Australian MotoGP: Marquez fastest, big names dumped into Q1
Marc Marquez topped a wet/dry third practice session at Phillip Island, while Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, and Maverick Vinales all missed out on an automatic Q2 berth.
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
World Champion Marquez wasted little time getting down to business, making sure of a Q2 spot early by braining the whole field on intermediates with a 1m33.304s just 10 minutes in.
While the track continued to dry, a lot of the field switching to slicks, it still took forever for anybody to knock Marquez off top spot. It eventually happened 38 minutes in, another period of reasonably dry running allowing hometown hero Jack Miller to charge to the top with a 1m33.280s on slicks, before immediately lowering the benchmark to a 1m33.209s.
But Marquez, back out with an inter on the front and a slick on the back, responded with a 1m33.155s right on the 40-minute mark, at which point the rain returned and the order was effectively frozen.
That was good news for the likes of Miller, who comfortably booked a Q2 spot with that low 1m33s, and both Aleix and Pol Espargaro, who were third and fourth despite being more than a second slower than Marquez and Miller.
Andrea Dovizioso and Scott Redding also booked Q2 spots during the best of the conditions mid-session, as did Stefan Bradl (seventh) Nicky Hayden (eighth), Danilo Petrucci (ninth), and Hector Barbera (10th).
But the changeable conditions also caught a few big names out. Maverick Vinales will have to go through Q1, having missed the cutoff by just 0.064s. It got worse for the Suzuki rider as well; while trying to look at the big screen on his way back into the pits, Vinales ran onto the grass at pit entry and suffered an embarrassing low-speed fall.
Rossi will also have to come through Q1, having popped his head into the Top 10 on the 40 minute mark with a 1m35.463s, before being shuffled back to 12th right before the rain struck.
Still, he fared significantly better than teammate Lorenzo, who never seemed to get his head around the conditions and finished the session dead last.
It's the first time that Rossi and Lorenzo, as factory Yamaha teammates, have both had to come through Q1.
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Marc Marquez | Honda | 1'33.155 | |
2 | Jack Miller | Honda | 1'33.209 | 0.054 |
3 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | 1'34.399 | 1.244 |
4 | Pol Espargaro | Yamaha | 1'34.650 | 1.495 |
5 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'34.721 | 1.566 |
6 | Scott Redding | Ducati | 1'34.852 | 1.697 |
7 | Stefan Bradl | Aprilia | 1'34.914 | 1.759 |
8 | Nicky Hayden | Honda | 1'35.189 | 2.034 |
9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | 1'35.269 | 2.114 |
10 | Hector Barbera | Ducati | 1'35.300 | 2.145 |
11 | Maverick Viñales | Suzuki | 1'35.364 | 2.209 |
12 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | 1'35.463 | 2.308 |
13 | Eugene Laverty | Ducati | 1'35.736 | 2.581 |
14 | Alvaro Bautista | Aprilia | 1'36.029 | 2.874 |
15 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'36.189 | 3.034 |
16 | Bradley Smith | Yamaha | 1'36.351 | 3.196 |
17 | Yonny Hernandez | Ducati | 1'36.447 | 3.292 |
18 | Mike Jones | Ducati | 1'36.756 | 3.601 |
19 | Loris Baz | Ducati | 1'37.193 | 4.038 |
20 | Tito Rabat | Honda | 1'38.012 | 4.857 |
21 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | 1'38.318 | 5.163 |
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments