Dovizioso quickest in Austrian MotoGP practice, Marquez 10th

Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso set the fastest time in practice for the Austrian MotoGP on Friday, as world championship leader Marc Marquez finished down in 10th. Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi went fourth-fastest for Yamaha, while his team-mate and defending champion Jorge Lorenzo was eighth. Spaniard Marquez leads the riders' standings by 48 points after his victory in Germany last time out, and he spent the practice sessions getting to grips with the Red Bull Ring Circuit, which is hosting its first MotoGP race since 1997. "It has basically been a day to gather data for the race and to find the reference points with a MotoGP bike for this track, which is new," the 23-year-old said. "All in all, I'm generally happy with how it went today; we're tenth but it's not our real position, as we didn't use a new and softer rear spec tyre. "We'll continue working in the same direction tomorrow with the aim to be at least in the top five and to fight for the podium on Sunday." Riders will have two further practice sessions to get acquainted with the track on Saturday ahead of qualifying.