AusMotoGP Friday | After a washout in FP1 the weather gods played nicely in the afternoon to allow the MotoGP riders a full 60 minutes of dry time on Phillip Island. And leading the way into Saturday will be Marc Marquez, who beat brother Alex Marquez by 0.102s. Report: MotoGP

Jack Miller was fastest early on in the slippery conditions. He ended the day 12th and will be in Q1 today.

MotoGP AusMotoGP Friday

Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) made it a Ducati GP23 1-2-3 on Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) ended Day 1 in P4 and P5 to sail safely into Q2, but it’s not the same story for Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) as the Italian will need to wade through Q1 after ending Practice in P16.

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With more rain potentially on the horizon and the asphalt – for the time being – dry, full attack mode was engaged right from the off in the 60-minute stint. And there was also early drama for the World Championship leader. Martin tucked the front at Turn 4 after nearly running into the back of Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™). It was a small tip-off for the #89, but would it prove costly?

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After 15 minutes, Pecco and Martin both hadn’t set a time. Marc Marquez was the session pacesetter after the #93 set a 1:29.020 before a brief red-flag stoppage was had after some overly keen spectators (geese to be precise) decided to have a wander onto the circuit. A minute later, we were back underway. The top three in the Championship were outside the top 10 with Bastianini in P11 and both Pecco and Martin still yet to set a time. The title-chasing duo needed to wriggle on and on their first attempts, Martin climbed to P9 and Pecco went to P16. 90 seconds later, Martin was up to second, 0.2s away from Marquez’s time, with Pecco improving but only to P13.

Jack Miller finished the day 12th with a 128.469 and will be in Q1…

Meanwhile, Bastianini jumped to P3 with 36 minutes to go, with Pecco now in the top 10 – but only just. That didn’t last long though because with the rain holding off, riders were finding time. That included home hero Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who shot to P1 by nearly three tenths thanks to a 1:28.731. Around 10 minutes later, Marquez returned to the timesheet summit with a 1:28.454. Elsewhere, Bagnaia was back out and the #1 was now up to P6 before that became P4 a lap later, but with the rain still staying away, the closing 20 minutes were getting busy.

(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) was having a strong session as the Frenchman went P2 with 13 minutes to go before Viñales set the new fastest lap of the day. Miller climbed back up the order to P3 and now, Bagnaia was in P11 with 10 minutes to go. That was then P8, but a 1:28.712 wasn’t going to be enough. And so it proved. A Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) PB lap saw Pecco drop out of the top 10 and at the same time, Martin rose to P3. The goalposts were then moved significantly by an eight-time World Champion. Marquez set a 1:27.770 to go 0.3s clear of Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) before Martin cut the advantage to 0.197s.

Needing a good lap time in the final five minutes, Bagnaia delivered a 1:28.013 to propel the reigning Champion to P4, 0.243s adrift of Marquez’s effort. A late pair of crashes for Acosta and Miller – the former at Turn 4 and the latter at Turn 6 – brought out some late yellow flags, and it was a crash that cost Acosta a top 10. In the end, it did for Miller too as Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) and Alex Marquez left it late to leap into the automatic Q2 positions.

So at the end of play, Viñales was P6 behind the aforementioned quintet of Ducatis, with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), Morbidelli and the impressive Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) completing a top 10 that will be sleeping a little easier tonight than the riders who just missed out on the Q2 cut.

Moto2 AusMotoGP Friday

Following a wet Free Practice session in the morning, Phillip Island’s newly resurfaced layout dried out towards the end of Moto2™ and coming out on top was Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp). The Spaniard set a 1:32.718 to beat Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) by a couple of tenths and teammate Alonso Lopez by three tenths to head into Saturday as the rider to catch. Japanese GP winner Manuel Gonzalez (Gresini Moto2™) and Jake Dixon (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) completed a top five split by just under six seconds.

Senna Agius finished the day in 11th while Harrison Voight finished an impressive 20th in his Moto2 debut day.

Sergio Garcia (MT Helmets – MSI), the rider second in the Championship, ended Friday in P7 despite a crash in the morning, one place behind sixth fastest Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team). Ai Ogura (MT Helmets – MSI) finished Day 1 of his first match point weekend in P13, 1.4s away from Aldeguer’s pace. Senna Agius finished the day in 11th while Harrison Voight finished an impressive 20th in his Moto2 debut day.

Moto3 AusMotoGP Friday

Angel Piqueras (Leopard Racing) ended his first day riding the phenomenal Phillip Island at the top of the timesheets – and by some margin too. The rookie, in the damp but thankfully sunny conditions, was 1.042s clear of David Alonso (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) after setting a 1:44.949, as Adrian Fernandez made it two Leopard Racing Hondas in the top three. Kopron Rivacold Snipers duo, David Almansa and Matteo Bertelle, rounded out the top five in the tricky conditions to make it four Honda machines in the top five.

Aussie Jacob Roulstone (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) picked up a P22 on his first day in front of his faithful fans and Joel Kelso finished in P10…

Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) was the only other rider in the Championship top four to claim a provisional top 14 place in P7. It was P17 for Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) and last place for Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets – MSI), so the Spaniards have work to do on Saturday morning to climb into the automatic Q2 positions. Home hero Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports) claimed P10 on Friday, while fellow Aussie Jacob Roulstone (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) picked up a P22 on his first day in front of his faithful fans.

Full Friday Qatar Airways Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix Results here…

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