After the impressive San Marino GP last weekend, MotoGP faces the last test on continental territory in Austria before starting the so-called “Asian tour” which, in reality, is something more than that. Japan, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia and Qatar await their turn before the championship returns to Portugal and Spain at the end of November, to conclude in Valencia.
But beyond where and when the next Grand Prix will take place, the big unknown is knowing what the RedBull Ring races will have in store for us. A track that has historically been favorable to Ducati and which, this year, comes with the doubt of knowing whether the Aprilias will be able to unleash their potential or not.
And the Red Bull Ring is a very peculiar track due to its characteristics. There is a lot of unevenness and therefore, to achieve good results in Austria you need power. But there are also strong braking points, and also fast and linked corners. Furthermore, although it is prominently a right-hand turn track, the third section has two left turns that can be decisive. In fact, except for the second corner of the chicane, 2B, we only find these two left turns on the entire circuit remodeled by Tilke.
What does all this mean? Well, the Austrian GP is, perhaps, the most complicated to predict in recent times. Everyone expects the Aprilias to do well and, in fact, Bezzecchi finished second last year. But since the Motorcycle World Championship returned to the hills of Spielberg, only KTM in that chaotic 2021 race has managed to take victory from Ducati.
What’s more, Aprilia does not have any victory in its record, not only on the track of the now called RedBull Ring, but it has never won a GP in any category in Austria, not even when it was competed at the Salzburgring. If we add to this the pressure that both Martín and especially Bezzecchi are under to continue standing up to Marc Márquez, anything is possible.
It will also be a good comparison, since last year of the six first positions five went to Ducati riders, where this year is the bulk of the Borgo Panigale riders, because the truth is that lately it seems that only the Márquez brothers are capable of taking advantage of the Desmosedici.
And be careful, KTM races at home, Pedro Acosta is in his best moment of the season and saying goodbye to what, until now, has been his only record in the Motorcycle World Championship with a victory sounds epic. On Sunday we will clear up doubts.
Where to watch the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix
As usual, the Austrian GP will not have free broadcast either, so to follow all the weekend’s activity we will have to resort to the usual platforms. DAZN will offer all the sessions from the RedBull Ring, as well as press conferences, discussions and different content around the Grand Prix. The signal can be followed both directly through the platform and through operators that include DAZN in their offer.
Added to this, as always, is the MotoGP Videopass alternative, which allows you to follow all the championship activity live. In this case, yes, all the content is narrated in English, although in exchange it also offers access to historical races, reports and other content available on the official MotoGP website.
Austrian Grand Prix 2026 schedules
Friday, September 18
- 09:00-09:35 – Moto3™ – Free Practice
- 09:50-10:30 – Moto2™ – Free Practice
- 10:45-11:30 – MotoGP™ – Free Practice Nr. 1
- 13:15-13:50 – Moto3™ – Practice Nr. 1
- 14:05-14:45 – Moto2™ – Practice Nr. 1
- 15:00-16:00 – MotoGP™ – Practice
Saturday September 19
- 08:40-09:10 – Moto3™ – Practice Nr. 2
- 09:25-09:55 – Moto2™ – Practice Nr. 2
- 10:10-10:40 – MotoGP™ – Free Practice Nr. 2
- 10:50-11:05 – MotoGP™ – Qualifying Nr. 1
- 11:15-11:30 – MotoGP™ – Qualifying Nr. 2
- 12:50-13:05 – Moto3™ – Qualifying Nr. 1
- 13:15-13:30 – Moto3™ – Qualifying Nr. 2
- 13:45-14:00 – Moto2™ – Qualifying Nr. 1
- 14:10-14:25 – Moto2™ – Qualifying Nr. 2
- 15:00 – MotoGP™ – 14 laps – Sprint
Sunday September 20
- 09:40-09:50 – MotoGP™ – Warm Up
- 11:00 – Moto3™ – 20 laps – Race
- 12:15 – Moto2™ – 23 laps – Race
- 14:00 – MotoGP™ – 28 laps – Race
