A mini qualifying then played out as the riders stuck in the soft tyres, with home hero Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) going second. With less than 10 to go, Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Dovizioso were sitting outside the provisional automatic Q2 places, both the Italians jumping comfortably inside the top 10 though as Crutchlow and Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) set fast times. No one could get close enough to topple Viñales though, and the Yamaha man was going even quicker. After going 0.3 clear, the number 12 then set the first and only 1:28 of the weekend to go over half a second ahead, only for Dovi to slightly dent that gap as the chequered flag came out.
With the wet weather forecast to return ahead of FP3 on Saturday morning, it means those currently sat eleventh to fourteenth look likely to progress through to Q2, with those riders being: Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP), Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team), Augusto Fernandez (FlexBox HP40) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (FlexBox HP40).
Canet, who finished 11th in the wet conditions, lapped alone and became the only rider to set a 1:36 in the session, getting the better of Dalla Porta in the latter stages to go almost three tenths clear of anyone else. Dalla Porta led for some parts of FP2 as the Championship leader claimed P2 at the end of Friday’s action ahead of 2018 Phillip Island winner Arenas, with SIC58 Squadra Corse duo Niccolo Antonelli and Tatsuki Suzuki completing the top five. Mugen Race’s Andrea Migno was sixth fastest ahead of John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing), both the Italian and Scotsman cementing top 10 pace in the wet and dry conditions, as Romano Fenati (VNE Snipers), Dennis Foggia (SKY Racing Team VR46) and Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) rounded out the top 10.
As a result, the 2019 Rookie of the Year has been declared fit for the rest of the weekend, however, he won’t participate in Free Practice 2 later on Friday due to the painkillers he was administered. The Frenchman’s condition will be monitored closely and checked again ahead of the first of Saturday’s action in Australia.
It was a hot spring day that greeted competitors and team as they set-up for the weekend proceedings, but this morning it was overcast with intermittent drizzle.
Moto3 FP1
When the Moto3 riders went out at 0900 the track was very wet indeed. One of the first to fall victim to the conditions was local wild-card entrant Yanni Shaw. He was up uninjured but failed to register a time in the session. His fellow Double Six Motorsport wild-card and team-mate for the weekend Rogan Chandler managed seven laps with a best of 2m01.257s.
Tony Arbolino topped Moto3 FP1 from fellow Honda rider rider Lorenzo Dalla Porta. Romano Fenati made it a Honda 1-2-3, Arbolino’s morning wet benchmark a 1m48.024s.
Pos
Rider
Bike
Time/Gap
1
Tony ARBOLINO
HONDA
1m48.024
2
Lorenzo DALLA PORTA
HONDA
+0.740
3
Romano FENATI
HONDA
+1.061
4
Darryn BINDER
KTM
+1.324
5
John MCPHEE
HONDA
+1.458
6
Gabriel RODRIGO
HONDA
+1.671
7
Andrea MIGNO
KTM
+2.265
8
Sergio GARCIA
HONDA
+2.301
9
Riccardo ROSSI
HONDA
+2.740
10
Marcos RAMIREZ
HONDA
+2.927
11
Aron CANET
KTM
+2.969
12
Alonso LOPEZ
HONDA
+3.134
13
Tatsuki SUZUKI
HONDA
+3.373
14
Can ONCU
KTM
+3.433
15
Niccolò ANTONELLI
HONDA
+3.541
16
Jakub KORNFEIL
KTM
+3.719
17
Makar YURCHENKO
KTM
+3.852
18
Stefano NEPA
KTM
+3.909
19
Celestino VIETTI
KTM
+3.925
20
Filip SALAC
KTM
+4.069
21
Ai OGURA
HONDA
+4.499
22
Tom BOOTH-AMOS
KTM
+4.571
23
Ayumu SASAKI
HONDA
+4.791
24
Raul FERNANDEZ
KTM
+5.334
25
Jaume MASIA
KTM
+5.553
26
Dennis FOGGIA
KTM
+5.649
27
Kaito TOBA
HONDA
+5.660
28
Kazuki MASAKI
KTM
+6.008
29
Albert ARENAS
KTM
+6.078
Not qualified (Out 107%)
DNQ
15 Rogan CHANDLER
KALEX KTM
+13.233
Moto2 FP1
Conditions were similar when Moto2 hit the track at 0940 and Remy Gardner quickly established himself as the man to beat.
The pace hotted up in the second half of the session and the young Australian was overhauled by Bulega, Bezzecchi, Chantra and Binder pushing him back to fifth with 20-minutes remaining in the 40-minute opening practice session.
Chantra then added his name to the long list of fallers in the treacherous conditions, immediately followed by Brit Jake Dixon.
With three-minutes remaining in the session Gardner had slipped outside the top ten. The 21-year-old was then put in a last ditch effort to improve his standing before suffering a hefty fall at Hayshed. It was a big tumble, the front end ripping out of his machine, but the young Aussie, seemingly, escaped any major injuries.
Surviving the carnage to claim top spot for the morning was Jorge Martin, a 1m45.832 on his 16th and final lap of the session good enough to demote Bulega to P2.
