Red Bull KTM showed strong form in the practice session of the Australian MotoGP Grand Prix. The Austrian manufacturer led the session with a 1-2 finish, with Brad Binder ahead of Jack Miller. This session sent Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) to the first qualifying for the second consecutive round.
Somewhat surprisingly, the initial leader of the session was Raúl Fernández (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team/Aprilia), just 0.070s ahead of Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha). Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) was in third place.
In the second flying laps, the leaderboard saw a radical change, but the leader remained unusual: Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini/Ducati), ahead of the Red Bull KTM riders, Miller and Binder. The South African rider was the next to lead the times, with Pol Espargaró (GasGas Tech3/KTM) in second place.
Espargaró couldn’t hold the position for long, as he was overtaken by Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/Ducati) and Miller. The Italian briefly took the lead but was quickly surpassed by Binder. The leaderboard then saw some calm. With 39 minutes remaining, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) suffered a fall at turn ten, just like in the FP1 session.
Not long after, Viñales reached second place, getting closer to Binder. At about the halfway point, the Spaniard started a sequence of fast laps, but he always fell short of making enough improvements to take the lead.
Meanwhile, Di Giannantonio and Quartararo moved up to third and fourth, pushing Bezzecchi down to fifth. Di Giannantonio briefly returned to the top with about 22 minutes left. He held the position briefly until Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac/Ducati) overtook him. Zarco, in turn, was passed by Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia) and Augusto Fernández (GasGas Tech3/KTM).
At the 14-minute mark, Aprilia was back in a 1-2 position, with Viñales in first and Aleix Espargaró in second, while Di Giannantonio improved to third. This situation didn’t last long, as the Aprilia riders were overtaken by Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati), Zarco, and Binder.
The decisive final minutes arrived, which would determine the direct qualifiers for the second qualifying. Viñales overtook Martín to become the leader, but soon after, Binder moved into the first position. The lead kept changing constantly during this phase, and the lap record at Phillip Island was almost broken.
After Binder took the lead, his teammate Miller finished in second place, with Viñales in third. The leaderboard remained the same as the session ended, with Martín in fourth and Pol Espargaró in fifth. Bezzecchi finished sixth.
Di Giannantonio, Enea Bastianini (Ducati), Aleix Espargaró, and Zarco also secured direct entry to Q2, unlike Bagnaia. The defending champion finished 11th, 0.186s away from getting directly into the second qualifying.
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