Marco Bezzecchi set the fastest time in warm-up for the 2026 Austrian MotoGP at the Red Bull Ring, reaching the top of the session for the first time this weekend. Pedro Acosta’s latest crash was the other major incident before the Grand Prix.

Acosta slid at speed on the approach to Turn 9 during the final minute, sending his KTM into a series of flips in the gravel. He returned to the garage visibly frustrated. The accident followed an earlier highside for Brad Binder at Turn 4, which left the KTM rider without a recorded lap; it was therefore the factory squad’s second incident of the session. Both riders walked away from their crashes, with no injury reported in the supplied account.

Bezzecchi finished 0.157s clear of Marc Marquez. Acosta was third and Jorge Martin fourth. Crash.net also drew attention to the tyre choices: all but three riders had used the soft rear in the Sprint, while most switched to the medium rear for warm-up ahead of the 28-lap Grand Prix. Pecco Bagnaia and Pol Espargaro were the only riders to use the soft rear in the session.

The entire field selected the soft front for warm-up, unlike the medium front used in both races. Crash.net suggested that the change may have played a part in Acosta’s fall, but did not establish a confirmed cause. The official Red Bull Ring records listed in the report are Jorge Martin’s 1m 27.748s best lap with Ducati in 2024 and Francesco Bagnaia’s 1m 29.519s fastest race lap with Ducati, also set in 2024.

The entry list also includes two substitutions. Maverick Vinales is missing a fourth consecutive event because of shoulder injuries, with Pol Espargaro again taking his place at Tech3 KTM. Joan Mir is absent too, and Honda test rider Takaaki Nakagami replaces him. Mir had left the previous weekend’s Misano race early after suffering extreme fatigue; subsequent checks in Barcelona found altered blood parameters that require further investigation. A private Pirelli/850cc test is due at the circuit on Monday, the second such test this year involving race riders.