The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team were on the edge of their seats during today‘s qualifying sessions at the Spielberg circuit in Austria. Nobody was able to match Maverick Viñales in Q2. He secured his 11th pole position with Yamaha, his first since the 2019 Australian GP. Valentino Rossi also impressed with his speed in Q1, securing a place for Q2 in the final moments. He will start tomorrow‘s race from P12.
Viñales was fired up and ready to go at the start of Q2. He was the first rider out of pit lane, and his first flying lap saw him in second place. His next try put him in the top spot ever so briefly, before it was cancelled due to exceeding track limits. However, the Spaniard coolly reproduced the hot lap and set a 1‘23.694s for provisional pole.
With more than seven and a half minutes remaining, the number-12 rider arrived back in the garage for a quick rear tyre switch. When he returned to the track, he set a 1‘23.643s to increase the gap to the runner-up to 0.073s. It turned out this still wasn‘t enough, but the Yamaha rider had one more ace up his sleeve. When he was pushed to second, he responded with a 1‘23.450s to take pole by 0.068s.
Rossi left it to the final moments of Q1, when the chequered flag had already come out, to make his mark. He had been pushed back to fourth in the provisional rankings and needed to dig deep. The Doctor delivered, though, and the Factory Yamaha team celebrated as his 1‘23.891s last lap earned him second position and a place in Q2.
Shortly after, the Italian continued his charge in the second qualifying session. He initially put his YZR-M1 in fifth place, but there were red sectors all over the live timing, indicating the fight was far from over. Rossi defended his position by bettering his time, but it wasn‘t enough. He was lying in eighth by the time he returned to the pit box with eight minutes remaining.
After a short stop, he continued the hunt for a front row start. He bettered his time but not his placement once more on lap 7. Unable to make any further strides on the next three attempts, he finished the session in 12th place, 0.545s from pole.
