inside the first 20 minutes and could not set a quick enough lap time.
