Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) picked up 2nd place in Saturday's Tissot Sprint. The South African is looking to go one better and his first Grand Prix victory in 2023… can he do it in KTMs back garden? Find out more in 10 things you need to know ahead of race day at the CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich.
1. Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) (with a 46-point advantage) qualified on pole for the 16th time in MotoGP™. On his 15 previous poles, he went on to finish on the podium on 10 occasions (including six wins). He took his fourth Sprint win and will now be aiming to take his fifth GP win of the season which would be two less than last year.
2. This is the sixth successive pole for Ducati – four with Francesco Bagnaia (France, Italy, Germany and Austria) and two with Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) (Assen and Silverstone) – and the sixth successive Sprint win for the Bologna factory. In addition, this is the 50th successive race where there is at least one Ducati rider within the top three in qualifying.
3. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) has qualified second, equalling his best qualifying result with Aprilia from Silverstone last year. He finished P8 in the Sprint and he is in the running to make MotoGP™ history on Sunday by taking Grand Prix wins with three different factories (after already winning with Suzuki and Yamaha). He has never been on the podium at the Red Bull Ring.
4. Binder, who took his second – and most recent – win here in 2021 (Austria) , has qualified third, equalling his best qualifying result since he stepped up to MotoGP™ in 2020 from Japan last year. He finished P2 in the Sprint and will now be aiming to finish on the podium in back-to-back MotoGP™ races for the first time.
5. After passing through Q1, Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) has qualified fourth as the second KTM, which is the seventh time so far this year he qualified within the top six. He finished P5 in the Sprint and, like Viñales, he is in the running to make MotoGP™ history on Sunday by taking Grand Prix wins with three different factories (after already winning with Honda and Ducati).
6. On pole position for the last two GPs, Bezzecchi has qualified seventh which is the fifth time (out of 10) he failed to qualify within the top six so far this year. He crashed and retired in the Sprint, but he will be aiming to take his third MotoGP™ win on Sunday (along with Argentina and France this year).
7. Miguel Oliveira(CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP™ Team ), who took his maiden MotoGP™ win here in 2020 (Styria), has qualified eighth for his best qualifying result since he was seventh at the Spanish GP earlier this year. He crashed out in the Sprint after getting tangled up in the Turn 1 incident but will now be aiming to stand on the podium for the first time with Aprilia after coming close last time out at Silverstone.
8. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™), who finished second last year at the Austrian GP, has qualified ninth which is only the third time so far this year he qualified within the top nine.
9. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) has qualified 10th equalling his worst qualifying result so far this season from Portugal (although he started ninth). He crashed in that Turn 1 multiple-rider incident and rejoined, but eventually retired in the Sprint. He is still missing that maiden MotoGP™ win. If he finishes on the podium on Sunday, 2023 will be his best season regarding podiums since he stepped up to MotoGP™ in 2017.
10. Winner last time out at Silverstone, Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) qualified 11th after a crash in Q2, and as the third Aprilia. He finished P7 in the Sprint and will now be aiming to win for the first time in back-to-back Grand Prix races.