Pos
Rider
Motorcycle
Time/Gap
1
Jorge MARTIN
KTM
1m45.823
2
Nicolo BULEGA
KALEX
+0.771
3
Stefano MANZI
MV AGUSTA
+1.138
4
Xavi VIERGE
KALEX
+1.175
5
Thomas LUTHI
KALEX
+1.184
6
Andrea LOCATELLI
KALEX
+1.283
7
Marco BEZZECCHI
KTM
+1.433
8
Sam LOWES
KALEX
+1.507
9
Alex MARQUEZ
KALEX
+1.716
10
Marcel SCHROTTER
KALEX
+1.810
11
Remy GARDNER
KALEX
+1.919
12
Somkiat CHANTRA
KALEX
+2.044
13
Tetsuta NAGASHIMA
KALEX
+2.296
14
Lorenzo BALDASSARRI
KALEX
+2.314
15
Brad BINDER
KTM
+2.319
16
Bo BENDSNEYDER
NTS
+2.518
17
Jesko RAFFIN
NTS
+2.792
18
Augusto FERNANDEZ
KALEX
+3.132
19
Joe ROBERTS
KTM
+3.201
20
Jorge NAVARRO
SPEED UP
+3.314
21
Xavi CARDELUS
KTM
+3.799
22
Dimas EKKY PRATAMA
KALEX
+3.814
23
Dominique AEGERTER
MV AGUSTA
+3.905
24
Lukas TULOVIC
KTM
+4.275
25
Jake DIXON
KTM
+4.875
26
Philipp OETTL
KTM
+5.384
27
Adam NORRODIN
KALEX
+6.293
28
Enea BASTIANINI
KALEX
+7.058
29
Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO
MotoGP FP1
Jack Miller was quick out of the blocks when FP1 got underway and held sway at the top of the time-sheets for the opening ten-minutes of the session before Marc Marquez went quicker on lap six.
It was somewhat of a strange sight seeing Johann Zarco’s #5 on the front of an LCR Honda blasting around the circuit. The Frenchman was already looking quite comfortable.
Johann Zarco on the LCR Honda – The Frenchman finished in P13 – Image by Rob Mott
Maverick Vinales then bested them both when he became the third man to lap under the 1m40s barrier. 1m39s on what was still a very wet track throwing up spray is hard to get your head around.
Vinales slithered a few of those 1m39s in, dropping another tenth here and there the 24-year-old Spaniard was putting on an exciting show. It is amazing to think Vinales is still that young, he already seems like somewhat of a MotoGP veteran. Halfway through the session he became the first to drop in a 1m38s, lowering the benchmark further.
Maverick VInales – Image by Rob Mott
While Vinales put in plenty of laps, most of MotoGP’s heavy hitters had been in their pit-box watching the show on their monitors. Marquez then went out as Vinales came in. 15 minutes later and Marquez had still not bested Vinales’ time.Late in the session though Jack Miller improved and pushed the World Champion back to P3.
Marquez leads Miller and Rossi in FP1 – Image by Rob Mott
Valentino Rossi was on the improve though, up to fourth place.
Vinales went out with a few minutes remaining in the session and was immediately under his time through the first series of splits, only to be spoiled by traffic in the final section and failed to improve.
Nonetheless the Spaniard’s earlier benchmark proved good enough to hold sway and claim FP1 honours from Miller with Marquez third. Danilo Petrucci was P5 ahead of Franco Morbidelli.
Fabio Quartararo was seventh on the timesheets before throwing it away at turn six. The young Frenchman looked hurt and was carried away on a stretcher and sent to the medical centre.
Pol Espargaro took P8 ahead of fellow KTM rider Miguel Oliveira and the #4 Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso rounded out the top ten, and thus the last provisional automatic entry to Q2 on Saturday afternoon. That could be crucial depending on what the weather does this afternoon, as by the forecast, Saturday could be very wet indeed…
The forecasted rain welcomed the riders for the opening morning of the weekend as the riders tackled a wet, breezy and cold Phillip Island. Marquez was the early pacesetter before Viñales strung a handful of fast laps together to sit P1. And he would stay there, with Australian Miller getting ahead of Marquez to sit P2 at the end of FP1. However, Friday morning ended badly for Quartararo. The Frenchman suffered an off-throttle highside at Turn 6 with just under three minutes remaining, heading to the medical centre for a check-up.
Once again, a whole host of riders crashed out, with some tasting the gravel trap more than once. The session started in dramatic fashion when both the World Championship leader, Alex Marquez (Marc VDS EG 0,0), and SKY Racing Team VR46’s Luca Marini crashed on their out laps. Then, Beta Tools Speed Up’s Fabio Di Giannantonio crashed at Turn 6, as did Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (FlexBox HP40).
As a result of the tricky conditions, a handful of riders slipped off, fortunately without injury, during the session. Gaviota Angel Nieto Team’s Albert Arenas crashed out at Turn 4 and then again at the Southern Loop (Turn 2), SIC58 Squadra Corse’s Niccolo Antonelli had a fast crash at Turn 8, Kömmerling Gresini Moto3’s Ricardo Rossi suffered a strange crash after running wide at the Southern Loop, whilst Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alonso Lopez and Mugen Race’s Andrea Migno also fell victim to the Southern Loop.
“I think Miller thought that he had the better pace that Morbidelli, which he did, he managed to get away from him, started to break away and then from half race distance that was it, his tyre was gone. As a racer I’ve had a race just so similar to that in Barcelona, the conditions were a little different, obviously it was a hot, hot weekend, Sunday was a lot hotter than it had been all weekend long and back then with the Bridgestone tyres we could run softer compound tyres as the hotter the conditions got.”
“I think Miller thought that he had the better pace that Morbidelli, which he did, he managed to get away from him, started to break away and then from half race distance that was it, his tyre was gone. As a racer I’ve had a race just so similar to that in Barcelona, the conditions were a little different, obviously it was a hot, hot weekend, Sunday was a lot hotter than it had been all weekend long and back then with the Bridgestone tyres we could run softer compound tyres as the hotter the conditions got.”
