Zarco is ahead of the Australian Jack Miller (Ducati) by only 24/1000th, and his teammate at Pramac Jorge Martin, who finishes third at 29/1000th from the Frenchman.

The fall of the Cannois at Silverstone in Great Britain two weeks ago already seems far away.

Starting from pole position, Zarco was then on his way to the victory of his career, but on the 5th lap out of 20, he had crashed... and retired.

On Thursday, the Frenchman already seemed to have turned the page on his failed stint in Great Britain: "I digested (the fall) very well because I was satisfied to be performing (...), the objective is to repeat the same thing here," he explained.

Behind the leading riders, the reigning MotoGP world champion, the other Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), finished 4th on this first day.

The current leader in the championship, however, is well ahead of his runner-up in the general classification, the Spaniard Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), only 11th.

Since the return of MotoGP to Austria in 2016, this race has been almost exclusively owned by Ducati.

What give confidence to the Italian firm which managed Friday to classify seven of its motorcycles in the top 10.

The unstable weather in the Austrian mountains will be scrutinized on Saturday before the third practice session (from 09:55 local/French).

Importantly, it is after this that the ten best combined times of the tests pass directly into the second part of the qualifications (Q2).

For drivers beyond 10th place in practice, there will still be Q1 (2:10 p.m.) to hope to take one of the two best times and compete in Q2 (2:35 p.m.).

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Combined classification of the first two MotoGP free practice sessions of the Austrian Grand Prix on the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg (4.348 km):

1. Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati-Pramac) 1:29.837

2. Jack Miller (AUS/Ducati) at 0.024

3. Jorge Martin (ESP / Ducati-Pramac) at 0.029

4. Fabio Quartararo (FRA / Yamaha) at 0.040

5. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 0.160

6. Luca Marini (ITA/Ducati-VR46) at 0.193

7. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Ducati-VR46) at 0.229

8. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Ducati-Gresini) at 0.229

9. Maverick Vinales (ESP/Aprilia) at 0.276

10. Brad Binder (AFS/KTM) 0.291

11. Aleix Espargaro (ESP / Aprilia) at 0.310

Editor's note: the drivers who have achieved the ten best times in the first three free practice sessions take part directly in the second qualifying session (Q2), which determines the first twelve places on the starting grid.

The others must participate in a preliminary qualifying session (Q1) of which the two fastest are drafted for Q2.

© 2022 AFP