By MotoGP
TALK about smashing the previous lap record! Marco Bezzecchi’s (Aprilia Racing) unbelievably rapid 1:26.492 sees the Italian comfortably lead the MotoGP pack heading into Saturday at the Liqui Moly Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, and it’s another Aprilia rider acting as the #72’s closest challenger. Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) improved late on to make it an RS-GP 1-2 in Practice at Phillip Island, with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) rounding out the top three as fellow Ducati star Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), our latest winner, misses the Q2 cut.
HOW PRACTICE UNFOLDED
MotoGP Practice, much like FP1, started with Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) pull back into pit lane, shaking his head. Something wasn’t clicking with the Italian’s number one bike, so a swap to the second Ducati was again on the agenda. And once again, Pecco was immediately looking more at home as he promoted himself into P5 with 15 minutes of the session gone.
Bezzecchi led from Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in the opening part of a dry but cold and windy Practice, before Di Giannantonio took over at the top with 37 minutes to go – the Italian setting a 1:27.483 to shuffle ahead of Bezzecchi.
Acosta’s small crash at Turn 4 put a brief halt to his session with just under 40 minutes to go, the #37 was back on track just over 10 minutes later, as the big changes began to unfold heading into the closing 15 minutes.
Home hero Jack Miller was a big mover on his Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP machine. The Australian fired his way up to P2, 0.023s behind Di Giannantonio, before Miller then went one better to top Practice with 14 minutes left on the clock. That didn’t last long though. Bezzecchi moved the goalposts with a 1:27.099, before the Italian then delivered a showstopper – a 1:26.580, a new all-time lap record by 0.666s. ‘Have that!’, said the #72.
El Diablo - also known as Fabio Quartararo – made it a Monster Energy Yamaha 2-3 behind Bezzecchi, with teammate Alex Rins sitting ahead of fourth fastest Fernandez. The latest movements meant Bagnaia found himself outside the top 10, while the #63’s rival for a P2 overall finish, Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), jumped up to P3 to split the factory Yamahas.
With two minutes to go, Pecco still sat outside the top 10. But he was on a personal best lap three-quarters of the way round. A 1:27.132 was good enough to send Pecco into P7, before that was P8 as Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Maverick Viñales’ stand-in, made his way into the automatic Q2 places.
Lighting up the timing screens again shortly after was Bezzecchi. Surely another all-time lap record wasn’t inbound? Well, yes, it was. Bez landed a 1:26.492 to extend his mega advantage at the top to over four tenths, before Fernandez made it an Aprilia 1-2 to get within three tenths of the pacesetter – a top lap from the Trackhouse rider.
Attention then turned to Indonesian GP winner Aldeguer. Sat P11, could the rookie set a last-gasp personal best lap to knock Acosta out of the top 10? He came close, 0.005s off in fact, but it wasn’t enough. Our latest Grand Prix winner will need to come through Q1.
YOUR AUSTRALIAN GP TOP 10
Can anyone catch Bezzecchi in qualifying will be the question heading into Saturday, as Aprilia enjoy a fantastic day at the office at Phillip Island. Fernandez sails into Q2 with a very strong P2, with Di Giannantonio a comfortable P3. The Italian is the fastest Ducati on Friday, while Quartararo is the quickest Yamaha in P4.
Alex Marquez completed the top five, as Rins, Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) and the impressive Espargaro enjoy top eight results in Practice. Bagnaia slipped to P9 by the chequered flag, but it’s job done in terms of getting straight into Q2, with Acosta just about holding onto P10.
COMING UP: SATURDAY ON THE ISLAND
Q1 should be an enticing affair with the likes of Aldeguer, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Miller, Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol), 2023 winner Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) and more all fighting for a top two spot before the pole position shootout begins.