2017 Phillip Island MotoGP: day one wrap

MotoGP
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Aleix Espargaro has beaten championship leader Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) to the top of the timesheets by just 0.005 seconds in the second free practice session at the 2017 Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Benefitting from the slipstream of Andrea Dovizioso’s Team Ducati GP17, Espargaro’s best time of 1m29.225s came on just the fifth of his 20 laps during the 45-minute session.

Title hopeful Dovizioso ended the session in third place with a 1:29.322.

Last year’s race winner Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) looks to have cemented his position in tomorrow’s second qualifying session – which determines the grid positions for the first four rows – after finishing fourth fastest in the session that’s widely expected to be the best conditions before the 23 riders line up for Sunday’s 27-lap race.

Despite suffering a fast crash at turn eight, Movistar Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales’ best time of 1:29.423 was good enough for fifth overall, ahead of Estrella Galicia Marc VDS rider Jack Miller (1:29.466) and Team Ecstar Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone (1:29.604).

Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s flying Frenchman Johann Zarco (1:29.667), Repsol Honda man Dani Pedrosa (1:29.702) and Red Bull KTM’s Pol Espargaro were the final three riders who look to have done enough heading into tomorrow morning’s all-important third practice session, which will be colder and possibly wetter than this afternoon’s warm and dry affair.

Australian rider Broc Parkes, who is deputising for a still-ill Jonas Folger in the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad this weekend, improved his lap times by almost a second compared to the opening practice session. However, the 35-year-old suffered a crash at the fast turn 11 towards the end of the session and finished 23rd fastest, less three seconds down on Espargaro’s session-topping time.

Three big names who will be hoping for favourable weather during tomorrow morning’s FP3 session are Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team), Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) and Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing Ducati) who ended the session in 11th, 12th and 17th respectively.

The premier class riders will be out on track again at 10.55am on Saturday morning for FP3.

Moto2
Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) has continued his rich vein of form, dominating the second crash-strewn Moto2 practice session this afternoon.

While the flying Nakagami (1:33.310) remained upright in the 45-minute session, the same can’t be said for a number of his contemporaries who all crashed out.

The headline-grabbing spill belonged to Swiss rider Tom Luthi (CarXpert Interwetten), who’s embroiled in a tight battle for the championship with Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0).

Luthi, the 2016 Phillip Island Moto2 winner, lost the front end at turn six 10 minutes into the session, but returned to action with seven minutes remaining. He completed the session in 11th position (1:34.629), while at the sharp end Dominique Aegerter (Kiefer Racing, 1:34.020) was second ahead of Pecco Bagnaia (Sky Racing Team VR46, 1:33.217), Motegi winner Alex Marquez (EG 0,0, 1:34.220), Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Pons HP40, 1:34.236) and Portuguese gun Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo, 1:34.335).

Morbidelli (1:34.336), who leads Luthi by 19 points, was seventh on the FP2 timesheet.

Australia’s Remy Gardner (Tech 3 Racing) was 19th overall, a five-spot improvement on FP1.

FP3 will be held at 11:55am on Saturday, followed by qualifying at 4:05pm.

Moto3
Spaniard Joan Mir (Leopard Racing Honda) is the man to catch after setting the fastest time in this afternoon’s second practice session.

After building a solid foundation in FP1, the world championship leader upped the ante in FP2 – not only be completing more laps than anyone else, but also with a sizzling best time of 1m37.111s.

That was more than good enough to see him complete the 40-minute session on top, with Aron Canet (EG 0,0 Honda, 1:37.341) and tall Dutchman Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo, 1:37.622) completing the top three.

A first or second place in Sunday’s 23-lap Moto3 race will see Mir clinch the 2017 championship, irrespective of how main rival Romano Fenati (Marinelli Rivacold Snipers Honda) fares.

After a crash this morning, Fenati – who celebrated his 10th win in Moto3 last Sunday in Japan – was well back in the field for most of FP2 before he found a late burst of speed to complete the session in sixth position (1:33.968).

Argentinean Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA BOE Racing Team KTM, 1:33.748) was also a big improver in FP2, fourth ahead of Spaniard Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Honda, 1:33.887).

FP1 pacesetter Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) was ninth in FP2.

Day one continued to be a tough one for Aussie wildcard Tom Toparis (Cube Racing KTM), who crashed at turn nine but was able to regroup and punch out 11 valuable laps. He was 30th out of 31 riders with a best lap of 1:42.854. Toparis, 17, didn’t complete a lap in FP1 after troubles starting his KTM.

FP3 starts at 10:00am on Saturday.

MOTOGP RESULTS

Superbike
Team Ecstar Suzuki’s Josh Waters has completed the first half of the superbike support program with a maximum points haul after winning this afternoon’s race two.

Waters guided his GSX-R1000R to a four-second victory at Phillip Island over Bryan Staring (Crankt Protein Honda Racing), but the margin didn’t reflect how hard-fought the eight-lapper was.

Staring stalked the polesitting Waters from the get-go, and made his big move down the inside of his adversary at turn 10 on the final lap. However, the move was too ambitions and Staring was forced wide onto the outside of the track, allowing Waters to move back into the lead and a clear run to the chequered flag.

Staring’s consolation was the fastest lap of the race (1:32.695).

Troy Herfoss (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) just got the better of Cru Halliday (R Star Mining Yamaha) for third, with Michael Blair (Blairbuild/Ipone Yamaha) and Corey Turner (Desmosport Ducati) completing the top six.

Race three is at 8:55am on Saturday.

Ford, who qualified on the fourth row of the grid, robbed Oli Bayliss (Kawasaki) of the lead on the run to the finish line, which saw the top six riders separated by just 0.125 seconds.

KTM rider Max Croker was second ahead of the Yamaha-mounted Jack Mahaffy.

Bayliss, who went from seventh to first at the start of the penultimate lap, was baulked by a backmarker at turn 11 on the final circuit, after which he was swamped by the chasing pack on the final run along Gardner Straight.

He finished in fourth, while the Yamahas of Zach Levy and Tom Bramich – who both led the race at one stage – rounded out the top six.

Brock Pearson (Yamaha) was seventh ahead of Seth Crump (KTM), Locky Taylor (Yamaha) and Ty Lynch (Yamaha).

The highest finishing female was Yamaha’s Tayla Relph, who finished in 12th place from 37 starters.

The second of the category’s three-race program will get underway tomorrow at 5.40pm, straight after the world championship category’s qualifying sessions.

SUPPORT CLASS RESULTS