Submitted by Mike Lewis on
Marc Marquez, who has never scored a point in his MotoGP career at Phillip Island, moved a step closer to changing his luck in the third free practice Saturday at the Australian circuit. Marquez's 1'29.081 put him four-tenths of a second clear of Cal Crutchlow (2nd) and Jorge Lorenzo (3rd). What more, Marquez's pracrice laps were consistently fast as he dropped into the low 1'30s and 1'29s regularly in the session.
Scott Redding came in a surprisingly fourth-fastest in the session just in front of Suzuki rookie Maverick Vinales who has been quick all weekend. Andrea Iannone finished the session six-hundredths in front of countyman and championship points leader Valentino Rossi. The top 11 riders finished within a second of each other.
Results:
| Pos. | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff. / Prev. | |
| 1 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | Honda | 1'29.081 | ||
| 2 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Honda | 1'29.509 | 0.428 / 0.428 | |
| 3 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | Yamaha | 1'29.520 | 0.439 / 0.011 | |
| 4 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Honda | 1'29.675 | 0.594 / 0.155 | |
| 5 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Suzuki | 1'29.715 | 0.634 / 0.040 | |
| 6 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | Ducati | 1'29.755 | 0.674 / 0.040 | |
| 7 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 1'29.815 | 0.734 / 0.060 | |
| 8 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | Yamaha | 1'29.877 | 0.796 / 0.062 | |
| 9 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati | 1'29.962 | 0.881 / 0.085 | |
| 10 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Suzuki | 1'29.982 | 0.901 / 0.020 | |
| 11 | 43 | Jack MILLER | Honda | 1'30.034 | 0.953 / 0.052 | |
| 12 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati | 1'30.163 | 1.082 / 0.129 | |
| 13 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARO | Yamaha | 1'30.193 | 1.112 / 0.030 | |
| 14 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 1'30.295 | 1.214 / 0.102 | |
| 15 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | Honda | 1'30.351 | 1.270 / 0.056 | |
| 16 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Aprilia | 1'30.404 | 1.323 / 0.053 | |
| 17 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | Ducati | 1'30.414 | 1.333 / 0.010 | |
| 18 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 1'30.505 | 1.424 / 0.091 | |
| 19 | 50 | Eugene LAVERTY | Honda | 1'30.766 | 1.685 / 0.261 | |
| 20 | 76 | Loris BAZ | Yamaha Forward | 1'31.145 | 2.064 / 0.379 | |
| 21 | 63 | Mike DI MEGLIO | Ducati | 1'31.176 | 2.095 / 0.031 | |
| 22 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | Aprilia | 1'31.419 | 2.338 / 0.243 | |
| 23 | 13 | Anthony WEST | Honda | 1'31.898 | 2.817 / 0.479 | |
| 24 | 24 | Toni ELIAS | Yamaha Forward | 1'31.913 | 2.832 / 0.015 | |
| 25 | 55 | Damian CUDLIN | ART | 1'34.302 | 5.221 / 2.389 | |
Top 10 Combined Times Moving Straight to Q2:
M.MARQUEZ, HONDA, 1'30.395; J.LORENZO, YAMAHA, 1'30.047; C.CRUTCHLOW, HONDA, 1'30.782; M.VIÑALES, SUZUKI, 1'31.240; A.IANNONE, DUCATI, 1'30.967; S.REDDING, HONDA, 1'31.772; V.ROSSI, YAMAHA, 1'30.572; D.PEDROSA, HONDA, 1'30.669; B.SMITH, YAMAHA, 1'30.902; A.DOVIZIOSO, DUCATI 1'31.385.
Comments
Interesting...
Only Rossi set his fastest time in his first stint. If you look at the partials, Marquez is 1,Cruthlow is 2, Lorenzo is 3 virtually tied with Rossi in 4. But if you look closer at the partials, you'll see that Marquez is clearly #1 - but Rossi is way ahead of Jorge everywhere BUT sector 2 - in 1, 3 and 4, Rossi is variably a bit to quite a bit quicker.
This is very interesting indeed.
I don't understand Pedrosa today. Was he injured?
Marquez looks to be a runaway here, though.
Nicky Hayden
News is Hayden to be inducted as the latest MotoGP Legend. Many congratulations to him, he deserved it. If I were him I'd feel a little bit insulted though... but I hope he'll do well in WSBK.