Álex Márquez on the fifth row in Austria

Álex Márquez claimed 14th position on the grid for the Austrian Grand Prix after another ultra-competitive day of MotoGP qualifying at the Red Bull Ring. Despite showing good pace, the LCR Honda CASTROL rider narrowly failed to force his way into Q2 and will now start Sunday’s race from the fifth row in Spielberg.

After finishing both Friday’s free practice sessions in the top 10, the Spaniard could not repeat the trick in FP3 as he ended in 16th place, despite being only two tenths of a second behind Pol Espargaro in tenth. He then impressed in FP4 as he took 11th, before just failing to progress from a hard-fought Q1 session which was won by eventual pole-sitter Jorge Martin.

“Unfortunately, in the morning during the time attack (in FP3), I made some mistakes so we didn’t go directly into Q2 which was a shame because we had good pace and good performance overall this weekend. Anyway, in the afternoon we did a good job in FP4 and in Q1 I gave 100 % and the lap time was coming despite the hot conditions which was important, so I’m happy about that. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and we’ll be ready if it’s dry or wet. We need to make a really good start and be aggressive right from the beginning, try to overtake and be there in the top 10 as that’s a result I think we can achieve. So, we’ll try to find the feeling quickly and then push without making any mistakes.” – Álex Márquez – 14th (1’23.535)