The races may come one after the other, but the results are still not there at Aprilia. Worse, despite chassis comparisons with the old version, we seem technically completely lost and Noale's little hands are starting to get tired...
In Australia, despite a Phillip Island circuit made up of flowing curves which had suited them well in the relevant part of the Buriram circuit, the RS-GP suffered from a lack of grip which is now attributed to low temperatures. and the wind cooling the Michelin tires.
On Saturday, despite drastic changes in the settings, Aleix Espargaro and Scott Redding found a little feeling without being able to shine during qualifying.
They will start 19th and 22nd respectively on the starting grid on Sunday.
Alex Espargaro : “It was difficult to keep the tires warm today. With these low temperatures and, above all, with such a cold wind, the front tire in particular suffers. This makes the motorcycle choppy and difficult to turn. We managed to improve between FP3 and FP4, making drastic changes to the bike settings. We found a working base, but the times and our position are clearly not what we expected.”
Scott Redding : “Aleix and I are struggling on this track. Even using the softest tire I couldn't find good confidence. It almost feels like I'm using the hardest tires. For FP4, we made big changes and I was able to regain a little feeling, but the gap was confirmed in qualifying because, apparently, the other drivers are able to benefit from better grip.”
Qualifying classification 2 Australian MotoGP Grand Prix at Phillip Island:
| 1 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 1'29.199 | ||
| 2 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 1'29.509 | 0.310 | 0.310 |
| 3 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | 1'29.705 | 0.506 | 0.196 |
| 4 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | 1'29.712 | 0.513 | 0.007 |
| 5 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 1'30.026 | 0.827 | 0.314 |
| 6 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | 1'30.140 | 0.941 | 0.114 |
| 7 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 1'30.270 | 1.071 | 0.130 |
| 8 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 1'30.328 | 1.129 | 0.058 |
| 9 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'30.519 | 1.320 | 0.191 |
| 10 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | Yamaha | 1'30.593 | 1.394 | 0.074 |
| 11 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | 1'30.640 | 1.441 | 0.047 |
| 12 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | 1'32.367 | 3.168 | 1.727 |
| 13 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 1'30.174 | 0.323 | 0.069 |
| 14 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | 1'30.452 | 0.601 | 0.278 |
| 15 | 21 | Frank MORBIDELLI | Honda | 1'30.518 | 0.667 | 0.066 |
| 16 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 1'30.646 | 0.795 | 0.128 |
| 17 | 10 | Xavier SIMEON | Ducati | 1'30.679 | 0.828 | 0.033 |
| 18 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 1'30.770 | 0.919 | 0.091 |
| 19 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 1'30.911 | 1.060 | 0.141 |
| 20 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | Honda | 1'30.958 | 1.107 | 0.047 |
| 21 | 81 | Jordi TORRES | Ducati | 1'31.141 | 1.290 | 0.183 |
| 22 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Aprilia | 1'31.309 | 1.458 | 0.168 |
| 23 | 7 | Mike JONES | Ducati | 1'32.639 | 2.788 | 1.330 |
