MotoGP 2023
Round 16 – Australia Grand Prix
Qualifying
The Saturday morning practice session was a busy one with many riders putting in plenty of laps however Alex Rins sat the session out after deciding to pull out of the weekend due to the pain he is suffering with his leg.
Jorge Martin topped the morning session and also put in the most laps at 16 but most of the field put in 14 or 15 laps and used that track time to great effect.
There were some major changes happening on the rear end of Jack Miller’s KTM RC16 when he pitted after his first run. As to exactly what they were changing, they were very keen on me not seeing…
MotoGP Q1
Pecco Bagnaia was quickly into the 1m28s, a 1m28.784, then undercut that on his next lap with a 1m28.543 only to be bettered by Augusto Fernandez, the GASGAS rider down to 1m28.435. Fernandez has a three-place grid penalty for impeding Quartararo on Friday to serve in this afternoon’s race.
The track was busy as the riders exited together for their second run. Bagnaia got a good run that was assisted around the final turns and onto the chute with Luca Marini punching a hole in the air in front of him, the result a 1m28.160 to go top and Marc Marquez then went second with a 1m28.237 after similarly using Augusto Fernandez for a slipstream onto the chute.
Thus we have Bagnaia and Marc Marquez progressing to Q2. Alex Marquez third quickest in that session ahead of Augusto Fernandez and Raul Fernandez.
MotoGP Q1 Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Francesco BAGNAIA | DUCATI | 1m28.160 |
| 2 | Marc MARQUEZ | HONDA | +0.077 |
| 3 | Alex MARQUEZ | DUCATI | +0.164 |
| 4 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | KTM | +0.275 |
| 5 | Raul FERNANDEZ | APRILIA | +0.447 |
| 6 | Joan MIR | HONDA | +0.681 |
| 7 | Fabio QUARTARARO | YAMAHA | +0.765 |
| 8 | Luca MARINI | DUCATI | +0.887 |
| 9 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | APRILIA | +1.022 |
| 10 | Franco MORBIDELLI | YAMAHA | +1.259 |
| 11 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | HONDA | +1.672 |
MotoGP Q2
Jorge Martin wasted no time getting down to business, a shot across the bows of the competition with a 1m27.869, the fastest lap of the weekend, he then bettered that with a 1m27.846 next time around.
Marc Marquez was sat in pit lane with a fresh rear hoop in and waiting for a victim to follow out of pit-lane to try and tow him around to a fast lap. Marquez the only rider of a Japanese machine in this session.
Marquez headed out with less than five-minutes left in the session, right behind Bagnaia…. Something that the defending world champion was not keen on, taking to the long lap penalty detour lane, only for Marquez to follow him right through… It was comedy…
Red sectors were now lighting up everywhere…
Jorge Martin crossed the stripe to smash his own outright lap record, the new benchmark 1m27.246, half-a-second below the previous record… Take that! He says to the opposition…. His 12th pole position in MotoGP and his second in a row at Phillip Island.
Brad Binder a brilliant 1m27.662, also under the previous outright lap record, but four-tenths slower than Martin. Binder’s highest every qualifying position in MotoGP since he stepped up to the class in 2020.
Pecco Bagnaia will start from third place on the grid with a 1m27.714 while Aleix Espargaro heads row two with a 1m27.844.
1. Jorge Martin 1m27.246
2. Brad Binder +0.416
3. Pecco Bagnaia +0.468
This is Ducati’s 12th successive pole in MotoGP (since Le Mans), extending the factory’s best run. This is the 56th successive GP where there is at least one Ducati rider within the top three in qualifying. This is Ducati’s 14th pole position this season, two less than their best count in a single MotoGP season, set last year.
Johann Zarco fifth ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio while Marc Marquez will head row three alongside Jack Miller and Marco Bezzecchi.
Jack Miller was remonstrating with Aleix Espargaro after blaming the Aprilia rider for ruining his final run after getting in his way at Southern Loop.
If you hadn’t caught the news, due to inclement weather the 27-lap race schedule for Sunday has been brought forward to 1510 this afternoon, while the shorter Sprint Race is now slated for Sunday, weather permitting. The Sunday schedule has also been brought forward an hour, in order to try and beat the arrival of the weather. The Sunday program now has the Sprint Race slated for 1300, the Moto2 contest at 1115, and Moto3 at 1000.
MotoGP Q2 Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Gap |
| 1 | Jorge MARTIN | DUCATI | 1m27.246 |
| 2 | Brad BINDER | KTM | +0.416 |
| 3 | Francesco BAGNAIA | DUCATI | +0.468 |
| 4 | Aleix ESPARGARO | APRILIA | +0.598 |
| 5 | Johann ZARCO | DUCATI | +0.657 |
| 6 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | DUCATI | +0.673 |
| 7 | Marc MARQUEZ | HONDA | +0.766 |
| 8 | Jack MILLER | KTM | +0.828 |
| 9 | Maverick VIÑALES | APRILIA | +0.847 |
| 10 | Marco BEZZECCHI | DUCATI | +0.875 |
| 11 | Pol ESPARGARO | KTM | +0.988 |
| 12 | Enea BASTIANINI | DUCATI | +1.041 |
(Updated) Australian Grand Prix Schedule
Brought to you in AEDT by Kayo Sports
| Saturday |
||
| Time | Class | Event |
| 0840 | Moto3 | FP3 |
| 0925 | Moto2 | FP3 |
| 1010 | MotoGP | FP2 |
| 1050 | MotoGP | Q1 |
| 1115 | MotoGP | Q2 |
| 1250 | Moto3 | Q1 |
| 1315 | Moto3 | Q2 |
| 1345 | Moto2 | Q1 |
| 1410 | Moto2 | Q2 |
| 1510 | MotoGP | Race |
| Sunday | ||
| Time | Class | Event |
| 0900 | MotoGP | WUP |
| 1000 | Moto3 | Race |
| 1115 | Moto2 | Race |
| 1300 | MotoGP | Sprint |
2023 MotoGP Calendar
| Rnd | Date | Location |
| 17 | Oct-22 | Australia, Phillip Island |
| 18 | Oct-29 | Thailand, Chang |
| 19 | Nov-12 | Malaysia, Sepang |
| 20 | Nov-19 | Qatar, Lusail |
| 21 | Nov-26 | Valenciana, Valencia |
