Honda’s Marc Marquez took pole for MotoGP’s Australian GP ta Phillip Island from Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales and Tech 3 Yamaha’s Johann Zarco.
Q1:
The first part of qualifying saw a close fight for second after Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista made a quick work at the top with a 1m29.851s to find a place in Q2. Angel Nieto Ducati’s Karel Abraham abode the GP17 was quick all-through as well.
The Czech rider got tow from his teammate Bautista for much of the session but KTM’s Pol Espargaro found more pace to take second away from Abraham with a 1m30.105s. Abraham (1m30.174s) did improve on his final attempt but was only third.
He will start 13th with LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami (1m30.452s) in 14th with Marc VDS Honda’s Franco Morbidelli (1m30.518s) only 0.066s behind the Japanese rider. KTM’s Bradley Smith (1m30.646s) was 16th.
Close 17th was Avintia Racing’s Xavier Simeon (1m30.679s) with Honda’s Dani Pedrosa (1m30.770s) only 18th from Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro (1m30.911s) and Marc VDS Honda’s Thomas Luthi (1m30.958s).
Avintia Racing’s Ducati’s Jordi Torres (1m31.141s) was 21st with Aprilia’s Scott Redding (1m31.309s) in 22nd while Angel Nieto Ducati’s Mike Jones (1m32.639s) rounding the 23 runners.
Q2:
The slippery conditions due to the weather in the second part of qualifying had many riders in a fix but Marquez took provisional pole despite quick laps from Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone, Vinales and Zarco.
However, Marquez still went quicker even those conditions with a 1m29.199s to take pole at Phillip Island pushing Vinales (1m29.509s) to second, Zarco (1m29.705s) in third and Iannone (1m29.712s) to fourth.
The Italian’s teammate Alex Rins (1m30.026s) was fifth with Pramac Racing Ducati’s Jack Miller (1m30.140s) slotting in sixth ahead of Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi (1m30.270s) – the Italian unable to match his teammate’s time.
Pramac Racing Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci (1m30.328s) finished eighth from factory Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso (1m30.519s). The Italian like in the practice sessions couldn’t better on his runs with his teammate Bautista only 12th after a fall.
Tech 3 Yamaha’s Hafizh Syahrin (1m30.593s) was 10th as the Malaysian registered his best qualifying result in MotoGP after his first direct Q2 run with KTM’s Espargaro (1m30.640s) finishing 11th.
