ALEX MARQUEZ CRASHES IN FP1 CAUSING RED FLAGS AT THE RED BULL RING

Alex Marquez’s Friday MotoGP session at the Red Bull Ring was interrupted by a crash that forced a red flag. The Gresini Ducati rider went down after exiting Turn 1 during a direction change when his front end slipped. He hit the asphalt hard but was able to get up quickly, run over the barriers, and make his way back to the team’s garage. Marquez then mounted his second Ducati and still managed to post the eighth-fastest time, a result that secured direct passage into qualifying 2, scheduled for Saturday at 11:15.

Explaining the fall, Marquez said the circuit’s characteristics play a role: “On this track we have a lot of wheelies; when the front comes back down, everything has to be perfect.” He added that he was too deep on the brakes and that the rear locked up: “I was standing a bit too much on the brakes and the rear wheel locked. I didn’t expect the crash and wasn’t physically prepared for it, but I’m okay.” He also described the day as difficult overall, pointing to grip issues: “In general it wasn’t a particularly good day for us. We had a lot of problems and we didn’t find enough grip, neither at the back nor at the front.”

Marquez had been testing different aerodynamic packages, but he couldn’t run a direct comparison because, in FP1, the front oil-sump fairing came loose. With Pedro Acosta setting the pace on the KTM—finishing 0.127 seconds ahead of Marquez’s teammate Fermin Aldeguer—Marquez wasn’t surprised by the gap. “If we talk about race pace, he’s half a second ahead,” he said. “On paper he’s the man you have to beat on Saturday and Sunday. We have no choice but to analyze things and be a bit better on Saturday. Maybe it will help us if it gets warmer.”

In the championship standings, Marquez sits eighth with 153 points, trailing the rider ahead—Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia)—by 46 points.