2017 Phillip Island MotoGP: day two wrap

MotoGP qualifying
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) will head the front row in tomorrow’s MotoGP race, 10 spots and three rows ahead of title rival Andrea Dovizioso (Team Ducati).

It’s the seventh time Marc Marquez will start from pole position this season, his pole-setting lap of 1m28.386s over 0.3 seconds clear of Movistar Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales (1:28.719). Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rookie Johann Zarco (1:28.744) will complete the front row.

“I’m happy with the pace,” Marquez said. “[I’m] happy with my rhythm, so tomorrow we will just have to wait and see with the weather.”

Vinales said: “We’ve had a difficult weekend with the tyres and the weather, [but] we’re trying our best. Tomorrow we still have to improve a lot.”

Zarco said an improved feeling with a dry setup was the key to his 1:28.744 lap, in what will be his second consecutive front row start.

“Why not fight for the podium if I can, because 27 laps is quite long,” he smiled.

Team Ecstar Suzuki rider Andrea Iannone got a tow from Marquez in the early part of the session to help him secure fourth place on the grid with a 1:28.937, just ahead of Aussie Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia Marc VDS Honda, 1:28.964).

FULL RESULTS

It will be the 22-year old Australian rider’s best starting position since the championship’s fourth round at Jerez.

Red Bull KTM’s Pol Espargaro (1:29.030) is celebrating his best-ever qualifying result on the Austrian machine, too, as he completes the second row for tomorrow’s premier class race.

Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi (1:29.203) heads the third row in seventh, alongside Team Gresini Racing Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro (1:29.271) and the rapidly improving Bradley Smith (Red Bull KTM, 1:29.321).

Last year’s winner Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda, 1:29.429) was 10th after a crash towards the end of the session, and Dovizioso’s 11th place (1:29.496) represents his worst qualifying position in 13 rounds.

Dovizioso is 11 points behind Marquez with three races – and a maximum 75 points – still up for grabs.

Aussie Broc Parkes qualified in 21st place and on the outside of row seven, his 1:30.889 lap on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine better than both GP veteran Alvaro Bautista (Pull & Bear Aspar Ducati) and Briton Sam Lowes (Team Gresini Racing Aprilia).

The MotoGP riders will be out on track for their warm-up session at 11.40am tomorrow morning before their 27-lap race gets underway at 4:00pm.

Moto2 qualifying
Italian veteran Matta Pasini has wrapped up his fifth pole position in the last seven races.

The Italtrans Racing Team rider’s best lap of 1m33.300s in the 45-minute qualifying session saw him just edge out German Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP, 1:33.308), followed by Portuguese flyer Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo, 1:33.422).

Pasini was last on pole position at Phillip Island in 2007, but in the now-defunct 125cc two-stroke class.

“We take this pole today with good rhythm and feeling, and it’s important to start from the front because we don’t know how the conditions will be tomorrow,” said Pasini.

“We have a great set-up and feeling for the race. I hope to fight for the top five and maybe for the podium if it’s possible.”

Pasini, Schrotter, and Oliveira will have nothing to lose in tomorrow’s 25-lap grand prix, while for Italian Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0, 1:33.495) and Swiss rider Tom Luthi (CarXPert Interwetten, 1:34.098) they’ll have a lot more to factor into their outings.

Morbidelli leads Luthi by 19 points in the hard-fought championship, and the pair will start from fifth (row two) and 10th (row four) respectively in the Moto2 race.

Meanwhile, last year’s Moto3 winner at Phillip Island, South African Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM), qualified in fourth position – easily his best starting spot in the Moto2 category – after his 1:33.453.

Motegi winner Alex Marque EG 0,0, 1:33.749) will start alongside his teammate Morbidelli in sixth, with row three to be filled by Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia, 1:33.921), Dominque Aegerter (Kiefer Racing, 1:33.944) and Jesko Raffin (Garage Plus Interwetten, 1:33.982).

