The first qualifying of the MotoGP Australian Gp promises to be of the highest caliber. A total of five factory riders are among the 12 who will compete for the last two spots in the pole position battle.
In fact, the first qualifying session will feature some less common names. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) missed direct access to Q2 for the second consecutive time after finishing 11th in practice, just 0.186s away from avoiding the Q1 session.
Three other world champions suffered the same fate: Joan Mir, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda), and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha). Another factory rider to join the Q1 session is Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha).
Riders in the Australian GP Q1 (in the order of practice classification):
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team)
Álex Rins (LCR Honda Castrol)
Augusto Fernández (GasGas Factory Racing/KTM)
Raúl Fernández (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team/Aprilia)
Álex Márquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP/Ducati)
Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team)
Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP)
Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team)
Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/Ducati)
Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team/Aprilia)
Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu)
Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP)