Frenchman Johann Zarco scored two free practice sessions in Friday’s Australian GP at Phillip Island with 38 thousandths to rookie Marco Bezzecchi and 52 thousandths to Pol Espargaró who at Honda where he started the campaign turned out to be a surprise positive. of the day for the Japanese motorcycle giant. None of the three title candidates or Marc Márquez, sixth, missed that top-10.
On this first day of MotoGP free practice, the rain did not affect the riders, but the cold did not affect the atmosphere at the beginning of the southern spring. Already in the second lap launched they began to cut the morning records and change the order of that top-10 entitled FP2. With a launched 1’30″126 on his fourth lap, Marc Márquez already beat Zarco’s 1’30″368 in FP1, which became the reference, seven tenths better for Marc than his best time of the morning and where he took the lead at first. FP2 session with 0″131 to Viñales and 0″225 to Quartararo.
That Honda 2022 that confuses them is once again the main character, but for the common good since at Phillip Island Marc is joined by his brother Àlex and, especially, Pol Espargaró among the best of almost all sessions, the oldest of the Márquez said this Thursday that “in theory we will suffer a little here, but sometimes it seems that you have a lot of difficulty and for some reason it is better”. Here we must add that he was the last winner of a MotoGP race at Phillip Island -he won four times, three in MotoGP-, on a left circuit where his muscular handicap in his arm is less.
At Ducati they had to play with the aerodynamic appendage on this windy day -only five in the top-10 in FP2, but in 2019 they no longer stand out in the ‘qualy’- and this is an ‘old’ circuit school. ‘ that the rear device will hardly be used and they have to use more ‘classic’ aerodynamics. But it will be the choice of rear wheel that will bring them more heads these days.
In the last round, with the new soft rear, the time revolution came with Bezzecchi, the poleman in Buriram, down to 1’39″871, Viñales answered with 1’29″745 and Quartararo 1’29″614 from the start Bezzecchi continued his effort with 1’29″513 and Zarco reacted (1’29″475), the best in FP1 who also won FP2.
Zarco, Bezzecchi, Pol Espargaró, Quartararo, Viñales, Marc Márquez, Aleix Espargaró, Bagnaia, Bastianini and Jorge Martín have provisional places for Q2. Of the five candidates for the crown, only local Jack Miller was left. Everyone improved the morning time and 406 thousandths separated the top-10 and the top-18 by 0″731.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
