World champion Fabio Quartararo said he had room for improvement after finishing fourth behind dominant Frenchman Johann Zarco at a windy second practice session for the Australian Grand Prix on Friday.
With recent torrential rain clearing to a cool, dry day at Phillip Island, Zarco blitzed the picturesque waterfront circuit with a best lap of one minute and 29.475 seconds.
The Ducati-Pramac rider, who is still targeting a first win in his sixth season as a premier-class competitor, was also fastest in the first session.
Italian Marco Bezzecchi, in his rookie MotoGP season, was second-quickest, 0.038secs behind on a Ducati, with Spanish Honda rider Pol Espargaro third ahead of championship leader Quartararo.
Frenchman Quartararo, who has posted a string of poor results to leave the title race wide open, was 0.139secs off the pace, but said he could get better.
“A pretty good day, this morning was tricky, this afternoon was better. I’m happy to be in the top five and I think we have a few things to try tomorrow to improve,” he said.
“I felt like I was running well and feeling well also and that I have a margin in a few corners that can make me win, one-tenth here and another there.”
Quartararo is desperate for points this weekend after claiming only eight from the last three races on his Yamaha.
His lacklustre form has left him with only a slender two-point lead in the standings from Italian Francesco Bagnaia on a Ducati -- who came eighth in second practice -- with three grands prix left.
After 17 races, five riders are within 40 points at the top of the title race with Spain’s Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), Italian Enea Bastianini (Ducati) and Australian hope Jack Miller (Ducati) all still in contention.
Espargaro was seventh-fastest and Bastianini ninth.
But the newly married Miller, the form rider who earned more points than anyone else in the recent triple-header of races, left his final run too late and only finished 13th.
“Felt good this morning, the bike was working relatively well, but this afternoon I had a little issue with the rear and I wasn’t able to really push or put a lap together,” said the home town hero.
“We’ve got some ideas of what we need to change for tomorrow. Around Phillip Island, 0.5secs off and I’m 13th. But that’s the way it goes.”
Six-time world champion Marc Marquez, a three-time winner at Phillip Island, was fastest for much of the session until the main contenders switched to soft rear tyres for the final five minutes and he ended sixth.
LEADING TIMES FROM THE SECOND PRACTICE SESSION:
1. Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati-Pramac) 1min 29.475sec
2. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Ducati-VR46) at 0.038
3. Pol Espargaro (ESP/Honda) 0.052
4. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 0.139
5. Maverick Vinales (ESP/Aprilia) 0.270
6. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 0.300
7. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 0.357
8. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 0.363
9. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Ducati-Gresini) 0.374
10. Jorge Martin (ESP/Ducati-Pramac) 0.406
RIDERS EXCITED TO RETURN TO UNIQUE PHILLIP ISLAND
Come rain or shine — probably rain, let’s be honest — there isn’t a single rider in MotoGP who isn’t excited to be back Down Under.
Phillip Island is a rider favourite for its throwback configuration, and none needed much an excuse to wax lyrical about the weekend ahead of them.
“This is one of my favourite tracks and I think for everybody’s it’s the same, because it’s wonderful to race here,” Francesco Bagnaia said. “The layout of the track is incredible because it’s a true old-style layout. You have to be very precise; it’s very technical. When a track has fast corners, it’s always great.
“I feel always happy when I come here because it’s a race weekend but you feel with less pressure, you feel more relaxed in this place.”
Aleix Espargaró, who predicts the layout will suit his Aprilia, said it was pure speed that excited him about the Island.
“For me the super-high average speed gives you an insane level of emotions, of adrenaline, and it’s unique in the world,” he said. “I can’t wait to try the 22 Aprilia here in Phillip Island because in the fast tracks this year the bike’s been very, very competitive.
“Many tracks where you don’t really use the brakes the bike is very competitive, so I think on this track the bike will work very good and I can’t wait to try it, because it’s a place where you normally enjoy the riding. I can’t wait.”
Quartararo, whose Yamaha is historically one of the better bikes to ride here, said there’s no track like it on the calendar.
“The place is quite unique,” he said. “Really fast corners. Turn 3, turns 7, 8, 9, the last corner — it’s really fast, and I think that’s why we like it.”
But home hero Jack Miller summed it up best.
