Champion Francesco Bagnaia pips Maverick Vinales at the death in Q2 to earn Austrian MotoGP pole

Francesco Bagnaia gave himself a great chance of extending his lead in the MotoGP world championship as he took pole at the Austrian Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.

There was a thrilling denouement to the session as the last quarter of an hour saw a number of riders take pole position only to ultimately lose out to the Italian.

Veteran and former champion Maverick Vinales looked to have won out, but a time of 1:28.539 from the Italian, the current world champion, proved to be the quickest of the session.

Vinales ended in second spot, and he will be joined on the front row by KTM’s Brad Binder - his first time on the front row since the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix.

The session looked like it was heading in Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro’s favour when he put down a time of 1:29.916 but Binder then went clear with 1:29.61 until his time was deleted for exceeding track limits.

RNF Aprilia’s Miguel Oliveira, Vinales and Binder all had moments at the top before Vinales went back ahead with fewer than 10 minutes to go.

Espagaro then suffered a crash at Turn 6, and after a medical examination he was ruled out of Sunday's race with a fractured tibia, with his final time earning him 11th spot.

As the session approached the close it appeared that Vinales had done enough until Bagnaia’s final effort took him clear, missing out on the track record by 0.006s.

KTM’s Jack Miller had taken fourth during Q1, as Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez and Luca Marini of VR46 Ducati claimed fifth and sixth, respectively.

Marco Bezzecchi will start the race in seventh, Olivieria takes eighth, Fabio Quartararo ninth and the last spot of the top 10 taken by Johann Zarco.

Marc Marquez, currently pondering his future between HRC and KTM, starts in 18th as his poor season continues.

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