Martin took Austrian pole, edged Marquez by 0.015s
NXTbets Pro | Published On: September 19, 2026
Friday pace
Pedro Acosta set the early standard at the Red Bull Ring, then kept that form through the first day of track action. He led first practice with a 1:29.851 lap, and no rider other than Acosta got into the 1:29s. Pol Espargaro took second on fresh tires and gave KTM a 1-2 at the top of the opening session. Jorge Martin ran third, but his session turned messy after a technical problem forced him onto his spare Aprilia and left him stopped at Turn 4. Marc Marquez took fourth, with Johann Zarco fifth and Marco Bezzecchi sixth.
Acosta stayed sharp in Friday afternoon practice and dropped the benchmark to 1:28.381. Fermin Aldeguer trailed by 0.127 seconds in second, Ai Ogura was third, Marquez was fourth and Martin was fifth. The order showed the field compressing as the day went on, but Acosta kept a clear edge. He paired outright speed with consistency, and KTM again featured near the front. Espargaro’s first-session run gave the team another strong marker, while Martin’s afternoon response kept him in the mix after his earlier technical issue. Marquez stayed close in both sessions, which set up a busy Saturday at the front of the grid.
Saturday speed
Marc Marquez opened Saturday by setting the pace in final practice, and he did it with a 1:29.663 lap before crashing at Turn 1 in the closing minutes. Martin ended the session second, Acosta was third, Aldeguer was fourth and Francesco Bagnaia took fifth. Fabio Quartararo rounded out the top six, giving the final practice order a strong mix of factory talent and rising pace. The session put Marquez back at the center of the day’s story after his earlier crash in FP2, where he briefly topped the timesheets before Ducati said his bike was not significantly damaged.
Qualifying tightened everything again, but Martin found one more step when it counted. He took pole for the Austrian Grand Prix and edged Marquez by 0.015 seconds. Acosta was only 0.071 seconds back in third, which kept him firmly in the fight for the front row and underlined the speed he carried through the weekend. Bezzecchi qualified fourth, Ogura was fifth, Alex Marquez took sixth and Bagnaia ended up seventh. Zarco and Brad Binder completed the top 10. The top of the grid reflected how close the front-runners were all day, with Martin, Marquez and Acosta separated by tiny margins.
Marquez pressure
Marquez’s weekend carried a familiar pattern of speed and risk. He still backed that pace up across the rest of the day, running fourth in Friday afternoon practice and then second in final qualifying behind Martin. That combination kept him right in the middle of the front-row fight.
Martin built his pole from a steady climb through the sessions. He was third in first practice, fifth in Friday afternoon practice and second in final practice before putting together the lap that mattered most in qualifying. Acosta remained the constant threat around him, leading FP1, leading Friday afternoon practice and finishing third in final practice and qualifying. Behind them, Bezzecchi, Ogura and Alex Marquez filled out the next spots, while Bagnaia stayed in the top seven and Zarco and Binder stayed inside the top 10. The weekend left the front of the grid tightly packed and set up a sharp fight for the Austrian Grand Prix start.
