Seven Ducatis in top eight in second Austria MotoGP practice

Pramac MotoGP rider Johann Zarco led a Ducati-dominated second and final practice session for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.

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Key moments:

> Miller thriving in low grip

> Chicane makes MotoGP debut

> Two title hopefuls out of top 15

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Zarco headed a top four split by just 0.040s, and a top eight that featured seven Ducati riders – with championship leader Fabio Quartararo, of Yamaha, the only exception.

The session had kicked off on a perfectly dry track, and it meant that all the times from the relatively damp FP1 were very swiftly rendered irrelevant for the combined classification that impacts qualifying – giving the field a fresh shot at making a case for automatic Q2 spots in a weekend that is expected to feature rain throughout.

And indeed, after half an hour of conventional running, the rain flags came out for the final minutes – adding to the already heightened sense of urgency for the late-session attempts, even though in the end proper rainfall would never actually arrive in earnest.

Quartararo led for most of the session but was briefly shuffled outside the top 10 in the late flurry, only to elevate himself back into the mix.

He wound up fourth, close behind Zarco, works Ducati rider Jack Miller and Zarco’s Pramac team-mate Jorge Martin.

Miller’s team-mate Francesco Bagnaia was fifth, ahead of the VR46 Ducati duo of Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi and Gresini Ducati man Enea Bastianini – who narrowly recovered from having a better laptime chalked off.

Bastianini’s late improvement meant the only Ducati rider to miss out on the top 10 was his rookie team-mate Fabio Di Giannantonio in 18th.

Also missing out on the top 10 – and potentially an automatic Q2 ticket, if FP3 is rained out – was Aprilia’s title contender Aleix Espargaro, who was a close 11th behind team-mate Maverick Vinales and KTM’s Brad Binder.

Suzuki’s Joan Mir should’ve been in the top 10 but had his best laptime deleted.

That's the end of @_moliveira88's day! 🛑

He'll need to hope FP3 is dry in the morning! 🤞#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/8yeOXpz4rz

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 19, 2022

The KTM remains the only bike to be crashed this weekend, with Remy Gardner’s FP1 fall followed by a Turn 9 tip-off for works rider (and sudden Gas Gas target) Miguel Oliveira, who slid a long way on the outside kerb, and Raul Fernandez, falling at the new chicane.

Practice 2 Results