PHILLIP ISLAND (AUSTRALIA) (ITALPRESS) – At dawn in Italy, MotoGP fans woke up having to deal with Marc Marquez in great form. During the pre-qualifying of the Australian Grand Prix, the eight-time world champion hafatto record the best time in 1’27″770, preceding on the day’s podium his brother Alex (+0″102), in second place, andezzecchi (+0″188), in third. His two rivals in the world championship, Martin eBagnaia, are fourth (+0″197) and fifth (+0″243), respectively.Overall, it was a Friday not without its upsets and inconveniences. The long-awaited rain was indeed there andaffected the FP1s of the lower classes, even leading to the cancellation of those of the premier class. ThePractice, then, for the riders represented the first seasonal approach to the Philipp Island circuit. During pre-qualifying, the red flag was also waved after just fifteen minutes, due to the presence of wild geese along the track. This first Australian day, however, well highlighted the good form of the Ducati 2023s, which were able to monopolize the podium in Practice. A satisfied Marc Marquez commented on his own performance today, “I like the track a lot and the fact that it curves left gives me a hand. It was a stressful session, but I’m happy with how my weekend started.” On the other hand, on the other hand, Marco Bezzecchi told about his approach to Practice, also considering the weather variability: “We were afraid that it might rain again. That’s why we started immediately loaded to try to set good times. There is still a lot of work to do for tomorrow, but I must say that the bike corners much better than usual.” Ducati’s domination, as is now customary, also extends throughout the top five. Well Jorge Martin, author of the fourth time and very consistent in pace. The only smear in the day of the Spaniard was the fall at the start of Practice in avoiding a collision onQuartararo. Goal also achieved for Pecco Bagnaia as revealed by him. The priority of the pilot of Chivasso, in fact, eracentrare the direct Q2, fixing some details of setup. Looking ahead to tomorrow, Pecco appeared very confident, identifying Marquez as the main opponent to watch in order to grow: “I had a chance to review a lap of Marc and he makes the difference in the second sector, especially at turn six. We lose ground there, but otherwise the trend is similar throughout the rest of the track.” In order, Maverick Vinales, Brad Binder, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Franco Morbidelli and Alex Rins complete the top ten. Several excellent exclusions stand out, including those of Acosta, Bastianini and Quartararo. Also out are the Hondas, albeit Zarco’s decent times, which came in the opening session. As for tomorrow’s schedule, MotoGP qualifying is scheduled in the night at 1:45, while the Sprint will be at 6.- Photo Ipa Agency -(ITALPRESS).
