MotoGP heads on to the Red Bull Ring and the first of two consecutive races starting with the Austrian Grand Prix.
Following a shock victory for Brad Binder and KTM at the Czech GP last time out, all predictions are off for the fourth round of the reshuffled 2020 MotoGP season.
Despite being one of many riders to suffer with grip issues at Brno, Fabio Quartararo was still able to extend his early championship lead to 17 points over fellow Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales.
Marc Marquez remains out of action following his second surgery to fix a titanium plate in his right arm, with Stefan Bradl filling in again, with the defending champion potentially back in action for Repsol Honda in the second Red Bull Ring race next weekend.
Franco Morbidelli has moved up to joint-third in the standings thanks to his maiden premier class rostrum, which he credited to “big brother” Valentino Rossi, as he draws level on points with Andrea Dovizioso after the factory Ducati rider endured a nightmare race weekend at Brno while his future at the Italian marque remains in doubt.
Binder, who claimed his and KTM’s maiden MotoGP win, has rocketed up to fifth in the standings as he heads to the team’s home circuit for a double-header at the Red Bull Ring.
PLUS: The keys to KTM’s meteoric rise in MotoGP
To bolster out the 2020 MotoGP calendar, the Spielberg circuit will host two behind closed doors over the next two weeks, while on Monday it was confirmed the Algarve circuit will host its debut MotoGP race as the finale to the 14-round 2020 campaign.
2020 Austrian MotoGP session timings
MotoGP will run its traditional schedule of two free practice sessions lasting 45 minutes each on Friday, with another 45-minute practice session on Saturday morning. The top 10 on the combined FP1-2-3 timesheet will automatically enter 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 28-lap Austrian GP on Sunday.
Moto2 and Moto3 are also in action during the Austrian GP.
Friday 14th August 2020
Free Practice 1: 8:55am-9:40am BST (9:55am-10:40pm local)
Free Practice 2: 1:10pm-1:55pm BST (2:10pm-2:55pm local)
Saturday 15th August 2020
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 16th August 2020
Warm Up: 8:40am-9:00am BST (9:20am-9:40am local)
Race: 1:00pm BST (2:00pm local)
How can I watch the Austrian MotoGP?
Channel: BT Sport 2
Channel numbers – Sky: 414 (BT Sport 2)
Channel numbers – Virgin Media: 528 (BT Sport)
BT Sport’s live coverage of Sunday’s action starts with the warm-up sessions at 07:30am, taking it from the world feed, before switching to its own broadcast at 09:15am 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 Austrian MotoGP?
Viewers in the United Kingdom can also stream the Austrian GP by purchasing a video pass from MotoGP.com. A one-off video pass, which lasts until the first race of the 2021 season, costs £144.24p, or it can be paid for in two instalments each costing £72.11p.
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 Austrian MotoGP
Spielberg is set for mixed conditions with sunny spells and rain showers which could also cause some localised thunderstorms during the Austrian GP, with highs of 28 degrees Celsius on race day.