Miller in KTM practice blinder; blundering title leader trips up again: MotoGP wrap

Title leader Francesco Bagnaia has failed to directly qualify for the top 10 on the grid for the second week in a row in a crucial timed practice session headed by KTM teammates Brad Binder and Aussie Jack Miller.

Bagnaia had been off the pace all session and found himself needing to set a competitive time in the last three minutes of the hour.

Championship rival Jorge Martin, among a gaggle of other riders, disrupted his rhythm by picking up his slipstream on his first lap. Bagnaia attempted to shake the pack but in doing so compromised his first lap, which ended with an unrepresentative time.

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His second tour was faster but not good enough, leaving him 11th in the order with time enough for only one final flying lap.

But that effort was spoilt almost immediately, with the Italian appearing to run wide into the first corner.

The reigning championship ended the day 11th and 0.186 seconds short of the top 10, which will force him to navigate a tricky Q1 session tomorrow morning for a spot in the top-12 shootout for pole.

Martin had had a comfortable handle on the session, so much so that he was free to seek Bagnaia’s slipstream in those critical final minutes.

The draft put him on track to set what likely would have been the fastest time of the session, but the Spaniard rolled out of the lap exiting the final turn, leaving him fourth on an otherwise dominant day.

In his absence Binder and home favourite Miller were able to score a strong result for KTM, the pair split by just 0.148 seconds.

Miller left it late to join his teammate at the top, with his final flying lap getting him ahead of 2018 Australian Grand Prix winner Maverick Viñales by 0.121 seconds.

Martin finished ahead of an impressive Pol Espargaró and outside title chance Marco Bezzecchi, the last riders within a second of pace-setter Binder.

Fabio di Giannantonio’s renaissance continued with direct Q2 qualification from seventh ahead of factory Ducati Enea Bastianini, who again bested teammate Bagnaia in Friday practice, having knocked his teammate out of the top 10 last Friday in Indonesia too.

Aleix Espargaró was ninth in the second factory Aprilia entry, with Pramac’s Johann Zarco taking the final Q2 berth in 10th.

The fight for Q1 will be fierce, with Bagnaia, Alex and Marc Márquez, 2022 Australian Grand Prix winner Álex Rins, Fabio Quartararo and Luca Marini all set to battle for the two promotion spots into Q2.

Márquez’s day started badly, with a slow-speed crash at turn 10 reminiscent of a similar off at the same turn in 2019. But whereas four years ago he managed a magical save, there was no rescuing his capricious Honda machine this year, which tipped him into a clumsy but harmless spin on the apex.

The same turn also caught out Fabio Quartararo, albeit via traffic, with Augusto Fernández wandering mindlessly across the track and blocking the Frenchman on his final flying lap.

MARTIN DOMINATES FP1 AFTER BUGS BUG BAGNAIA

Title leader Francesco Bagnaia has ended first practice at the Australian Grand Prix in 11th after an enormous insect splattered itself over his handlebars, preventing him from getting a grip on his brake lever.

His principal championship challenger, Jorge Martin, dominated the session in a foreboding performance from the Pramac-riding Spaniard.

Martin was fastest from the off, taking top spot with just his fifth lap of the session and doubling down at the chequered flag with a pair of sizzling laps, the last of which set the benchmark at 1 minute 29.039 seconds.

His fastest lap was 0.72 seconds faster than the rest of the field, with only Augusto Fernández in second and Maverick Viñales in third within a second of the leader.

The eye-catching performance will have done much to shake off the hangover of Martin’s crash from the lead of the Indonesian Grand Prix, which cost him the championship lead to Bagnaia after having led the title race for barely 24 hours.

Bagnaia’s lowly 11th place came after the Italian rider had several offs around the lap, including taking to the escape road at Miller Corner and a wide moment at turn 10.

But Bagnaia was most affected by a giant insect strike to his right hand and handlebars that restricted his access to the brakes, requiring a pit stop for a wipe down.

Brad Binder was fourth for KTM ahead of Johann Zarco, Marco Bezzecchi and Alex Márquez.

Jack Miller was eighth on the second KTM, the Aussie 1.4 seconds off the back but less than 0.2 seconds behind teammate Binder.

Enea Bastianini was the lead factory Ducati in ninth ahead of Aleix Espargaró in 10th.

