The brand new Austrian Red Bull Ring hosted the first two MotoGP practice sessions under a dark grey sky. These are very different conditions than those during the tests two weeks ago with very cold asphalt, a situation that demands an added effort from the riders and teams as they look for the best setup.

Alvaro Bautista rode a cautious first session, whereas in FP2 in the afternoon he demonstrated encouraging improvement, especially in terms of a consistent pace. Fast even with very worn tyres, the Spanish rider rode his Aprilia RS-GP to sixteenth place in the combined standings with a time of 1'25.882: an improvement of more than two seconds compared to his performance in FP1.

His Aprilia Racing Team Gresini teammate, Stefan Bradl, had to reckon with a track that is completely new to him, since he missed the tests three weeks ago because he was recovering from a fall in the warmup at the Sachsenring. His day was further conditioned by a crash in the first session, without any physical consequences, but a hindrance nonetheless for finding the right confidence on the Austrian asphalt.