A Red Letter day for Marc Marquez and the Repsol Honda Team with a new lap record at the Red Bull Ring as the 21-year-old record falls for most of the premier class poles.
The pace was high from the start on Saturday at the Red Bull Ring when MotoGP riders battled for a place in the top ten in the ideal weather conditions of Free Practice 3. The predicted rain stayed a long way off and the MotoGP World Championship ran non-stop all day on Saturday, further reducing lap times.
Marc Marquez immediately resumed his attack on timesheets on Saturday, falling into the low 1’23 within just a few rounds in RP3. His metronomic pace continued throughout and up to Free Practice 4, where he finally finished third, but with impressive consistency.
Back in the low 1’23s, Marquez set the bar throughout the second quarter when he set his sights on a 1’22s on the 4.3km Austrian circuit. A mistake in the last sector meant the reigning MotoGP World Champion couldn’t set a 1’22, but his 1’23,027 set an all-time lap record at the Red Bull Ring. As in Brno, Marquez had a clear advantage over second place – 0.434 seconds faster than Quartararo. With his seventh pole of the 2019 season, Marquez set a new record for premier class poles when he finished 59th since joining the MotoGP class in 2013 and his Honda colleague Mick Doohan as the most productive pole setter in the Premier class overtaken.
In a productive FP3 and FP4 session, Stefan Bradl and the Repsol Honda Team improved the setup of their RC213V, but just missed a top ten place. On the way to the first quarter, Bradl and the team were confident of fighting for a spot in the top 15, but a problem during Bradl’s second run meant he was unable to reach his full potential. Resting well and finishing in the points will be Bradl’s goal for Sunday.
The 28-lap Austrian Motorcycle Grand Prix on Sunday starts at 2:00 p.m. local time.