Jack Miller third in FP1
Seven riders already into the 1m29s
Broc Parkes familiarising himself with Tech3 Yamaha
Tom Toparis has bike problems in Moto3 FP1
Remy Gardner 24th in opening Moto2 session
MotoGP 2017 – Round 16 – Phillip Island
Marc Marquez put in an incredible 22-laps in the opening 45-minute practice session in fine conditions at Phillip Island this morning. The defending World Champion, and current points leader, put in a best of 1m29.602 to top what was a tight session which saw Johann Zarco also in the 1m29.6s.
Markedly, Marquez put in nine-laps in the 1m29s, including six in a row. In contrast, Zarco managed only one lap under 1m30s as did third placed Jack Miller.
Jack Miller put in 21-laps in his return to racing following that leg fracture that saw him miss Motegi last week. The young Aussie put a shot across the bows of the competition by declaring he’s up for it this weekend with a 1m29.724 good enough for third quickest.
With the results from the combined practice sessions deciding who makes up the Q1 and Q2 sessions tomorrow, and Phillip Island’s unpredictable weather, FP1 might turn out to be very important this weekend.
Andrea Dovizioso, the brilliant victor at Motegi last weekend, was fourth quickest this morning ahead of Maverick Vinales and Andrea Iannone.
Both KTM riders were quick out of the blocks with Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith seventh and ninth respectively, sandwiching Jorge Lorenzo in eighth.
Cal Crutchlow rounded out the top ten this morning ahead of Dani Pedrosa, Aleix Espargaro and Valentino Rossi.
Broc Parkes put in 19-laps to familiarise himself with the Tech3 Yamaha in his last-minute draft replacing Jonas Folger in the squad. Parkes’ best of 1m33.054 rounded out the field this morning.
- Marc Marquez 1m29.602
- Johann Zarco 1m29.695
- Jack Miller 1m29.724
- Andrea Dovizioso 1m29.753
- Maverick Vinales 1m29.781
- Andrea Iannone 1m29.857
- Pol Espargaro 1m29.878
- Jorge Lorenzo 1m30.059
- Bradley Smith 1m30.279
- Cal Crutchlow 1m30.384
- Dani Pedrosa 1m30.400
- Aleix Espargaro 1m30.494
- Valentino Rossi 1m30.553
- Karel Abraham 1m30.879
- Scott Redding 1m31.001
- Danilo Petrucci 1m31.174
- Alex Rins 1m31.329
- Hector Barbera 1m31.457
- Tito Rabat 1m31.599
- Loris Baz 1m31.614
- Alvaro Bautista 1m31.994
- Sam Lowes 1m32.426
- Broc Parkes 1m33.054
Tom Toparis suffers bike problems in FP1
Tom Toparis took to the track in what his second race weekend in Moto3 but the Goulburn youngster immediately felt something was wrong with his machine, thus returned to the pits. Toparis did not complete a full lap at all in the opening 40-minute FP1 session, costing the youngster vitally important track time in his wildcard appearance in front of his home crowd.
Nicolo Bulega topped the session for KTM with a 1m38.582 besting second placed Honda man Enea Bastianin and Japanese SIC Racing Team rider Ayumu Sasaki. Championship leader Joan Mir was fourth quickest ahead of Bo Bendsneyder and fellow KTM rider Niccolo Antonelli.
Remy Gardner 24th in Moto2 FP1
Takaaki Nakagami comprehensively topped the opening Moto2 session of the weekend with a 1m33.313 on the Honda Team Asia entry ahead of Mattia Pasini, 1m33.986, and Miguel Oliveira, 1m34.119.
Championship challengers Franco Morbidelli and Thomas Luthi were fourth and sixth respectively, straddling Suter’s Dominique Aegerter in fifth.
Remy Gardner put in 17-laps for a best of 1m35.867 to end the session 24th quickest.
