Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) topped the timesheets on Day 1 of the CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich to put himself a whisker away from lap-record pace with a 1:34.050. Just 0.110s back from the Spaniard was Somkiat Chantra (IDEMISTU Honda Team Asia) who topped Practice 1 to put himself P2 overall ahead of his teammate Ai Ogura.
1:34.050! 🔥@37_pedroacosta is just one tenth away from the lap record 🤏#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/Dr8GtXcIte
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 18, 2023
The session was red-flagged after five minutes following a crash from Manuel Gonzalez (Corres Prepago Yamaha VR46 Team) who was subsequently taken to the medical centre and declared fit to ride for Saturday's racing action. The air fence was then redeployed, the riders hit the track and the times began to tumble once again.
Jake Dixon (Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team) was looking strong in Practice 2 as he finished the session inside the top three, with his lap time bagging him 4th place on the combined practice times. Title contender Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) was another who made significant improvements in Practice 2 as he finished behind the Brit and rounded out the top five. Arbolino's teammate Sam Lowes wasn't so fortunate as he hit the deck in the afternoon meaning he was unable to improve and only managed 14th.
Moto2™ will be back in action on Saturday for Practice 3 at 9:25 and qualifying at 13:45 local (GMT +2).
Top 10 combined:
| 1 | Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:34.050 |
| 2 | Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) | + 0.110 |
| 3 | Ai Ogura (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) | + 0.314 |
| 4 | Jake Dixon (GASGAS Aspar Team) | + 0.324 |
| 5 | Tony Arbolino (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) | + 0.359 |
| 6 | Celestino Vietti (FANTIC MOTOR) | + 0.380 |
| 7 | Filip Salac (Gresini Racing Moto2™) | + 0.517 |
| 8 | Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40) | + 0.529 |
| 9 | Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp) | + 0.750 |
| 10 | Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed Up) |
+ 0.914 |
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