Marquez tops the FP4 timesheets as qualifying rescheduled for Sunday.
Image: Russell Colvin.
Qualifying has been postponed for the MotoGP class at the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix due to dangerous wind conditions.
FP4 was cut short as the premier class riders were called to Safety Commission, with the outcome being that the weather conditions were too unsafe to ride in. Qualifying will take place on Sunday morning.
Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) was blown off the track heading down into turn one during FP4, which resulted in the Portuguese rider suffering a seriously fast, heavy crash.
The red flags came out shortly after as the riders headed to the Safety Commission meeting, with Oliveira heading to the medical centre for a check-up. Thankfully, although bruised, the KTM man suffered no broken bones.
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) was fastest in the session on his eighth lap before the red flags came out, ahead of Monster Energy Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales, who was 0.351s seconds adrift.
Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was third fastest, 0.762s behind Marquez, whilst Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) put four different manufacturers inside the top four and Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Franco Morbidelli finding a more suitable setup on his Yamaha M1 to round off the top five. Australian Jack Miller was 15th on the timesheets.
15:02 – Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) was blown off the track heading down into Turn 1 during FP4, which resulted in the Portuguese rider suffering a seriously fast, heavy crash. The red flags came out shortly after as the riders headed to the Safety Commission meeting, with Oliveira heading to the medical centre for a check-up. Thankfully, although bruised, the KTM man suffered no broken bones. The impressive rookie will be reviewed on Sunday morning before heading out on track.
And remember, in the early hours of Sunday morning (October 27), European Daylight Saving Time ends. The clocks are turned back an hour at 01:00 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), for example, this will be 01:00 UK time, 02:00 Spanish time… so check when you need to set your alarms for, depending on your location.
Phillip Island Moto2 pole position secured by Navarro
Section: Competition
Ramirez claims maiden pole position in Moto3 category.
Image: Russell Colvin.
Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) has claimed pole position in the Moto2 category at Phillip Island’s Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.
For the first time since Le Mans, Navarro will launch from P1 thanks to a 1m33.565s in Moto2 Q2. The rain started falling in the final five minutes of the session to prematurely end proceedings, with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Q1 graduate Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) completing the front row.
Fabio Di Giannantonio (Beta Tools Speed Up) and Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Tech3) completed the top five, as Australian Remy Garnder (SAG Racing) qualified in P15.
Image: Russell Colvin.
Leopard Racing’s Marcos Ramirez will start a Moto3 race from pole position tomorrow after claiming the top spot for the very first time after mastering some tough conditions.
Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) was a fraction off the pace to complete the session in P2, with the front row set to be locked out by Albert Arenas (Gaviota Angel Nieto Team).
John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) and Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) were fourth and fifth respectively, while wildcards Rogan Chandler (Double Six Motor Sport) and Yannis Shaw (Double Six Motor Sport) qualified 28th and 31st.
MotoGP FP4 was red-flagged due to worsening weather conditions, with the remainder of today’s events cancelled. More to come.
A dry session was marred by gusts of high wind, making it difficult for riders to follow their lines and push the pace. Regardless, the World Champion was fastest on his eighth lap before the red flags came out, ahead of Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP rider Maverick Viñales, who was 0.351 seconds adrift. Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was third fastest, 0.762 adrift of Marquez, whilst Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) put four different manufacturers inside the top 4 and Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Franco Morbidelli finding a more suitable setup on his Yamaha M1 to round off the top 5.
The anticipated rain had come during the night on Friday but a stiff wind had dried the track out by the time competitors took to the circuit on Saturday morning.
Crowd building at Phillip Island – Image by Colin Rosewarne
The forecast was still very uninspiring and the sky somewhat foreboding, but the precipitation stayed in check long enough for Moto3 and Moto2 to all enjoy dry FP3 sessions, and it looked like the premier MotoGP category might enjoy the same luck.
Crowds sheltered from the brutal wind any way they could come up with – Image by Colin Rosewarne
Tony Arbolino topped Moto3 proceedings on Saturday morning but windy conditions prevented riders from improving on their Friday times, thus Arbolino still missed out on automatic promotion through to Q2.
Fabio Di Giannantonio – Image by Colin Rosewarne
Fabio Di Giannantonio was quickest in Moto2 FP3 but again few riders managed to improve on their Friday markers due to the blustery conditions. The Italian was one of only five riders that managed to improve on their Friday time. Remy Gardner was one of those to improve, third in the session but still only 16th on combined times.
Remy Gardner going around the outside of Bezzecchi on Saturday morning – Image by Colin Rosewarne
When FP3 for MotoGP got underway Alex Rins went down almost immediately. It was a soft crash but the Spaniard was unable to re-start his Suzuki.Eventually he pushed the bike far enough for team members to then help him back to the pits.
The time lost for Rins though was off-set after a problem of a different kind caused a slight delay to proceedings only minutes after they had got started.
A wayward Pramac Ducati pit-board interrupted proceedings shortly after FP3 got underway at Phillip Island
One of the Pramac Ducati crew lost hold of Jack Miller’s pit-board in the stiff wind, easily done today I would imagine, and the large pit board was laying in the middle of the main straight!Officials jumped the fence when safe and retrieved the pit board.
