Alex Marquez completes Gresini 1-2, but “no celebrations”

Alex Marquez completed a perfect Gresini one-two behind brother and team-mate Marc Marquez during Friday practice for the Australian MotoGP.

Crucially, before his time attack, Alex was one of the few riders to gather data on the (heat-resistant) medium rear tyre, whilst most stuck exclusively to the soft.

“Those were not easy conditions, but Phillip Island is always like this and you need to adapt quickly,” Alex told MotoGP.com. “From the first run, I was alreadyfast and quite consistent. So that's good.

“Later in the time attacks we were a bit unlucky because there were a lot of yellow flags, but later on I was lucky that I was able to make a really good first and second sector behind Marc.

“Then I was alone but trying to keep my pace and did a good lap time... It was probably one of my best-ever laps.

“When you are enjoying on the bike, you are fast. I had a lot of fun today. And this was the key.”

But after failing to finish the last two grands prix and carrying a long lap penalty into Sunday’s race for colliding with Joan Mir at Motegi, Marquez is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

“I’m happy about how we start. But I don't forget where we are coming from, so I don't want to celebrate too much a Friday. Friday is for nothing," he said.

“Now we need to keep going like this. Analyse what we need to improve. How are the tyres. And what we need to do tomorrow to make, first of all, a good qualifying and later on a good Sprint.

"Obviously, Sunday’s penalty will have its impact, especially considering the good feeling, but we’ll deal with it.”

Quizzed on the new Phillip Island asphalt, Marquez confirmed grip is good but is surprised by some bumps.

“The new is tarmac is quite good about grip, but it's quite bumpy,” he said. “I was expecting everything much more flat and it's quite bumpy already, but the grip is unbelievable.

“It was good to have a dry afternoon because if not tomorrow would be a bit complicated for the tyres especially.”