Saturday, August 16, 2025
Red Bull Ring, Spielberg. Austria
Red Bull Ring, Spielberg. Austria:
Track length: 2.701 miles / 4.348 kilometers
Free Practice 2: 10.10am – 10.40pm – Dry Track
Air Temperature: 71.6°F / 22°C
Track Temperature: 86°F / 30°C
#25 Raul Fernandez
P7 – Best Lap: 1’29.358 – Lap 13 of 13
Top speed: 193.62 mph / 311.6 km/h
#79 Ai Ogura
P19 – Best Lap: 1’29.809 – Lap 11 of 15
Top speed: 194.49 mph / 313 km/h
Qualifying 1: 10.50am – 11.05am – Dry track
Air Temperature: 73.4°F / 23°C
Track Temperature: 91.4°F / 33°C
#79 Ai Ogura - Qualified P19
P9 – Best Lap: 1’29.080 – Lap 9 of 9
Top speed: 197.91 mph / 318.5 km/h
Qualifying 2: 11.15am – 11.30am – Dry track
Air Temperature: 75.2°F / 24°C
Track Temperature: 95°F / 35°C
#25 Raul Fernandez - Qualified P9
P9 – Best Lap: 1’28.548 – Lap 7 of 8
Top speed: 193.62 mph / 311.6 km/h
Sprint Race: 3.00pm – Dry track:
14 Laps – 37.82 miles / 60.872 kilometers
Air Temperature: 84.2°F / 29°C
Track Temperature: 109.4°F / 43°C
#79 Ai Ogura – P15 (Race Points: 0 Championship Standing: 17 Total Points: 51)
Race Time: 21’14.485 Best Lap: 1’30.046 – Lap 3 of 14
Average speed: 106.81 mph 171.9 km/h Top speed: 194.49 mph / 313 km/h
#25 Raul Fernandez – Retired on Lap 9 (Race Points: 0 Championship Standing: 13 Total Points: 66)
AI OGURA
- Grid position: P19 – Race start on Front: medium – slick tire & Rear: soft – slick tire
- Having narrowly missed direct entry into the 2nd Qualifying group in Friday’s Practice, Ai’s Saturday morning focus was a one lap time to leap into the Q2 session and a chance at a good starting position for the afternoon Sprint and Sunday’s main Grand Prix.
- Unable to replicate his Friday speed, Ai qualified in 19th place on the grid.
- Setting off in the Sprint, keeping out of trouble in the early laps, Ai maintained his grid start position before starting to make progress on Lap 5 when he gained a place. Lap 8 brought him to 17th and a tour later he climbed to 16th which he maintained for 3 laps.
- With two to go, Ai made it to 15th and there he stayed until the checkers were out.
“Yesterday was good but for now I think a high 1:28 is the maximum I can do here. I feel like now I’m stressing the front tire too much so, for tomorrow, somehow I have to take some stress out from the front tire so that I can use it more. The difficulty I had today was straight braking because the front tire was on the limit. The exit is not really a problem, my main issues are all in the entry. That’s where I have to work.”
RAÚL FERNÁNDEZ
- Grid position: P9 – Race start on Front: medium – slick tire & Rear: soft – slick tire
- Raul started the morning 2nd Free Practice session concentrating on building pace for both single lap and race pace, having put in a strong Friday Practice to gain entry direct to the Qualifying 2 session.
- Friday’s afternoon session had shown that his speed was building but a small crash on his final lap of Q2 meant P9 for the grid but plenty of promise for the Sprint race.
- From lights out, at the start of the Sprint, Raul was right in the mix at the front. From 9th, he crossed the strip for the first time in 5th and ran consistently through to Lap 8 before losing a place to 6th. Next time around a technical issue with the rear ride height device of the #25 Trackhouse Aprilia RS-GP25 forced a frustrating retirement on Lap 9.
- Not the result that Raul’s pace merited but a strong run to give plenty of promise for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.
“We had a problem with the rear height device. When I was in fifth place I felt something was wrong and from this moment on, I didn’t feel good because the devise didn’t work. Then, I still tried to push to finish the race, but it didn’t work out. I think we did a decent Sprint and I will definitely take the positives for tomorrow. My start was one of the best ever, so there are many good points to take away from today into tomorrow.”
“It could have been a good day for Raul but unfortunately, we had this problem with the rear device. He was going very well, top 5, but that can happen. Raul was strong, keeping the pace of the top group, so we are happy about these signs but, of course, disappointed with how it ended - at least we know we can try again tomorrow. Ai struggled a bit this morning and I think he can get better and better but we need to work to try to find something for the race tomorrow and make him more comfortable and find more feeling. He recovered a few positions but you can see that he is not in the best situation. So, let’s work and try again tomorrow to recover from the disappointment for Raul and improve the performance of Ai.”
- DAVIDE BRIVIO, TEAM PRINCIPAL
Trackhouse MotoGP Team Standing - Championship Position: 8th Total Points: 117
Grand Prix of Austria - 28 Laps: Sunday - 2pm (Local: GMT +2) 8am (ET) 5am (PT)