Less than one second covered the top 14 riders, with Aussie Remy Gardner (Tech 3 Racing, 1:34.500) just outside that bracket in 16th position.

Xavier Simeon (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) didn’t complete a lap in qualifying after a heavy crash at tur 11 on his first flyer, with his participation in tomorrow’s race now in severe doubt.

The Moto2 race will start at 2:20pm on Sunday.

Moto3 qualifying
Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Honda) has powered to his eighth Moto3 pole position of the season.

The Spaniard has become the master of the flying lap, and so it was again today as he slotted himself at the pointy end of the field for tomorrow’s 23-lap race after setting a best lap of 1m37.030s.

With the qualifying mission accomplished, the next major goal for Martin will be trying to win his maiden Moto3 race. He’s currently fifth in the 2017 Moto3 title, with a best finish of second at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

Martin moved into the top spot with 15 minutes to go in the 40-minute session, and that’s where he stayed ahead of Argentine Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA BOE Racing Team KTM, 1:37.248). Rodrigo also started on the Phillip Island front row in 2016.

World championship leader Joan Mir (Leopard Racing Honda, 1:37.411) will be the final front row starter as he looks to wrap up the title before the paddock heads to Malaysia next weekend.

Mir leads by 55 points over Italian Romano Fenati (Marinelli Rivacold Snipers Honda), who will start from row two sandwiched between Juanfran Guevera (RBA BOE Racing Team KTM, 1:37.544) and his teammate Jules Danilo (1:37.710).

Row three will be filled by Manuel Pagliani (CIP Mahindra, 1:37.713) and EG 0,0 teamsters Aron Canet (1:37.743) and Enea Bastianini (1:37.820).

The current Moto3 lap record is held by Aussie Jack Miller with a 1:36.302, set in 2014.

Meanwhile, it was a disappointing qualifying for Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46), who set the fastest time in opening practice but has struggled to find any rhythm since then. Bulega started from the front row last year.

Al 31 riders qualified, including Aussie wildcard Tom Toparis (Cube Racing KTM, 1:42.218).

The 23-lap Moto3 race will begin at 1:00pm on Sunday.

Jack Miller wrap
Home race favourite Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia Marc VDS) says he’s felt “stronger and stronger” with each session during the 2017 Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Speaking after qualifying on the middle of the front row for the 27-lap MotoGP race, the 22-year-old said he’s hopeful of an even better feeling tomorrow.

“The leg feels better today than it did yesterday and I’m tomorrow I ‘m hoping I will get another small improvement,” said Miller.

“I’m really happy with my performance in both wet and dry conditions, and I haven’t felt this comfortable on a bike in a while – it’s just really nice.”

Miller started the day in the rain-hampered FP3 session 10th fastest, and just over a second down on the factory Repsol Honda of Marc Marquez. It was 10th again in FP4, this time reducing to gap to the front to 0.8 seconds, before leaving his best until last for the all-important second qualifying session, firing his RC213V to fifth – just 0.5 seconds down on pole-sitter Marquez.

“I was happy to get a dry qualifying session; it made it a lot less stressful,” Miller said.

“But considering this time three weeks ago I was coming out of anaesthetic, I’m just really happy.”

Miller said he’s hopeful of a strong race tomorrow, and if the weather gods dish up some decent weather he’ll be eyeing a top eight finish.

“I think a top five would be lovely, but anywhere inside the top eight I’ll be happy,” he said.

In terms of race strategy, he said: “I just want to try and tag along with the front group as long as possible and see how the race develops.”

And if it comes down to a dry race he just might “take a gamble” on a soft tyre.

“I want to get a decent start, not get caught up in anything – especially at turn four – but starting from fifth will make that a bit easier,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow, I’m just keen to get it underway.”

Broc Parkes wrap
Aussie Broc Parkes has signed off on day two of his MotoGP fill-in role with a “really good feeling” on the Monster Energy Tech 3 Yamaha YZR-M1.

