05:08
Marc Marquez is getting on with this and fires in a 1m29.413s on his Gresini Ducati.
Jack Miller
2024 Australian MotoGP: Friday Practice as it happened
Recap Friday practice at the 2024 Australian MotoGP.
Jorge Martin holds a slender 10-point lead over Francesco Bagnaia as the final triple header of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship begins at Phillip Island in Australia.
Always one of the most anticipated rounds of the season, the thrilling seaside circuit has been the scene of many epic battles, while the notoriously unpredictable weather is set to keep teams and riders on edge.
This year’s event comes with the added unknown of MotoGP’s very first laps on the new Phillip Island asphalt.
The last time the Australian track was resurfaced, in 2013, MotoGP required a shortened race distance and pit stops due to the overheating Bridgestone rubber.
The same fate then befell the WorldSBK Championship when it took to the latest tarmac in February of this year, meaning all eyes will be on Michelin’s chosen line-up of 2024 MotoGP compounds.
Whatever happens, MotoGP will be hoping for its first Phillip Island Sprint race this weekend, after storm warnings saw the Saturday race replaced by the full grand prix in 2023.
Martin came within a lap of glory last year, until a soft tyre gamble backfired and team-mate Johann Zarco swept to a long awaited first MotoGP win. The forecast storm then arrived on Sunday, cancelling the rescheduled Sprint.
FP1 starts at 10:45am local time (12:45am UK) followed by Practice at 3:00pm (5:00am UK).
18 Oct 2024
05:08
Bagnaia is in deep discussions with the Michelin technician in his Ducati garage. Martin is back in his box after his early crash.
05:07
Marc Marquez comes across the line to complete a 1m29.982s.
05:06
Francesco Bagnaia is coming back into pitlane after just a couple of laps.
05:05
Marc Marquez leads the way with a 1m30.882s. Lap record here is a 1m27.246s.
05:04
Martin actually made contact with Fabio Quartararo trying to avoid a collision with the Yamaha rider.
05:03
Martin is ok but this is a disaster start to his session.
05:03
incident
World championship leader Jorge Martin has crashed at Turn 4!
05:02
Everyone has gone out on the medium front tyre and the soft rear, apart from Trackhouse stand-in Lorenzo Savadori on the medium rear.
05:01
It looks like a warm-up lap before a race with how busy it is in the first couple fo sectors!
05:00
pitlane opens
Practice is underway!
04:59
Unfortunately, a massive grey cloud has enveloped the circuit just ahead of pitlane opening. Going to be a busy start to this session.
04:58
To further complicate things, this hour-long Practice session will still determine who goes directly into Q2 on Saturday morning.
04:54
Busy session coming up for the MotoGP class now. They need to get to grips (no pun intended) with the new asphalt and have three rear and three front tyres to evaluate this weekend too.
04:52
Conditions are mercifully much better than when we last attempted to have some MotoGP running, with the Moto2 session that has just ended seeing some good lap times on the new surface at Phillip Island.
04:45
Practice build-up
Just 15 minutes to go until the start of what will be today's only MotoGP practice session.
04:27
Another Schedule update
The practice schedule has been revised again.
Friday afternoon's MotoGP Practice will now revert to the standard one-hour long session, starting at 15:00 local time, instead of the planned 80-minute session to compensate for the loss of FP1.
Saturday morning's final free practice remains an extended 40 minutes, rather than the usual 30 minutes.
04:03
Weather update: One hour before MotoGP Practice and the sun is shining at Phillip Island!
03:11
02:36
We now await a revised track schedule for the remainder of the day.
As a reminder, this afternoon's MotoGP Practice should be used to decide the top 10 riders for direct Qualifying 2 access.
02:35
It's official: FP1 has been cancelled.
02:35
A stern-looking Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi marches over to Capirossi's car, from the body language he wants the session cancelled.
Capirossi to Crafar: "As soon as the rain [eased] the track was coming good, but the problem is that it started to rain a lot again. Then we have some aquaplaning and it's better to wait until the rain stops."
02:30
Former racer Andrea Migno (still involved with the VR46 Academy) jokingly puts a pit board out for Loris Capirossi, Fabio di Giannantonio helps as he adds '65 ride thru' to the board.
Capirossi breaks into a smile as he drives past.
02:26
Meanwhile, Marco Bezzecchi gets his lunch back out...
02:25
Francesco Bagnaia walks out of the garage to the pit wall, waves to the fans, then seems to gesture that the water is sitting on top of the new asphalt, rather than draining through it. Something Jack Miller also mentioned earlier.
