Recapping the MotoGP/2/3 sessions from Phillip Island on Friday

2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round 17 – Phillip Island – Friday
Qatar Airways Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix

MotoGP Practice

The Phillip Island car park was already a quagmire on Friday morning from overnight rain, and it only got worse as the morning wore on.

A weather front swept across the Island mid-morning that was so intense that it forced the opening MotoGP practice session to be cancelled.

It was just after 1500 when MotoGP riders turned a wheel for the first time this year on the resurfaced Phillip Island circuit.

Jack Miller went down at Turn Four, Miller Corner, nine-minutes into the one and only session that MotoGP riders got to contest on Friday.  Jorge Martin had also gone down at Turn Four early on without setting a lap.

15-minutes into the session the red flag came out for Cape Barren Geese on the circuit.  Marc Marquez led Fabio Di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez with one-quarter of the 60-minute session down.

Despite the crazy rain earlier in the day the track had been dry enough for Marc to have got straight down to 29s, setting the early benchmark of 1m29.020.

Pecco Bagnaia had been out only to return to the pits without setting a lap-time, finally getting out again only for his run to be cut short by that red flag.

When Pit Exit opened after the geese were cleared some dark clouds were rolling in once again so the pressure was on for the two primary Championship contenders to get a time on the board that would earn them a direct spot in Q2 on Saturday.   Both men were quick to get inside that top ten when action got underway once again.

Jack Miller was the first man in the 28s, a 1m28.731 as the session approached the 30-minute mark to go P1.  At that halfway juncture it was Miller from Martin, Acosta and Di Giannantonio.

Marc Marquez then went top again with a 1m28.674, before improving once again on his next lap to 1m28.454.

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Marco Bezzecchi then catapulted himself up the order to second with just over 15-minutes remaining, pushing Miller back to third but the Australian had also improved on his earlier marker.

Jorge Martin then pushed Miller back to fourth as all riders now started to really push the limits to secure their place in Q2.

Maverick Vinales then gazumped the lot of them, the Aprilia man going top with just over 11-minutes left on the clock, the new benchmark a 1m28.160 on the Spaniard’s 22nd lap of the session.

Ten minutes to go, and the top five were Maverick Vinales, Marc Marquez, Jack Miller, Alex Marquez and Johann Zarco.

Marc Marquez improved his time to 1m28.193, but that was still three-hundredths short of Vinales. Hold my beer…. Next time around Marc Marquez dropped in a 1m27.770 to go clear by almost four-tenths on his 19th lap.

Jorge Martin joined Marc in the 27s with seven-minutes left, his 1m27.967 still two-tenths shy of Marc’s marker though.

Marc Marquez absolutely sensational through turn three, bringing back memories of Casey Stoner taking that corner so spectacularly that Phillip Island named that ultra-fast left-hander after him.

Five minutes to go….  Marc Marquez leading Marco Bezzecchi, the Italian pushing Jorge Martin back to third. Maverick Vinales fourth, Fabio Di Giannantonio in fifth and Jack Miller sixth.  Crucially, Pecco Bagnaia was just outside that all-important Top 12… Not for long though, Bagnaia up to fourth with just under three-minutes remaining.

Yellow Flags were now out at Turn One after Lorenzo Savadori went down at Doohan Corner which ruined the final runs of many riders who then had some good laps cancelled.  Jorge Martin also had to take evasive action due to an errant bunny bouncing across the circuit.

Pedro Acosta went down at Turn Four, Jack Miller down at Turn Six, ruining their chances of improving whilst tenth and eleventh on the time-sheets. Jack had just lit up a red sector too….

At the end of proceedings it was a Gresini Marquez brothers 1-2! Alex Marquez put in a 1m27.872 on his final lap to go second.  Marco Bezzecchi third to make for a GP23 1-2-3.

Jorge Martin fourth and Pecco Bagnaia rounding out an all-ducati top five.

Maverick Vinales top Aprilia in sixth ahead of top KTM Brad Binder, that top seven covered by less than half-a-second.

Fabio Di Giannantonio eighth, Franco Morbidelli ninth and Alex Rins taking top Yamaha honours in tenth a fraction ahead of team-mate Fabio Quartararo.

Jack Miller shuffled down to 12th in the dying minutes of the session after his tip-off, just ahead of Pedro Acosta and top Honda rider Johann Zarco.

The top ten covered by less than a second.

A crook Raul Fernandez recorded the fewest laps while Franco Morbidelli put in the most, 28 laps.

Marc’s 1m27.770 today just over half-a-second over the all-time lap record set here by Johann Zarco last year. But more than three-tenths quicker than his own race lap record set way back in 2014.

Pecco Bagnaia, Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin all hit 345.0 km/h through the speed trap today on their GP24 machines. Bezzecchi the quickest of the GP23 riders at 342.9 km/h while pacesetter Marc Marquez was the fourth slowest rider through the speed trap today at only 335.4 km/h.

Fabio Di Giannantonio quickest through Sector One, Marc Marquez quickest through Sector Two while Jorge Martin quickest through both Sector Three and Sector Four.

Some overnight rain is forecast ahead of what should be a mainly fine day on Saturday and a completely fine Sunday, but this is Phillip Island…

MotoGP Practice Times

MotoGP Speeds

MotoGP Championship Standings

Moto2

Ten minutes into Moto2 Practice One the local Cape Barren Geese decided they would add to the weather disruptions by wandering across the the circuit before being chased off by flag marshals.  Oncu was on top prior to that brief red flag interruption.

When proceedings got underway again it was Fermin Aldeguer who went top ahead of Aron Canet and Alonso Lopez.

Senna Agius finished Friday 15th on the time-sheets just ahead of wildcard countryman Harrison Voight.

Moto2 Practice One Times

Moto2 Championship Standings

Moto3

Starting the day under the rain, the Moto3 class was on track a bit earlier than usual, at 0845, as the class was allowed extra track time to try the Pirelli tyres on the totally resurfaced Phillip Island circuit.

After a hectic morning that saw MotoGP’s FP1 being cancelled due to a heavy rain, the sun was back just in time for Moto3’s Practice 1. Although the track was damp, the sky was blue again, and riders were were presented with reasonable conditions.

Angel Piqueras was one-second clear of the field when Friday was all said and done for Moto3.  Newly crowned World Champ David Alonso second quickest.

An intense and exciting weekend got underway for local riders Joel Kelso and Jacob Roulstone.

Kelso rounded out the top ten at the end of the day.

Roulstone rode 15 laps with a best in 1’47.532 in the opening session and was not able to improve in the damp afternoon session. Closing the day in P22.

Jacob Roulstone

“It feels really special to experience my first home GP day. The conditions were not great and tricky. We struggled to find some grip in P1, so it was difficult to find a good set up, but overall I feel quite good on the bike. Once we find a better set up, I am hoping that we will be able to improve. It is awesome to see Australians come to support me with the flags and merchandise, thanks to them and hoping to see them again all weekend.”

Moto3 Practice One Times

Moto3 Championship Standings