#AustralianGP Moto3 FP2: Joan Mir as boss

Widely leading the World Championship with three races remaining, Joan Mir set the best time of this first day, ahead of Aron Canet, Bo Bendsneyder, Gabriel Rodrigo, Jorge Martin and Romano Fenati.

#AustralianGP Moto3™	2016	2017
FP1	1'49.589 Nicolo Bulega	1'38.582 Nicolo Bulega
FP2	1'54.692 John McPhee	1'37.111 Joan Mir
FP3	1'45.429 Francesco Bagnaia
Qualification	1'37.696 Brad Binder
Warm Up	1'37.558 Andrea Locatelli
Course	Binder, Locatelli, Canet (see here)
All time lap record	1'36.050 Alex Marquez 2014

The best time achieved in the first session was that of Nicolo Bulega in 1'38.582, before the Italian fell just in front of Aron Canet, unintentionally causing the Spaniard to fall, for which he immediately apologized. At the start of the afternoon, the air temperature was 15° and that of the track 32°.

Jorge Martin started the second free practice session at a very good pace in 1'38.190, already significantly faster than the best time of the morning. He clearly preceded Marcos Ramirez by 0.6 and Joan Mir by 0.7. Lorenzo Dalla Porta was stopped on the circuit due to damage to his official Team Aspar Mahindra. His teammate Albert Arenas was replaced by Maria Herrera, who had set the thirtieth and final time of FP1, Phillip Island certainly not being the best place to discover the Mahindra.

Local wild card driver Tom Toparis fell without seriousness. Everything was going well for Romano Fenati, victim of a big high side during the first session.

Thumbs up from @RomanoFenati after his big off this morning 👍

We're back to the action as # Moto3 FP2 gets underway#AustralianGP pic.twitter.com/btmn2thYJE

- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) October 20, 2017

Behind Martin still leading in 1'38.190, Joan Mir closed to 0.023, 0.3 ahead of Ayumu Sasaki and Bo Bendsneyder. At mid-session Jules Danilo was in a good seventh position ahead of Marcos Ramirez. Mir took the best time in 1'38.149, 0.04 ahead of Jorge Martin. Bo Bendsneyder made clear progress in 1'37.622, an interesting time because it was 1.3 short of Jack Miller's lap record, set in 2014. However, it was not certain that the time would be beaten on Sunday in the race, as rain was feared.

Joan Mir took the lead with 7 minutes to go in 1'37.398, one second off Miller's lap record. The Spaniard preceded Bendsneyder by 0.2. Then Mir accelerated to 1'37.111, ahead of Bendsneyder by 0.5 and Martin by 0.7. Danilo was ninth at 1.6. In the last four minutes, Romano Fenati went from twenty-fifth to fourth place, 0.8 behind the leader.

🏁 # Moto3 FP2

An ominous sign for the rest of the field as @Joanmir36 sets the pace ahead @aroncanet44 and @bobendsneyder #AustralianGP pic.twitter.com/8PuwGmFRmZ

- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) October 20, 2017

Joan Mir kept the best time of this first day in 1'37.111, ahead of Aron Canet, Bo Bendsneyder, Gabriel Rodrigo, Jorge Martin and Romano Fenati. Jules Danilo was in twelfth position.

Results of the first day (thanks to crash.net):

1. Joan mir SPA Leopard Racing (Honda) 1m 37.111s
2. Aron canet SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 1m 37.341s
3. Will Bendsneyder NED Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 1m 37.622s
4. gabriel rodrigo ARG RBA BOE Racing Team (KTM) 1m 37.748s
5. George Martin SPA Del Conca Gresini Moto3 (Honda) 1m 37.887s
6. Roman Fenati ITA Marinelli Rivacold Snipers (Honda) 1m 37.968s
7. Juanfran Guevara SPA RBA BOE Racing Team (KTM) 1m 38.004s
8. Tatsuki suzuki JPN SIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda) 1m 38.007s
9. Nicholas Bulega ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 1m 38.072s
10. Marcos Ramirez SPA Platinum Bay Real Estate (KTM) 1m 38.103s
11. Marco Bezzecchi ITA CIP (Mahindra) 1m 38.147s
12. Jules Danilo FRA Marinelli Rivacold Snipers (Honda) 1m 38.242s
13. Niccolo Antonelli ITA Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 1m 38.357s
14. Darryn binder RSA Platinum Bay Real Estate (KTM) 1m 38.492s
15. Manuel Pagliani ITA CIP (Mahindra) 1m 38.494s
16. Ayumu Sasaki JPN SIC Racing Team (Honda) 1m 38.505s
17. Philipp Oettl GER Südmetall Schedl GP Racing (KTM) 1m 38.564s
18. Enea Bastianini ITA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 1m 38.564s
19. Jakub Kornfeil CZE Peugeot MC Saxoprint (Peugeot) 1m 38.803s
20. Adam Norrodin MAL SIC Racing Team (Honda) 1m 38.892s
21. Fabio DiGiannantonio ITA Del Conca Gresini Moto3 (Honda) 1m 38.925s
22. Andrea Migno ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 1m 38.956s
23. Tony Arbolino ITA SIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda) 1m 39.059s
24. John mcphee GBR British Talent Team (Honda) 1m 39.133s
25. Livio Law BEL Leopard Racing (Honda) 1m 39.197s
26. Nakarin Atiratphuvapat THA Honda Team Asia (Honda) 1m 39.436s
27. Maria Herrera SPA Aspar Mahindra Moto3 (Mahindra) 1m 41.097s
28. Patrick Pulkkinen END Peugeot MC Saxoprint (Peugeot) 1m 41.550s
29. Kaito Toba JPN Honda Team Asia (Honda) 1m 41.587s
30. Tom Toparis AUS Cube Racing (KTM) 1m 42.854s