Marc Márquez’s was the first man to hit the deck with a crash at the downhill turn 10, where his front tyre washed out exiting the corner and send him sliding into the stones.

The Phillip Island circuit is heavily biased by left-side corners — it’s the most asymmetrical track on the calendar in terms of tyre usage. Turn 10 is one of only three demanding right-hand corners and follows a long run of fast left-hand sweeps, perhaps explaining the spill.

He ended the session 12th ahead of Pol Espargaró.

Álex Rins, winner of last year’s grand prix, was the sessions only other crasher, losing the front through Siberia, turn 6, and skidding into the gravel.

Rins is still recovering from a broken leg sustained in June’s Italian Grand Prix. His first full round back on the bike was last weekend’s Indonesian Grand Prix. The Spaniard is still limping but appeared to suffer no injury from his latest off.

Rins was 14th in the final reckoning ahead of Raúl Fernández, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Takaaki Nakagami.

Yamaha teammates Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli led Joan Mir and Miguel Oliveira, while Luca Marini propped up the order in 22nd, his highlight being saving what could have been a monumental snap of the rear tyre out of the final corner.

GEESE DISRUPT MOTO2 SECOND PRACTICE

A pair of wandering geese temporarily disrupted Moto2 second practice at Phillip Island, though the waterfowls couldn’t stop Fermín Aldeguer from topping his second time sheet of the day.

Aldeguer saved his best lap until late, setting a fastest lap of 1 minutes 32.548 seconds to beat Aron Canet by 0.138 seconds.

Canet attempted to usurp the Spaniard at the top of the order but crashed out at Miller Corner, turn 4, in the process, truncating his session with a few minutes remaining.

His fall came only a few minutes after title leader Pedro Acosta hit the deck at the same turn, though he was able to secure fourth place in the session behind Jake Dixon, the pair a little over half a second off the pace.

The clean and tidy session — in stark contrast to the crash-prone first practice — was highlighted by a pair of Cape Barren geese crossing the top of the track.

It was repeat of a similar goose-related incident at this circuit on qualifying day last season.

Wildlife crossings are common at Phillip Island given the expanses of surrounding farmland, with birds and marsupials frequent visitors to the track.

The geese were ushered off the track unharmed.

MUÑOZ RETAINS TOP SPOT IN FP2 AS KELSO NABS LIKELY Q2 BERTH

David Muñoz has pipped Stefano Nepa to top spot of the crucial second practice session for Moto3 but is under investigation for punting substitute Nicola Carraro off the road at Miller Corner.

Muñoz was on what turned out to be his fastest lap when he dived down Carraro’s inside, sending the Italian careering off his bike.

Carraro came perilously close to being run over by Mario Aji but fortunately escaped unscathed, with some of the pursuing riders forced to stop by the side of the road to avoid becoming collateral damage.

Aussie Joel Kelso has almost certainly secured direct qualification for the top-14 Q2 session tomorrow, with forecast rain on Saturday likely to mean riders will be unable to improve their times during third practice.

Kelso topped the session at the halfway mark with an impressive pair of laps, though he was caught short in the final flurry of rapid times and dropped to eighth, though it was more than enough to see him through to the pole-setting session if the forecast proves accurate.

Diogo Moreira, title contender Ayumu Sasaki and Deniz Öncü filled places three to five in the order, while championship leader Jaume Masià was sixth.

Masià had a difficult session, with an apparent technical problem forcing him off the circuit early in the 35 minutes. He treated fans to the slightly bizarre image of him having to kick himself through the grass, treating his bike like a scooter, and then appearing to have to discuss with trackside personnel what to do with his stricken machine.

Fortunately his Leopard Honda was returned to his garage before the end of the session, allowing him to compete for a top-14 spot.

Scott Ogden’s woeful day continued, with the Britain suffering another technical problem just two laps into the session, following his double mechanical dismount in FP1. He was spotted by TV cameras abandoning his bike in the gravel in frustration and sitting angrily on the tyre bundles as his rivals sped past unhindered.

ALDEGUER AHEAD IN CRASH-STREWN MOTO2 FP1

Fermín Aldeguer has beaten title leader Pedro Acosta to top spot in a crash-interrupted first practice session for Moto2.

Aldeguer was rapid all morning, setting a formidable pace with his first series of hot laps and then lowering the benchmark in the final five minutes to 1 minutes 32.794 seconds.

