Austrian Grand Prix Gets Rolling At Red Bull Ring

Joe Roberts ended the opening day at the Austrian Grand Prix in 16th.

Americans Joe Roberts and Cameron Beaubier ended the Moto2 practice sessions today in 16th and 29th, respectively, as the MotoGP series returned to the Red Bull Ring in Austria for a second week in a row, this time for the Grand Prix of Austria.

Italtrans Racing’s Roberts was one of a handful of riders to improve in the afternoon session which was held in dry conditions but following what was mostly a wet MotoGP session. Roberts’ best lap came on the 18th of 23 laps in FP2, the 1:29.471 placing him 16th overall on the opening day. American Racing’s Beaubier’s best of 1:30.301 came in FP1 with the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion lapping at 1:30.593 in FP2.

The day was led by session was led by IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia’s Ai Ogura with the Japanese rider lappng at 1:28.887 in FP1 to best Elf Marc VDS Racing’s Augusto Fernandez by .007 of a second. Moto2 World Championship leader Remy Gardner turned in his best in FP2 and ended up third on the day with his 1:28.967.

Gardner qualified on pole position for last week’s race with a 1:28.668.

Roberts’ best lap in qualifying last week was a 1:29.531 so the Californian has already bettered that lap. Beaubier qualified 24th last week with a 1:29.747 – .554 of a second better than his best today.