“It’s Australia, so of course it’s great!” he said — though there was more to it than that.
“It’s so unique and special, and you have to use so much of the track. That’s one of those things that you never lose, how you can ride around here with those elevation changes, going up over Lukey Heights, especially on these 300 horsepower monsters where you’re constantly trying to keep the rear in control and you’re fighting the thing to change directions.
“That’s what gives you the emotion more than anything. You ride the bike around this track — you really need to force it for everything you do, and I think as a rider when you’re doing all these inputs, it’s like a dance.”
JOHANN ZARCO HEADLINES MILLER’S TOWNSVILLE WEDDING
Jack Miller reckons Johann Zarco could have a lucrative post-racing career as a wedding singer after lighting up the reception for his nuptials.
Miller tied the knot with his now wife, Ruby, in Townsville last weekend in an event well attended by the MotoGP paddock, a testament to the Aussie’s undeniable popularity.
But once the formalities were done, it was Johann Zarco who took centre stage, his Ducati stablemate belting out a cover of Les Innocents’ L’autre Finistére complete with changed lyrics for the happy couple.
“Fantastic,” Miller reviewed on Thursday at Phillip Island. “We managed to slot him in — I managed to save a little bit on the old wedding singer, so that was decent too!
“He does a good job actually. I think he might have a plan sorted for after racing.”
Miller said after being locked out of Australia and the eastern hemisphere so long made the wedding all the sweeter.
“Up until about Tuesday it took me to recover, but we made it down here, so that’s a positive!” he said.
“It’s an amazing point for me and us in our life.
“And also to be able to break it up into these races back on this side of the world finally has been nice to get a lot of the team there and a lot of my friends and family [and] friends in the paddock to come across.
“It was awesome.”
QUARTARARO DENIES WET WEATHER CONCERNS
Fabio Quartararo says he’s not concerned the high chance of rain through the weekend could undo his chances to capitalise on what should be a strong Yamaha circuit.
Rain is predicted to interrupt all of Friday’s running, and the latest forecast suggests there could also be showers around on Sunday for the race.
Quartararo is coming off the back of his worst result of the season in Thailand, where he linked rain for arriving shortly before the race started for him being shuffled back from fourth on the grid to outside the points.
The title leader denied rain was the cause though, saying it was a specific problem that triggered his demise and that anyway he has a strong record in the wet.
“Actually I’m not really worried. We know what happened and we are ready if it rains,” he said.
“This year in every wet-condition [session] … I was feeling good. We clearly had a mistake in Thailand.
“I expected much, much better race of course. We made a mistake form the beginning starting from really high [tire] pressure.
“At the end of the race of course it was tough. I took the decision not to talk to the media — I apologise to all the people that were in Thailand. It was especially tough feeling. It was a tough one.”
Quartararo said he was expecting to be competitive this weekend at a circuit he likes, though he refused to get ahead of himself given his unpredictable season.
“It’s pretty funny because at the beginning of the year we said when we arrived at Barcelona [and] Mugello they were going to be a tough tracks, but actually we took 45 points out of 50,” he said. “Every track we say is going to be okay, we make something strange. Actually I don’t really see good track, bad track; I think for everybody it’s the same.
“I think we have to think race by race, and I think this one can be a good one for us. It’s one of my favourite tracks, actually. Really fast.
“I’m really looking forward to being here again.”
HOW CAN I WATCH IT?
Every practice, qualifying and race of the 2022 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix is live and ad-break free during racing on Kayo and Fox Sports 506.
Friday
Moto3 first practice: 9am (AEDT)
MotoGP first practice: 9:55am
Moto2 first practice: 10:55am
Moto3 second practice: 1:15pm
MotoGP second practice: 2:10pm
Moto2 second practice: 3:10pm
Saturday
Moto3 third practice: 9am
MotoGP third practice: 9:55am
Moto2 third practice: 10:55am
Moto3 qualifying: 12:35pm
MotoGP fourth practice: 1:30pm
MotoGP qualifying: 2:10pm
Moto2 qualifying: 3:10pm
Sunday — live from the paddock at 8:45am
Moto3 warm-up: 9am (AEDT)
Moto2 warm-up: 9:20am
MotoGP warm-up: 9:40am
Moto3 race: 11am
Moto2 race: 12:20pm
MotoGP race: 2pm
