2017 Spielberg Moto2 FP1 Result: Rain Hits As Oliveira Leads

After the rain kept away from the rest of the classes, the Moto2 boys were less lucky and got to be the trail-blazers for the rain tyres coming out of their covers. The intermediate class only got a handful of laps in dry conditions before heavy rain and touches of hail hit the track only fifteen minutes in.

After a lull in proceedings while the teams were preparing for the weather conditions, action restarted in the final twenty minutes. Although useful experience for the riders, the rain meant that the lap-6 fastest time in the dry by Miguel Oliveira could not be improved on, the Portuguese rider leading Dominique Aegerter by over a tenth of a second. Championship leader Franco Morbidelli was close behind in third, the rest of the field over four tenths away from the leader.

Turn one turned into a crash site in the final 15 minutes, bikes slipping down in quick succession. Tarran MacKenzie was the first to open the symphony of crashes before Pecco Bagnaia, Alex Marquez, Danny Kent and Jorge Navarro sampled the run-off – the British rider the unfortunate victim of Marquez’s tip-off.

Despite the eventful morning, Marquez held on to a fifth place behind Isaac Viñales and was followed by Xavi Vierge in sixth, Axel Pons in seventh and Fabio Quatararo in eighth. The final men within a second of the leader were Pecco Bagnaia, Tom Luthi and Jorge Navarro.

The slippery episode repeated in the final three minutes, when turn 3 joined the turn 1 party with crashes for Andrea Locatelli, Xavier Simeon, Franco Morbidelli, Iker Lecuona and Joe Roberts.

All riders escaped with little damage, with the exception of Kent, who was limping away and was taken to the medical centre.

Results: