MotoGP: KTM’s Espargaro Tops Styrian GP Day One

Clear skies and high track temperatures greeted the MotoGP riders on Friday, as the first practice sessions for the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix took place at the Red Bull Ring. 

Pol Espargaro finished Friday on top, as he did one week ago. The Spaniard’s Austrian Grand Prix was ruined by a lack of a medium rear tyre for the restart after the red flag. Espargaro also suffered in qualifying last week, and started from the second row as a result. However, it was a strong time attack from Espargaro in FP2, and he was one of 10 riders to set their fastest lap of the day in FP2. 

The lack of unanimity in which session some riders were faster was in part down to some riders, such as Espargaro, not using a soft tyre for a time attack in FP1. The conditions were certain for FP2, unlike last week, and the forecast for tomorrow makes a dry FP3 seem certain – however, it is worth noting that the weather forecasts largely predicted rain for last Sunday’s race, which was completely dry. 

As such, whilst the top 10 are safe overnight, they will probably still need to do the job on Saturday morning to secure a direct placement in Q2. 

Behind Espargaro was Jack Miller, who topped FP1 and did not improve in the afternoon, and then Andrea Dovizioso, last week’s winner. Miguel Oliveira, tipped to fight for the podium this weekend, was fourth fastest overall, ahead of Takaaki Nakagami who had another impressive day on the Honda and looks to be in the frame for a first MotoGP podium. Joan Mir finished sixth, ahead of his Suzuki teammate, Alex Rins, the top Yamaha rider, Maverick Vinales, Franco Morbidelli and Brad Binder who completed the top 10.

Some big names outside of the top 10 overnight include Valentino Rossi and Fabio Quartararo. Rossi was quick with used tyres, but struggled to get the maximum out of a fresh soft tyre, whereas Quartararo’s issue lies in rear grip, which he feels is missing.

On paper, Pol Espargaro and Alex Rins are the standout riders, the only two riders with a tally of 1’24 laps in double figures. Both need to qualify well, though, and whilst Espargaro’s time-topping form of Friday suggests he could be in the mix for the front row tomorrow, Rins doesn’t seem to have the same kind of time attack speed of some of his rivals. 

However, Rins qualified eighth last week, and was still in the fight for the win before his crash. Perhaps it is illogical, that a motorcycle that suffers compared to its V4 opponents in a straight line should be so fast at a track dominated by the fastest MotoGP bike in a straight line. However, it is important to remember that the Red Bull Ring is split into two halves, the first made up of hard accelerations and hard braking zones, the second of long, sweeping corners. Additionally, whilst the Suzuki does not do so well for top speed, its acceleration off the apex is perhaps the best on the grid, and its braking stability rivals Ducati’s. 

It should, however, also be noted that Rins used three new rear tyres in FP2, a medium at the start, a soft in his second third run and another soft in his final run. It was, though, the soft tyre that Rins used to good effect last weekend, so it will be important to see his pace tomorrow afternoon in FP4, which might be more representative for the #42. 

Opposite to his teammate, Joan Mir used a 17-lap-old medium-compound rear tyre in his first three runs of FP2, and was able to lap in the 1’24s until the 26th lap of the tyre. It wasn’t until the 28th lap of the tyre that Mir dropped into the 1’25s, and for a 28-lap race this is quite impressive. 

Mir’s pace is made even more impressive when looking at the pace of Andrea Dovizioso. The Italian did not shock anyone on the time sheets, but he spent the whole session evaluating used tyres. Dovizioso put 17 laps (including in- and out-laps) on a soft rear tyre that had done six laps in FP1 in the first half of the session, before then putting eight laps on a 16-lap-old medium rear at the end. With temperatures expected to fall on Sunday, mileage on the medium could be critical, and Dovizioso’s pace was impressive with it, running in the high-1’24s until the end of the tyre’s life. 

Fabio Quartararo did the whole of FP2 with one medium rear tyre. His problems arrive after 13 laps, where his pace drops outside of the 1’24s and into the 1’25s courtesy of rear tyre wear. Excessive wear on the rear tyre is compounded on a track like the Red Bull Ring, where there are so many hard braking and hard acceleration zones, since it is in those moments that the rear grip is most critical: to provide the support in braking so the rider is able to use the rear brake to help stop the bike; and to provide the drive grip on exit to be able to maximise acceleration and straight line speed. 

The same problem is what cost Pol Espargaro last weekend when he was forced to go with the (for him) unfavoured soft-compound rear tyre. It wore out too quickly and meant Espargaro was not able to brake as effectively or enter the corner as quickly. It is, then, perhaps no surprise that Espargaro’s race runs in FP2 were with the medium rear tyre – the #44 knows what he wants. From consistent low-1’24s in the first eight laps, though, Espargaro’s pace drops to high-1’24s from then on. 

This is seen as an opportunity by Jack Miller, who followed a similar path to Dovizioso in FP2, starting with a used soft rear tyre and then switching to a medium rear at the end. Miller did not put as many laps with the medium as Dovizioso, so it could be expected that the Australian will look to put more laps in on that tyre either in FP3 or FP4 tomorrow. But, at least with the soft rear tyre, Miller’s pace was very comparable with Dovizioso’s and with a similar amount of laps on the tyre.