MotoGP Australia LIVE Qualifying: Jorge Martin untouchable, Johann Zarco P5, Fabio Quartararo P17

The southern weather added its own hazards to spice up the 16th chapter of the season, which is currently taking place on Phillip Island in Australia,the suspense of a world championship MotoGP that a priori seven drivers can still win.

But while waiting to know whether the Sprint postponed to Sunday will take place or not (with the 12 points resulting from it), the Friday practice has already delivered its verdict, preselecting the 10 fastest for direct access to the first four rows of the starting grid: Brad Binder, Jack Miller, Maverick Vinales, George Martin, Espargaro Pol, Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Enea Bastianini, Aleix Espargaro et Johann zarco.

We cannot fail to note in this list the absence of the championship leader, Francesco Bagnaia, as well as those of sizes such Marc Marquez ou fabio quartararo, who only have 30 minutes of this FP2 left to refine their choices and settings with a view to a possible repechage during Qualification 1.

While waiting to discover more, in this case the order of everyone on the grid following the qualifications earlier, when the 21 official drivers (Alex Rins is out) are preparing to take the dry track despite a cloudy sky and cool temperatures of 18° in the air and 21° on the ground, here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.

Phillip Island MotoGP™	2022	2023
FP1	1'30.368 Johann Zarco (See here)	1'29.039 Jorge Martin (See here)
Practice	1'29.475 Johann Zarco (See here)	1.27.943 Brad Binder (See here)
FP2	1'28.462 Marc Marquez (See here)	1'29.299 Jorge Martin (See here)
FP4	1'28.976 Maverick Viñales (See here)	XXXXX
Q1	1'28.132 Johann Zarco (See here)	1'28.160 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)
Q2	1'27.767 Jorge Martin (See here)	1'27.246 Jorge Martin (See here)
Course	Rins, Marc Marquez, Bagnaia (See here)
Warm-up	1'36.804 Johann Zarco (See here)
Sprint	XXXXX
All time lap record	1'27.767 Jorge Martin (2022)	1'27.246 Jorge Martin (See here)

Qualification 1:

In the FP2 which has just ended, if Jorge Martin clearly displayed his potential, Francis Bagnaia seems to have regained some competitiveness. Let's see if he gets drafted in this 15 minute session...

His strategy is to leave last, with Fabio Quartararo and Joan Mir by his side.

At the end of the first round, Miguel Oliveira registered the first reference in 1'30.500 but it's good Francis Bagnaia which turns out to be the fastest in 1'28.784 in front Fabio Quartararo and Joan Mir...

Augusto Fernandez takes command in 1'28.435 ahead Marc Marquez, and during this second round launched  Francis Bagnaia can't do better than second.

When entering the box mid-session, the hierarchy is made up of Augusto Fernandez, Francesco Bagnaia, Marc Márquez, Raul Fernandez, Alex Márquez, Fabio Quartararo, Joan Mir, Luca Marini, Franco Morbidelli, Miguel Oliveira and Takaaki Nakagami.

Everyone takes their time before the final confrontation which will take place over two rounds…

On resumption, Augusto Fernandez lets everyone pass to avoid playing tug. But Marc Márquez waits for a wheel and finally opts for Augusto Fernandez.

Francis Bagnaia profit from Luca Marini in focus to take the lead in 1'28.160.

In the last round, Francis Bagnaia does not improve but Marc Márquez take advantage ofAugusto Fernandez to be the second drafted, undoubtedly to the great dismay of the Tech3 team.

fabio quartararo, very disappointed, will have to settle for 17th position on the grid…

Results from qualifying 1 of the MotoGP Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island:

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Qualification 2:

Barely time to catch his breath and we're off for the final 15-minute qualification. Francesco Bagnaia et Marc Márquez have therefore been drafted into Q1, and now have 15 minutes to face George Martin which seems inaccessible.

He rushes first while Francesco Bagnaia takes a few extra seconds before returning to the track.

1'27.869, this is the first reference displayed by George Martin during his first flying lap. We are 1/10 away from the track record!

On the next pass, the Pramac driver's time showed 1'27.846, ahead of Brad Binder, Francesco Bagnaia, Johann Zarco, Aleix Espargaro, Maverick Vinales and Fabio Di Giannantonio while Marc Márquez has still not recorded a time.

Passage to the box is required, then it's the final confrontation.

We leave for the last five minutes, and everyone is waiting to take the wheel. George Martin. This one stops in the pit lane and it's finally Johann zarco which takes a pack of pilots including among others Francesco Bagnaia, Marc Marquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Jack Miller, Marco Bezzecchi, etc.

Everyone finally settles behind the wheel of George Martin, to start with Alex Espargaro, but that does not prevent the Martinator to explode the record in 1'27.246!

This seems to knock out the board and almost no one improves on the next pass, even if Maverick Vinales, on a completely offbeat strategy, progressed from last to 9th position.

See you at 6:00 a.m. for a race that promises to be very competitive and undoubtedly behind a man in 12 pole positions, on the verge of tightening the championship...

Results from qualifying 2 of the MotoGP Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island:

Credit rankings: MotoGP.com