Acosta, who leads the intermediate-class championship by 65 points, was 0.209 seconds adrift.

Arón Canet completed the all-Spanish top three, lapping within 0.444 seconds of the leader.

American Joe Roberts and 2022 Australian Grand Prix winner Alonso López completed the top five.

The opening practice session featured several crashes, including for leader Aldeguer.

The Speed Up rider had just set what was then the fastest lap of the session when he got it all wrong through Southern Loop, riding off the road and clipping the grass.

Miller Corner was a bigger hot spot, however, with both Filip Salač and Somkiat Chantra falling off under brakes at turn 4.

Salač locked his front wheel rumbling over the kerbs and was spat off his bike. Chantra’s off was more innocuous, sliding off the bike as he attempted to tip into the corner. Both walked away unscathed.

KELSO SEVENTH IN OPENING MOTO3 PRACTICE

Australia’s Joel Kelso has finished seventh fastest in Moto3’s opening practice session at Phillip Island topped by David Muñoz.

Muñoz set a sizzling pace at the front, his best time of 1 minutes 37.638 seconds more than 0.26 seconds quicker than the rest of the pack.

Title contender Ayumu Sasaki and current leader Jaume Masià had been closely matched in second and thir, but the latter had his late laps hindered by a gaggle of riders travelling slowly on the racing line, almost triggering a significant accident.

Muñoz, José Antonio Rueda, Mario Aji, Xavier Artigas all appeared to be in involved in an incident that’s been sent to the stewards.

Sasaki held second to the end of the session, but Riccardo Rossi, Adrián Fernández and Diogo Moreira slipped past Masià to take places three to five.

The incensed Masià ended up sixth ahead of Darwin native Kelso, who had been a perpetual presence near the top of the time sheet until late in the session, when he wasn’t able to continue with the leaders.

Matteo Bertelle was the session’s only crasher, with a big off at turn 10 under braking. His bike snapped from under him, launching him into the air and his bike into the stones. The Italian walked away uninjured.

Briton Scott Ogden was twice forced to dismount his VisionTrack Honda on the circuit with apparent technical problems.

MILLER ‘QUIETLY CONFIDENT’ OF BIG RESULT

Jack Miller is starting the weekend with an optimistic mindset, with the Aussie hopeful that KTM’s latest upgrade package will stand him in good stead for a big result at his home race.

KTM has switched from a steel chassis to an advanced carbon fibre frame in recent rounds, a major development in MotoGP research and development.

Ducati tried an abandoned a similar concept last decade. The Italian team and most others use aluminium.

“The bike’s been working really good as of late,” he said. “I’m feeling very comfortable.

“I had good pace in both Japan and Indonesia. I’m looking forward to hopefully just moving on that this weekend and challenging [the leaders].”

You can read more of Miller’s thoughts ahead of his first home race in the premier class representing KTM here.

TITLE CONTENDER MARTIN PUTS INDONESIA CRASH BEHIND HIM

It’s been a difficult few days for title contender Jorge Martin on the trip from Lombok to Melbourne.

The Spaniard had had last weekend’s the Indonesian Grand Prix in his hands with a dominant three-second lead over the field while his championship rival, Francesco Bagnaia, was still picking his way through the field from 13th on the grid.

But then he ran marginally wide at turn 10, picked up some dirt on his tyres and crashed at the next corner, putting himself out of the race.

He’d been leading the title race by seven points at the time after taking top spot in the sprint the day before. By the end of Sunday he was 18 points back behind.

“I think it was the shortest lead in history, less than 24 hours!” he joked in Melbourne.

“For sure it was not easy. After the race that evening I was thinking a lot.

“But then I’m lucky we have this race straightaway to start thinking about this weekend. Let’s try to do it well here.

“Hopefully I can recover those points.”

Martin said he was buoyed by the fact he demonstrated good pace in Indonesia, which in turn was coming off the back of a glittering three-race run delivering three sprint victories and a pair of grand prix wins.

“I think we don’t have to change anything,” he said. “We are competitive every weekend. We are almost fighting for the win always. We just have to do the same.

“I’m confident in all the areas. I feel I am strong, I’m fast. I have to be calm. I have to try to take profit of this speed.

“It will be super nice to at least have the chance in Valencia to fight for the championship. But anything can happen I will just try to be competitive.”

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