Marc M\u00e1rquez made an impressive start to the 2026 Australian Grand Prix weekend, topping Friday morning’s opening MotoGP free practice session at Phillip Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The factory Ducati rider recorded a fastest lap of 1:27.985 in the closing stages, moving ahead of his rivals despite using tyres that had already completed several laps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a particularly encouraging performance considering that several competitors had fitted fresh rubber for their final time attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ra\u00fal Fern\u00e1ndez finished second on his Trackhouse Aprilia, just 0.048 seconds behind M\u00e1rquez, while home favourite Jack Miller secured third place despite suffering a heavy crash late in the session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The opening practice session took place in favourable weather conditions, with clear skies, relatively high temperatures and winds that still challenged riders through Phillip Island’s fastest sections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aprilia riders were particularly competitive during the early stages, with Marco Bezzecchi, Jorge Mart\u00edn and Ra\u00fal Fern\u00e1ndez all featuring near the top of the timesheets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
M\u00e1rquez initially concentrated on race pace and tyre management rather than chasing an outright lap time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That approach paid off in the closing minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Fern\u00e1ndez appearing set to finish fastest, the Ducati rider produced a lap of 1:27.985, becoming the only competitor to break the 1:28 barrier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remarkably, the time was achieved on medium tyres that had already completed 19 laps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The performance provided a promising indication of M\u00e1rquez’s potential over longer runs ahead of the Sprint and Sunday’s Grand Prix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jack Miller was one of the standout performers in FP1, particularly motivated by his final home Grand Prix at Phillip Island before the event moves to Adelaide in 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Australian Pramac Yamaha rider surprised his rivals in the closing stages, briefly moving to the top of the standings with a lap of 1:28.120.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, his session ended dramatically just moments later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Entering the extremely fast Turn 1, named after Australian racing legend Mick Doohan, Miller lost the front of his Yamaha and slid into the run-off area at high speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His motorcycle sustained significant damage, but the Australian was able to get back to his feet without any immediately apparent injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the incident, his earlier lap was enough to secure third place, just 0.135 seconds behind M\u00e1rquez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The result was an encouraging sign for Yamaha after a challenging season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The opening session featured several incidents across the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ra\u00fal Fern\u00e1ndez crashed at Siberia Corner, raising concerns about the hand injury he had sustained during the previous round in Indonesia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the Trackhouse rider managed to return to the circuit on his second motorcycle and gradually improved his lap times to finish second overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iker Lecuona also suffered a crash while riding the Gresini Ducati as a replacement for the injured Ferm\u00edn Aldeguer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Spaniard lost control of his motorcycle in the same sector, with the Ducati bouncing off the barriers before coming dangerously close to the racing surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, Lecuona escaped without injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brad Binder, meanwhile, encountered a technical problem rather than a crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The South African’s KTM suffered an apparent engine failure along the main straight, producing a substantial cloud of white smoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Binder subsequently returned to the track on his second motorcycle and finished the session in 11th position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marco Bezzecchi finished fourth on the factory Aprilia, 0.293 seconds behind M\u00e1rquez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Italian confirmed the RS-GP’s competitiveness around Phillip Island following his victory at the previous Indonesian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00c1lex M\u00e1rquez secured fifth place for Gresini Ducati, ahead of Pedro Acosta on the KTM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Championship leader Jorge Mart\u00edn, who arrived in Australia holding a narrow two-point advantage over Marc M\u00e1rquez, completed the session in seventh position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Aprilia rider did not pursue an outright lap time during the final minutes, instead concentrating on preparations for the remainder of the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ai Ogura, Fabio Quartararo and Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the top ten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a much more difficult start for Francesco Bagnaia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The factory Ducati rider finished only 18th, 1.677 seconds slower than teammate M\u00e1rquez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The significant gap highlighted the difficulties the Italian encountered while adapting his Desmosedici to the characteristics of the Australian circuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
| Pos.<\/th> | Rider<\/th> | Manufacturer<\/th> | Time \/ Gap<\/th><\/tr> |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1<\/td> | Marc M\u00e1rquez<\/td> | Ducati<\/td> | 1:27.985<\/td><\/tr> |
| 2<\/td> | Ra\u00fal Fern\u00e1ndez<\/td> | Aprilia<\/td> | +0.048<\/td><\/tr> |
| 3<\/td> | Jack Miller<\/td> | Yamaha<\/td> | +0.135<\/td><\/tr> |
| 4<\/td> | Marco Bezzecchi<\/td> | Aprilia<\/td> | +0.293<\/td><\/tr> |
| 5<\/td> | \u00c1lex M\u00e1rquez<\/td> | Ducati<\/td> | +0.300<\/td><\/tr> |
| 6<\/td> | Pedro Acosta<\/td> | KTM<\/td> | +0.449<\/td><\/tr> |
| 7<\/td> | Jorge Mart\u00edn<\/td> | Aprilia<\/td> | +0.453<\/td><\/tr> |
| 8<\/td> | Ai Ogura<\/td> | Aprilia<\/td> | +0.635<\/td><\/tr> |
| 9<\/td> | Fabio Quartararo<\/td> | Yamaha<\/td> | +0.803<\/td><\/tr> |
| 10<\/td> | Fabio Di Giannantonio<\/td> | Ducati<\/td> | +0.967<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\nPhillip Island Weekend Continues with Friday Practice<\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe Australian Grand Prix programme continues with Friday afternoon’s Practice session, which will determine the ten riders who qualify directly for Q2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n M\u00e1rquez heads into the next session with encouraging indications, particularly after setting the fastest lap without switching to fresh tyres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Aprilia has demonstrated strong pace with several riders, while Miller’s performance suggests Yamaha could be competitive in front of the Australian crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Weather conditions will also remain an important factor, with forecasts predicting deterioration over Saturday and Sunday that could affect the weekend schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The championship battle between M\u00e1rquez and Mart\u00edn has only just begun at Phillip Island, but the opening session has given the Ducati rider an early advantage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Marc M\u00e1rquez made an impressive start to the 2026 Australian Grand Prix weekend, topping Friday morning’s opening MotoGP free practice session at Phillip Island. The factory Ducati rider recorded a fastest lap of 1:27.985 in the closing stages, moving ahead of his rivals despite using tyres that had already completed several laps. It was a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motogp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2259"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2261,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2259\/revisions\/2261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |