Acosta leads KTM home weekend at Red Bull Ring

Pedro Acosta led the way in both prequalifying and the first free practice session at the Red Bull Ring, setting the pace for KTM's home Austrian Grand Prix. The Spanish rider topped the timesheets in prequalifying with a fastest lap of 1:28.381, ahead of Fermin Aldeguer and a surprise third-place finish from Ai Ogura, who returned to strong form after missing two races. Acosta had earlier set the benchmark in FP1, posting a time of 1:29.851 to lead a KTM one-two with teammate Pol Espargaro in second. Jorge Martin completed the top three despite an early technical issue that forced him to stop on track. The prequalifying session was interrupted by a red flag after Alex Marquez crashed at the first sector. The Gresini Ducati rider lost the front end after a wheelie while accelerating, but he was uninjured and quickly returned to the pits to rejoin the session. Espargaro, who is replacing the injured Maverick Vinales at Tech3 this weekend, has backed Acosta to secure his maiden MotoGP victory at the circuit. "If there is a place, it's here," Espargaro said. "I believe if not the best rider, he's equal to the best rider in the category at the moment.