2018 Phillip Island winner Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) set the pace in a wet MotoGP™ FP1 at the Pramac Generac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. The Spaniard set a 1:38.957 to head home hero Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), as Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) suffers a heavy crash at Turn 6.
The forecasted rain welcomed the riders for the opening morning of the weekend as the riders tackled a wet, breezy and cold Phillip Island. Marquez was the early pacesetter before Viñales strung a handful of fast laps together to sit P1. And he would stay there, with Australian Miller getting ahead of Marquez to sit P2 at the end of FP1. However, Friday morning ended badly for Quartararo. The Frenchman suffered an off-throttle highside at Turn 6 with just under three minutes remaining, heading to the medical centre for a check-up.
Completing the top five was two Italians in the form of Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team), the only other riders to get within a second of Viñales. The returning Johann Zarco impressed in the tricky conditions, his first time on the LCR Honda Idemitsu bike saw him finish P13 – the second fastest Honda on track.
Tune in for FP2 at 15:05 local time (GMT+11), will the weather clear?
Top 10:
1. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) – 1:38.957
2. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) + 0.147
3. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.385
4. Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.928
5. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) + 0.953
6. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 1.363
7. Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 1.618
8. Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 1.630
9. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) + 1.718
10. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) + 1.733
Click here for the full results!