Marco Bezzecchi has led the first day of practice for the Australian Grand Prix, where Aprilia has demonstrated to be the brand to beat at Phillip Island. Bezzecchi, after his recent victory in Indonesia, achieved a spectacular time of 1m26.775s, beating Trackhouse rider Raúl Fernández by just under a tenth of a second.
Marc Márquez, representing Ducati, was the only rider to challenge the RS-GPs of Aprilia, finishing in third place after being the fastest during the first practice session. Championship leader Jorge Martín closed the day with the fifth-best time, although 0.255 seconds off the pace of his teammates.
The one-hour session began with Márquez setting an initial benchmark aboard his Ducati, achieving a time of 1m28.209s. However, early in the session, Bezzecchi had a crash at turn 4, causing a red flag while the marshals cleared the track.
After a brief stoppage due to the presence of animals on the track, the session reopened with 41 minutes remaining. Márquez continued to show his potential, improving his time to 1m27.615s. Bezzecchi returned to the track with his second bike and took the lead with a 1m27.374s.
Qualifying simulations
In the final 20 minutes, riders performed qualifying simulations switching to soft tires. Pedro Acosta lowered the benchmark with a time of 1m27.208s aboard the factory KTM. Shortly after, Márquez clocked the first lap under the 27-minute mark, putting pressure on his rivals in the closing moments.
As the last laps drew to a close, Aprilia stood out with Fernández pushing Márquez off the top spot, but Bezzecchi responded with an unbeatable time of 1m26.775s, which he maintained until the end. Fernández finished second, followed by Márquez in third, despite not improving his last attempt.
Standings and rider situation
Ai Ogura secured fourth position with a time identical to Márquez, while Martín finished fifth, being the slowest Aprilia rider in the group. Alex Márquez ended the day in sixth position, despite having crashed at turn 4 just minutes from the end.
In other news, Enea Bastianini improved at the end to finish sixth, leaving Pedro Acosta seventh by just three hundredths. Diogo Moreira was the best Honda rider, placing ninth, while Fabio di Giannantonio secured the last spot for Q2 with the tenth-best time.
Luca Marini completed only two laps in FP1 before retiring due to a virus, and his condition will be re-evaluated on Saturday. His teammate Joan Mir also missed the weekend due to other health issues, leaving the Honda team without riders for the day.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
