For the first time in four years, two Yamaha riders will be starting on the front row at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. In a monumental effort, Fabio Quartararo pushed the limit to push Marco Bezzecchi off pole position. Fellow Yamaha rider Jack Miller will start in his first front row since 2023. He also became the first Australian to do so on home soil since Casey Stoner in 2012. However, there are many changes to come after the MotoGP qualifying results on Saturday morning at the Australian GP.
A Quick Turn Around from FP2 to Q1
After his incident inFree Practice 2, Johann Zarco rushed back to the pit lane to come out in Q1. Miller, Brad Binder, and Fermín Aldeguer were the first to start flying laps. But it was Miller who topped the timesheet with his first time attack of 1:27.393. The Australian was immediately pushed out of the top two advancing spots by Aldeguer and Binder.
The second run of time attacks began with five minutes left of Q1, some riders choosing fresh rubber. However, the hard front tyre of Lorenzo Savadori found its way into the gravel trap of Turn 6. The #32 was forced to pull a stoppie right behind Binder. The nasty landing off the bike left him prone on the ground for a minute. Thankfully, the Aprilia replacement rider was able to stand and walk away from the incident. The rest of the Q1 participants had a little over two minutes to set their final flying lap times. Aldeguer had a massive moment coming down the main straight, but managed to hold onto the top spot. Miller came in nine-thousandths of a second behind. Zarco was on a hot lap, but was forced to abort it after Binder got in the way again. Both incidents involving Binder are being investigated by the FIM stewards.
A Stunning Shootout to End Dramatic Q2 Session
Aldeguer and Miller joined the rest of the Q2 contenders for another fifteen-minute session. With a double long lap penalty looming on Bezzecchi for Sunday’s race, the #72 needed to qualify on the front row to give him the best chance at pulling a podium result. The soft rear tyre was the apparent preference for all, as flying laps came streaming in. Álex Márquez was quick to set a time to find himself in provisional pole, but came down not long after. Home favourite Miller took the opportunity to take the position for himself, followed by Pol Espargaró and Raúl Fernández. But with nine minutes remaining, the front row of the grid was still anyone’s to claim.
Bezzecchi had a brilliant first sector before having to pull out due to traffic from Francesco Bagnaia, another incident for the FIM stewards to investigate. Aldeguer came up to take second spot as quick repairs were made to the bike of his BK8 Gresini Racing teammate, Á.Márquez. Miller went off road on his out lap, forcing him to make another run to clean off any gravel before attempting a final flying lap and hang onto provisional pole. After two aborted laps, Bezzecchi finally set a strong lap as Pedro Acosta set his own. Both bumped Miller down to third. Á.Márquez had just come back to set a time in fourth before coming off for the second time in an extreme high-speed crash into the gravel, ending any further chance of improving his qualifying position. In the final seconds, Bagnaia had given up his final chances, qualifying on the fourth row of the grid. It was an impressive shootout after the checkered flag as Quartararo blitzed Bezzecchi off of pole position with a time of 1:26.465.
Changes to the Program
Despite earlier reports and confirmation that the MotoGP would go ahead as scheduled, there have been some changes to the Sunday progam. Due to weather, all sessions have been moved to start an hour later than previously planned.
Not to mention there will be some changes and penalties given out after the multiple incidents during both qualifying sessions. Stay tuned for more MotoGP action.