Australian Grand Prix Qualifying
With yesterday‘s FP4 being red flagged and the qualifying sessions delayed until Sunday morning it was quite a busy and unique Sunday schedule that confronted MotoGP teams.
Maverick Vinales has maintained his stellar form in qualifying at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, quickest in the morning warm-up session before then taking pole for today’s Pramac Generac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix 2019.
The Spaniard, who won here a year ago, took the ninth MotoGP pole position of his career with a time of 1m28.492s.
Maverick Vinales – P1
“I feel good and very positive because on the laps I did I was able to push at my maximum, that‘s very important. Straight away I felt good on hard tyres and soft tyres, so we will try to keep this momentum: start well, get into first place, and push from the beginning. I will try my best as always. The Yamaha is working very good on the track, we need to be careful with the tyres, but anyway, I‘m very happy and feeling very positive.”
Vinales led a 1-2 for Yamaha, with Fabio Quartararo taking second on his Petronas SRT machine. The Frenchman had to do it the hard way, by coming through the first qualifying session, after losing track time in the practice sessions because of a crash on Friday. Quartararo was half-a-second behind the pole-sitter but that was still good enough for P2 on the grid.
Valentino Rossi underlined the supreme balance of the Yamaha around Phillip Island by securing P4 on the grid in what will mark the 400th Grand Prix start for the veteran.
Valentino Rossi – P4
“It was a good qualifying session. I’m happy with the second row and I was very close to the front row. I feel good on the bike and we have improved the set-up. Now we have to start thinking about the race. The weather is uncertain, and the choice of the tyres will be crucial. I hope for a completely dry or wet race.”
World champion Marc Marquez is positioned in third with a time of 1:29.216 seconds on his Repsol Honda after pulling off another miraculous front end save this morning.
Danilo Petrucci was the fastest of the Ducati riders in fifth ahead of LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow, the 2016 race winner here at Phillip Island.
Aprilia had a great session with seventh and eighth for Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Iannone, respectively. Underlining that despite its fast nature Phillip Island is not a horsepower circuit.
Jack Miller will start from ninth with a different look for race day. The Townsville rider is carrying a one-off change of livery on his Pramac Ducati GP20, and will be looking for a strong start to run with the leaders early in the race.
The 23-lap Australian Grand Prix is scheduled to begin at 3:00pm AEDT.
Australian Grand Prix Qualifying Results 2019
| Pos | Rider | Motorcycle | Q | Gap |
| 1 | Maverick VIÑALES | YAMAHA | Q2 | 1m28.492 |
| 2 | Fabio QUARTARARO | YAMAHA | Q2 | +0.551 |
| 3 | Marc MARQUEZ | HONDA | Q2 | +0.724 |
| 4 | Valentino ROSSI | YAMAHA | Q2 | +0.751 |
| 5 | Danilo PETRUCCI | DUCATI | Q2 | +0.847 |
| 6 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | HONDA | Q2 | +1.043 |
| 7 | Aleix ESPARGARO | APRILIA | Q2 | +1.066 |
| 8 | Andrea IANNONE | APRILIA | Q2 | +1.089 |
| 9 | Jack MILLER | DUCATI | Q2 | +1.123 |
| 10 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | DUCATI | Q2 | +1.175 |
| 11 | Franco MORBIDELLI | YAMAHA | Q2 | +1.224 |
| 12 | Alex RINS | SUZUKI | Q2 | +1.455 |
| 13 | Joan MIR | SUZUKI | Q1 | (*) +0.763 |
| 14 | Johann ZARCO | HONDA | Q1 | (*) +1.059 |
| 15 | Francesco BAGNAIA | DUCATI | Q1 | (*) +1.126 |
| 16 | Karel ABRAHAM | DUCATI | Q1 | (*) +1.216 |
| 17 | Pol ESPARGARO | KTM | Q1 | (*) +1.231 |
| 18 | Mika KALLIO | KTM | Q1 | (*) +1.546 |
| 19 | Jorge LORENZO | HONDA | Q1 | (*)+ 2.230 |
| 20 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | KTM | Q1 | (*)+ 2.336 |
| 21 | Tito RABAT | DUCATI | Q1 | (*)+ 2.992 |
Source: MCNews.com.au