MotoGP: Zarco fastest on Friday at Phillip Island

Friday saw The doom and gloom weather of Wednesday and Thursday depart Phillip Island and sun shone more or less throughout the day, with just sporadic spits of rain falling between MotoGP practice sessions for the Animoca Brands Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Wind was a persistent challenge for the premier class, picking up especially in the afternoon session.

The home crowd, mercifully dry but surely ankle-deep in mud that had overtaken the fields surrounding the rural circuit, were treated to a morning of sunshine.

Johann Zarco has made a statement with yet another session-topping performance. The Prima Pramac Racing rider was quickest in MotoGP FP1 at Phillip Island and ensured his name stayed next to P1 on the timesheet when he set a late 1:29.475 in FP2.

Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) made for an all-Ducati top two at the end of Friday’s running Down Under, but there were four different manufacturers in the top five thanks to the efforts of Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) in third, World Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) in fourth, and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) in fifth.

Having sizzled near the top of the time sheet on Friday morning — he would’ve been outright fastest had he not encountered traffic on his final flyer — local hero Jack Miller slumped to 13th in the combined times at the end of FP2, giving himself a mountain of work to do on Saturday if he wants direct Q2 qualification.

Most of Miller’s time was lost in the final split, where he’d been fastest during FP1.

Things were better for Francesco Bagnaia, who at least is provisionally through to Q2 as it stands, but he was a lukewarm eighth.

Miller said the issue was principally one of set-up, which is a unique challenge around this fast track.

“Not the most ideal first day, but I’ve had worse, that’s for certain.

“This arvo I had a little issue with the rear. The thing kept squatting, and around here, especially with the wind that was blowing, I just couldn‘t get the front loaded in a lot of these fast corners.

“I just wasn’t able to really push or put a lap together.”

Friday Results