Salac Takes Moto2 Austria Pole, Baltus 8th and Van den Goorbergh 16th

Filip Salac secured pole position for the Moto2 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on Saturday. The Czech rider, who was already fastest on Friday, set a 1'32.381 in Q2 to beat Manuel Gonzalez and Alex Escrig.

Salac's pace was evident from the start of the weekend. He carried that momentum into qualifying, putting his OnlyFans American Racing machine at the top of the timesheets. Gonzalez came closest, just 0.121 seconds adrift, while Escrig completed the front row, 0.146 seconds back.

Behind the leading trio, Ivan Ortola took fourth, ahead of Izan Guevara and David Alonso. Alonso Lopez rounded out the top seven, while Barry Baltus was the best of those who came through Q1, qualifying eighth with a 1'32.843.

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For Baltus and Zonta van den Goorbergh, the session began in Q1. Both had to fight hard to advance. Deniz Oncu set the pace with a 1'32.930, followed by Van den Goorbergh just 0.142 seconds behind. Lunetta and Baltus completed the top four to progress. Alberto Ferrandez crashed on his final attempt and missed out.

In Q2, Baltus improved to secure eighth on the grid, while Van den Goorbergh ended up 16th with a 1'33.313. There was drama when Senna Agius crashed at the exit of the chicane and could not continue, dropping to 15th. Daniel Holgado also struggled, managing only 10th.

With this result, Salac will lead the Moto2 field in Austria, ahead of Gonzalez and Escrig. Baltus and Van den Goorbergh will look to move forward in what promises to be a closely contested race. The middleweight class battle is heating up as the European season continues.