The 35-year-old from the Hunter Valley qualified in 21st position, with MotoGP regulars Alvaro Bautista (Pull & Bear Ducati) and Sam Lowes (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) behind him.

The result has left the Aussie with plenty of optimism ahead of tomorrow’s 27-lap MotoGP race, which begins at 4:00pm.

“Initially I was taking the wrong lines and wasn’t picking the bike up early enough but I sorted that out,” said Parkes.

“I started to get a really good feeling with the bike at the end of the last practice session. That then continued in qualifying, where I felt that I was able to push ever harder again.

“It’s certainly a good feeling to be ahead of a couple of championship regulars, and I would have been further up if I hadn’t got pipped by Scott Redding at the end.

“But I’m happy because I did my fastest lap by myself without getting a tow from anyone. There’s even more to come in the race with more time on the bike.”

Parkes hasn’t changed much on the Yamaha over the last few days, as he says “there’s more to be gained in me than the bike”.

“We changed a bit with electronics, but that’s about it,” Parkes said. “I don’t really like to change things too much I am within one to 1.5 seconds from the fastest riders.”

Parkes stopped the clock in qualifying at 1m30.889s, and Marc Marquez’ pole-sitting lap on the Repsol Honda was 1:28.386.

Parkes won’t make any bold predictions on how he will fare in the race.

“You never know what can happen at Phillip Island, and if the odd riders have DNFs we could be in for a point. Let’s see what unfolds in the race.

“But to see that I’m going quicker and quicker is a positive, and I’m happy not to be last in qualifying that’s for sure.”

Parkes is filling in for German Jonas Folger, who’s currently in Munich undergoing a series of tests for suspected Epstein-Barr disease.

Support categories
Superbike
It’s been the staple of the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit since its renaissance in 1988: slipstreaming battles all the way to the finish line.

And so it played out again today in the third Aussie superbike race at the 2017 Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, with Josh Waters (Tea Ecstar Suzuki) and Bryan Staring (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) delivering a rousing finish in the sketchy conditions.

Staring led onto Gardner Straight for the last time, but Waters was able to get the best of the draft to move past his great rival and take the chequered flag by a scant 0.032 seconds.

It was the third successive Waters/Staring quinella this weekend, with the fourth and final race to be held at 9:35am on Sunday.

Today’s eight-lap race began with a few damp patches around the 4.45km circuit, with Waters and Staring adopting a cautious early approach as Yamaha-mounted privateers Mitch Levy and Jed Metcher led from the front.

However, by half distance Waters and Staring had picked their way back to the front, setting the scene for the thrilling finale.

Cru Halliday (Yamaha) finished in third position, 23 seconds behind Waters, followed by Michael Blair (Yamaha), Metcher, Troy Herfoss (Honda), Levy and Dean Oughtred (BMW).

Eighteen of the 20 riders completed the distance., with Waters setting the fastest lap of the race (1:39.279).

Supersport 300
KTM rider Max Croker went one better in the second Supersport 300 race at the 2017 Michelin Australian Grand Prix to take his maiden win in the category after a race-long battle with Oli Bayliss (Kawasaki) and Jack Mahaffy (Yamaha).

Mahaffy finished second ahead of Bayliss, with the trio separated by 0.122 seconds at the end of the eight laps.

In a case of deja vu, Bayliss was again baulked by a backmarker on the last lap, making his push for the win just that little bit more difficult.

Race one winner Hunter Ford (Yamaha) came out on top in a six-rider rolling scrum fighting for fourth position, ahead of Seth Crump (KTM), Zach Levy (Yamaha), Tom Bramich (Yamaha), Broc Pearson (Yamaha) and Locky Taylor (Yamaha).

Scott Nicolson (Kawasaki) was 10th as 35 riders made it to the finish out of 37 starters.

The third and final Supersport 300 race will be held at 9:00am tomorrow.

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