Andrea Dovizioso turned in the quickest time during first free practice for the 2019 Austrian MotoGP at the Red Bull Ring, while Marc Marquez suffered an off after getting a little frisky with Maverick Vinales.
Coming into the weekend chasing down a 63 point deficit to Marquez in the standings, Dovizioso needs a win this weekend on a track Ducati has dominated for the last three seasons, the Italian starting well to put two tenths between himself and his rival in the final seconds.
An eventful session for Marquez after getting in the racing spirit by tracking Vinales, only to out-brake himself at turn four and taking a trip across the gravel trap and almost into the barrier. Nonetheless, he was still second best on the medium tyres as the Repsol Honda rider focused on set-up in FP1 as ever.
Vinales led the Yamaha challenge in third position ahead of Jack Miller, the Australian putting the controversy of the last 24 hours behind him following news of Jorge Lorenzo’s emergence as a rival for his Pramac ride.
Valentino Rossi rounded out the top five ahead of Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins, the latter flying the flag for Suzuki this weekend following the withdrawal of the injured Joan Mir.
With KTM bringing an updated RC16 to its home event, Johann Zarco was an eye-catching eighth quickest. Though the Frenchman scored a landmark front row for KTM in the wet in Brno last week, he has struggled for pace in the dry all year otherwise.
Hafizh Syahrin, meanwhile, suffered a heavy tumble at turn nine, which required him to receive some trackside assistance before he was removed.
Austrian MotoGP - FP1 Results HERE