Jack Miller in the Pramac Ducati pits – Image by Rob Mott
Four-minutes later pit-lane opened again as small rain showers started to shed their contents around the circuit. It was hardly enough to wet the circuit, and blew over quickly, but the wind was brutal and far from consistent. Thus there was little to be gained in the conditions, most MotoGP riders chose to keep their powder dry for most of the session.
Andrea Dovizioso in the pits – Image by Rob Mott
It was not until the dying minutes of the FP3 session that the track got a little busy. No rider though managed to improve their times due to the windy conditions. Marquez topped the session but Vinales continued to hold sway at the top of the combined timesheets.
The afternoon….
While Moto3 riders got to enjoy a mainly dry qualifying session rain started sprinkling around the Phillip Island lay-out ahead of the Q2 session for Moto2 and the wind was gusting across the circuit with violence.
Marcos Ramirez took pole in Moto3 ahead of Aron Canet and Albert Arenas. Scotsman John McPhee will start tomorrow from the front of the second row.
Sam Lowes and Remy Gardner were quick enough in the Moto2 Q1 session to promote themselves through to Q2. The opening minutes of the Q2 session were dry but with five minutes remaining the rain started falling which ruined the chances of a late charge from many riders, the most frustrated of which was Remy Gardner who will start from 15th on the grid tomorrow. Jorge Navarro will start from pole ahead of Binder and Marini while Fabio Di Giannantonio will head the second row.
The rain had stopped again by the time MotoGP FP4 got underway.
Pit lane opened for MotoGP FP4 at 1445 and the entire 22 rider field were quick out of the blocks to get some important laps in on what was a dry track, but strong gusty winds were still making conditions quite treacherous. FP4 does not count towards the combined times that decide the Q2 qualifiers thus is generally used to chase race set-up of prepare for the Q sessions that follow immediately after.
Miguel Oliveira fell foul of the conditions and was blown wide at the end of the straight and drifted off onto the grass at over 300 km/h. The KTM machine and Miguel did a few tumbles but miraculously the melee was not as monstrous as it might have been. He was taken to the medical centre where he was cleared of any significant injuries, although he was somewhat battered and bruised.
Fabio Quartararo’s big tumble yesterday was badly affecting the young Frenchman. A shortage of track time yesterday costing him dearly, and also his badly bruised ankle, along with other ailments, causing him problems. He was also being frustrated by the wind.
With just under 13-minutes remaining the session was red flagged as pit board numbers had blown on to the circuit which added to the risk level in the conditions. Hitting the picks with some foreign matter under your front wheel is not going to make for a pleasant ride.
A special meeting of the safety commission and the MotoGP riders was then called to discuss the risks now being placed on the riders. It had already been a more bruising than normal event and with the wind was predicted to only get stronger as the afternoon continued thus discussions needed to be had and decisions needed to be made concerning this afternoon’s qualifying sessions.
The decision was handed down that no further track action would take place today.Further meetings where then held to decide a revised schedule for tomorrow. The Sunday forecast far from perfect, but decidedly better than had been predicted for today.
Eventually organisers announced that they would assess conditions in the morning and then decide whether to run qualifying sessions ahead of the race on Sunday, or whether the grid will be based on the combined practice times. That of course would put Maverick Vinales on pole with Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso joining him on the front row. Full combined practice results can be found below.
– He wins the race, Lüthi is no better than P5 and Augusto Fernandez (FlexBox HP 40) is no better than P3. – He finishes P2, Lüthi is no better than P10, Fernandez doesn’t finish higher than P5 and Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) or Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) don’t win the race. – He finishes P3, Lüthi is no better than P14, Fernandez is no better than P9, Navarro doesn’t finish on the podium, Binder does not rank P1 or P2 and Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) doesn’t win the race.
– He wins the race, regardless of where Canet and Arbolino finish. – He finishes P2 and Canet does not win the race. – He finishes P3 and Canet is no better than P5. – He finishes P4 and Canet is no better than P7. – He finishes P5 and Canet is no better than P9. – He finishes P6 and Canet is no better than P10. – He finishes P7 and Canet is no better than P11. – He finishes P8 and Canet is no better than P12. – He finishes P9, Canet is no better than P13 and Arbolino doesn’t win. – He finishes P10, Canet is no better than P14 and Arbolino doesn’t win. – He finishes P11, Canet is no better than P15 and Arbolino doesn’t win. – He finishes P12, Canet fails to score a point and Arbolino doesn’t win.
Personal best and session best sectors were lighting up the timing screens, but no one was going faster than Navarro. The Speed Up rider took provisional pole position by 0.3 after Binder had just taken top spot, and it was timed to perfection. With just over five minutes to go in Q2, heavy rain fell in the opening sector of the circuit. This put an end to everyone’s hopes of improving their times, and it meant Navarro was on pole for the third time in 2019. Himself, second place Binder and third place Marini can all stop Marquez from claiming the title this weekend, with the three launching from the front row aiming for victory.
