Second career pole positions for Salač in Moto2™ and Uriarte in Moto3™

· Salač regains a pole and rewrites the Red Bull Ring record. After the pole at the 2023 Portuguese Grand Prix, Filip Salač (Kalex) made one of the topMoto2™ times and secured a pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix with 1'32.381 – setting also a new all-time lap record. The Czech rider improved the previous record set by Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) in 2025 by more than four tenths of a second. Gonzalez will set off next to him, in the second position, and Alex Escrig (Forward) in the third. Every rider went for the supersoft SCX rear tyres, and the top three paired it with the standard soft SC1 front option.

· Uriarte takes his second Moto3™ pole. Spanish rider Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) secured his second Moto3™ pole position in 1'39.544, while also setting a new circuit record and improving the previous record set by Máximo Quiles in 2025 by one tenth of a second. Uriarte took pole by relying on a medium SC2 front and soft SC1 rear tyre combo. KTM locked out the front row, with David Almansa second after setting his fastest lap on an all-SC1 compound, and Alvaro Carpe third, with the same tyre combination as the pole-sitter.

· Significantly cooler conditions than in 2025. The temperatures we’ve seen so far at the Red Bull Ring have been considerably lower than those experienced during last year’s Grand Prix, which took place in mid-August. This year’s qualifying sessions were held with air temperatures of around 20°C and track temperatures of 16°C, well below 2025’s, when the air temperature neared 30°C and the track surface exceeded 40°C. This substantial temperature difference makes the level of performance delivered by the tyres over the weekend even more significant.

Tyres perform strongly, even in low temperatures and on a damp track

“The conditions we encountered over the first two days at the Red Bull Ring were markedly different from those we witnessed at the most recent rounds of the championship, and especially from last year’s Austrian Grand Prix, which was held in August. The low air and track temperatures, combined with damp conditions - especially during the morning sessions - posed a significant challenge for teams and riders. In addition, overnight rain from Friday into Saturday limited Moto3™ running in FP2, which was held on wet-weather tyres, and slowed the track evolution.
Despite this, Pirelli’s tyres once again delivered a high-level performance, and contributed to improve the lap records in both classes. In Moto2™, the new record was first set during Friday’s Practice session, and then improved further in qualifying, while in Moto3™ the record was established during today’s qualifying session.
The data gathered already provides a clear indication of the likely tyre choices in tomorrow’s races. In Moto2™, the supersoft SCX rear option remains the most popular, while for the front tyre most riders will probably go for the standard-range soft SC1, with some of them likely to opt for the E1089 development specification. In Moto3™, the soft SC1 rear is expected to be the favourite solution for almost the entire grid, while the choice between the SC1 and SC2 at the front will depend mainly on the riders’ personal preferences and riding style, as is often the case in this category”.