Six weeks have passed since the last MotoGP action at Assen, with plenty of talking points and racing to look forward to over the second half of the season.
Maverick Vinales will face the MotoGP paddock for the first time since announcing his split with Yamaha at the end of this season, as speculation mounts on his future, while the Japanese manufacturers assesses its options as his replacement from 2022.
Meanwhile at the Petronas SRT Yamaha squad, attention will return to Valentino Rossi and his own future having had the summer break to weigh up his options while speculation around his VR46 MotoGP team continues to swirl.
On the other side of the SRT garage, Cal Crutchlow will make a return to racing in Austria as injury replacement for Franco Morbidelli. The British rider will stand in for at least the Red Bull Ring double-header plus the Silverstone race with Morbidelli ruled out of action until at least September’s Aragon GP.
Another familiar face returns to the MotoGP grid this weekend as Dani Pedrosa wildcards for KTM at the Styrian GP. It will mark the 31-time race winner’s first MotoGP race since the end of the 2018 season and the first time he has raced something other than a Honda bike.
MotoGP will also adjust to the 2021 calendar tweaks announced during the summer break, following the cancellations of both the Australian and Thailand rounds with a second race at Portimao drafted in to replace the Phillip Island event.
Joan Mir, Team Suzuki MotoGP
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Why is it called the Styrian GP?
With races not allowed to be given the same race names in the same MotoGP world championship season, Austria’s first race of its double-header has been called the Styrian GP, named after the region of Austria the circuit is located in. The name was also used last year as part of the Red Bull Ring double-header.
It takes inspiration from the other double-headers MotoGP put on both in 2020 and this year as part of the reshuffled calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this season Qatar hosted the first-ever Doha GP as the second leg of its back-to-back races while Portimao will hold the Algarve GP in November having already hosted the Portuguese GP earlier this season in April.
Why is MotoGP holding two races in Austria?
As part of the COVID-19-hit campaign the 2021 MotoGP calendar has been tweaked due to various travel restrictions in place across the world.
The Finnish, Japanese, Thai and Australian MotoGP rounds have already been cancelled for 2021, while the Argentinean GP remains postponed.
In order to bulk out the calendar, Losail, the Red Bull Ring and Portimao will all host two races.
Danilo Petrucci, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
2021 Styrian MotoGP session timings
MotoGP will run its standard schedule across the Styrian GP weekend, with two practice sessions on Friday that will run for 45 minutes each. On Saturday third practice will also run for 45 minutes, with the top 10 on the combined FP1-2-3 timesheet automatically entering into Q2 of qualifying. A final 30-minute FP4 session is held on Saturday afternoon ahead of qualifying.
Q1 of qualifying sees all riders who did not finish in the top 10 of the combined practice times take part, with the top two finishers progressing into Q2 alongside the top 10 who gained an automatic spot via their practice times.
Q2 is the pole position shootout which decides the order of the front four rows, with the rest of the grid organised on Q1 times, for the Styrian GP on Sunday.
Moto2 and Moto3 are also in action during the Styrian GP.
Friday 6th August 2021
Free Practice 1: 8:55am-09:40am BST (9:55am-10:40am local)
Free Practice 2: 1:10pm-1:55pm BST (2:10pm-2:55pm local)
Saturday 7th August 2021
Free Practice 3: 8:55am-9:40am BST (9:55am-10:40am local)
Free Practice 4: 12:30pm-1:00pm BST (1:30pm-2:00pm local)
Qualifying: 1:10pm-1:50pm BST (2:10pm-2:50pm local)
Sunday 8th August 2021
Warm Up: 8:40am-09:00am BST (9:40am-10:00am local)
Race: 1:00pm BST (2:00pm local)
Alex Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
How can I watch the Styrian MotoGP?
- Channel: BT Sport 2
- Channel numbers: Sky – 414 (BT Sport 2)
- Channel numbers: Virgin Media – 528 (BT Sport 2)
BT Sport’s live coverage of Sunday’s action starts with the warm-up sessions at 7:30am, taken from the world feed, before switching to its own broadcast at 9:15am for the pre-race show ahead of the Moto3 race.
The build-up to the MotoGP race starts from 12:30pm, or when the Moto2 race finishes, ahead of lights out at 1:00pm.
Can I stream the Styrian MotoGP?
Viewers in the United Kingdom can also stream the Styrian GP by purchasing a video pass from MotoGP.com. A one-off video pass, the remainder of the 2021 MotoGP season, costs £85.35p.
The video pass gives access to every live session, qualifying and race, plus world feed content and the chance to watch previous races.
Weather forecast for the Styrian MotoGP
The Red Bull Ring is set for warm conditions throughout the weekend, starting sunny on Friday, but with a chance of rain and thunderstorms on Saturday and Sunday. Highs of 24 degrees Celsius are forecast on race day, which is around three degrees warmer than the Dutch GP.