New all-time lap records also at Red Bull Ring with standard Pirelli tyres

Also at the Red Bull Ring, the circuit that hosts the Grand Prix of Austria, Pirelli standard tyres, the same ones that any motorcyclist can buy, contributed to new all-time lap records for the Moto2™ and Moto3™ classes. Both new records were set in Practice 2 on Saturday morning by Sergio García (MT Helmets-MSI/Boscoscoscuro) in Moto2™ and Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports/KTM) in Moto3™, while Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo/Kalex) in the intermediate class and Iván Ortolá (MT Helmets-MSI/KTM) in the smallest category took pole position in qualifying for tomorrow's races.

New all-time lap records on a track that is not very demanding for us
 
"As on other occasions this year, the Red Bull Ring was a new circuit for us because we had never raced there with international motorbike racing, at least not in the last 30 years. There was therefore a certain curiosity to find out whether the circuit was as demanding for the tyres as we had been told. Now, after these first two days, we are definitely in a position to say that for us this is not a track that stresses the tyres; on the contrary, at the end of each session and even after several laps the wear is minimal, and the tyres look very good. Friday was a particularly hot day and the track offered little grip, despite this already in the morning FP the all-time lap record in Moto3™ was improved. As the track evolved and temperatures dropped slightly, new track record laps were set in both classes in Practice 2 on Saturday morning. For tomorrow's races we expect temperatures very similar to those of this morning, so cooler than on Friday. With these conditions, in Moto2™ most of the riders will be using the soft front (SC1) and rear (SC0) tyres, while in Moto3™ the favoured combination should be the soft SC1 rear coupled with the medium SC2 front, although there will be different choices".

Moto2™
 
· Pole position for Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo/Kalex) with a time of 1'33.855 achieved on Pirelli standard tyres in soft compound, SC0 rear and SC1 front, the same as those used by all the riders in qualifying.
 
· In P2 Sergio García (MT Helmets-MSI/Boscoscuro) set a new all-time lap record in 1'33.461, beating the one set by Pedro Acosta last year. Again, soft compounds were used on both front and rear.
 
Moto3™
 
· Iván Ortolá (MT Helmets-MSI/KTM) took pole position with a time of 1'40.057 on his final lap, using soft compound SC1 rear and medium compound SC2 front tyres. The same combination was also chosen by third-placed Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP/Husqvarna) while Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports/KTM), in second position, relied on soft SC1 for the front.
 
· Already in Friday morning Free Practices David Alonso (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team/CFMOTO) beat the all-time lap record set in 2022 by David Muñoz (1'40.910) with a time of 1'40.331. In addition to the Colombian, seven other riders fell below the track record in the same session. In P1 José Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo/KTM) improved further by lapping in 1'40.171, with 14 riders under the previous record. But associating his name with the new all-time lap record was Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports/KTM) with a time of 1'39.921 set in P2 on Saturday morning, using soft compounds for both axles.