With Q2 spots now decided, Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) has proved to be the rider to beat ahead of qualifying. The Spaniard improved his Friday lap time by 0.738s to set a blistering 1:41.197. David Alonso's (GASGAS Aspar Team) Practice 2 time saw him over half a second clear of the field on Friday, with the youngster proving his 1:41.2 was no fluke as he replicated it today to consolidate P2. Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) also put in a shift in Practice 3 to catapult himself into the top three.
A rider on the move in more ways than one! 👏@jaume_masia will be a #Moto2 rider with the @SAGRacingTeam next season 🤝#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/MmLO4LTz1E
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 19, 2023
The top 14 are now decided ahead of qualifying, with most of the big hitters securing themselves Q2 spots. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) just missed out on the top three by 0.041s as he took P4. With two of the title-fighting trio in the top three, the Championship leader Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) made sure to keep his name in the mix as he remains in touching distance in P5.
Other riders who consolidated automatic Q2 places include Tastuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing), Romano Fenati (Rivacold Snipers Team), and David Muñoz (BO9E Motorsports) who finished 6th, 7th, and 8th respectively. Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) took P9 ahead of Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Scott Ogden (VisionTrack Racing Team) who will both be relieved to start qualifying from Q2. Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team), Colin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP), and Joel Kelso (CFMoto Racing PruestelGP) took the final Q2 spots with Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) failing to make the cut in P16.
Next up for Moto3™ is qualifying at 12:50 local time (GMT +2), in the meantime you can keep up to date with everything from the CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich on motogp.com!
| 1 | Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) | 1:41.197 |
| 2 | David Alonso (GASGAS Aspar Team) | +0.018 |
| 3 | Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) | +0.137 |
| 4 | Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | +0.182 |
| 5 | Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) | +0.195 |
| 6 | Tastuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing | +0.344 |
| 7 | Romano Fenati (Rivacold Snipers Team | +0.460 |
| 8 | David Muñoz (BO9E Motorsports) | +0.512 |
| 9 | Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) | +0.519 |
| 10 | Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | +0.532 |