2018 Phillip Island MotoGP Saturday Results
Threatening weather, with isolated but frightening spots of rain, made sure that MotoGP’s QP2 was a place only for the brave. And a place that gave more than a hint that the Yamahas might at last threaten to break their longest-ever winless streak.
Light spots of rain started precisely as the pit lane opened, and while they stopped again almost at once, they would come and go throughout the 15 minutes.
2018 Phillip Island MotoGP Saturday Results
First of the brave was Australian Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Ducati), hoping to repeat his Argentine pole, set at maximum risk on slicks on a damp track.
But by the end, for a fifth consecutive time at Phillip Island, it was newly crowned 2018 champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), three tenths ahead of Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha), with Johann Zarco’s independent-team Monster Yamaha completing the front row.
Free practice leader Andrea Iannone (Ecstar Suzuki) led row two; and was named by all three of the front men as having the best pace for the race.
Conditions were scary, the also agreed. Marquez: “It was so difficult to understand the way to push. You are at more than 200 km/h for almost all the lap, and you don’t know where the limit is. There have been many accidents here, and it is really easy to get injured. It’s really scary when you see rain on your visor.”
Just such a fast accident had already eliminated second-best Honda rider Cal Crutchlow (see News story).
Like Marquez, Vinales had been thwarted in an attempt to improve at the end by a wet fourth sector, after the first three “went well. I think we can improve our bike quite a lot for tomorrow, especially electronics.”
Zarco was eloquent about the peril. They’d seen dark clouds before the session and were planning to prepare a bike for the wet. “Then I saw everybody going out on slicks, so I had to also. In these kinds of conditions, you know you can push, because the track usually stays dry … but you don’t know how much. You ride scared, and it’s not good. But you have to do it.”
Iannone headed his team-mate Rins and Miller on row two; Miller’s late bid to improve nearly coming to a violent end when he saved a rear-wheel slide on the ultra-fast final corner.
Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) was seventh; ahead of Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Ducati) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati).
Hafizh Syahrin (Monster Yamaha) was an impressive tenth in his first time in Q2, especially so since he had come back from a very fast Turn One crash in the morning. It is a boost for his hopes of catching Franco Morbidelli in the battle for Rookie of the Year. The Honda rider is four points ahead, but qualified one row behind, 15th.
Alongside the Malaysian, Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM); then Alvarao Bautista on Lorenzo’s factory Ducati, whose Q2 run was spoiled by an early spill in the breaking zone for the Turn Ten hairpin. Both these were through from Q1.
Karel Abraham was best of the rest, the Czech rider narrowly missing escape from Q1, with a strong showing on Angel Nieto team-mate Bautista’s vacant Ducati GP17 instead of his own two-year-old bike.
MICHELIN® AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX
MotoGP Qualifying Classification 2018
Phillip Island, Saturday, October 27, 2018
| 1 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 338.1 | 1’29.199 | |
| 2 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | SPA | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 332.5 | 1’29.509 | 0.310 / 0.310 |
| 3 | 5 | Johann ZARCO | FRA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 333.5 | 1’29.705 | 0.506 / 0.196 |
| 4 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | ITA | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 331.3 | 1’29.712 | 0.513 / 0.007 |
| 5 | 42 | Alex RINS | SPA | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 331.6 | 1’30.026 | 0.827 / 0.314 |
| 6 | 43 | Jack MILLER | AUS | Alma Pramac Racing | Ducati | 332.8 | 1’30.140 | 0.941 / 0.114 |
| 7 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 331.5 | 1’30.270 | 1.071 / 0.130 |
| 8 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Alma Pramac Racing | Ducati | 334.4 | 1’30.328 | 1.129 / 0.058 |
| 9 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 334.3 | 1’30.519 | 1.320 / 0.191 |
| 10 | 55 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | MAL | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 326.7 | 1’30.593 | 1.394 / 0.074 |
| 11 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARO | SPA | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 332.7 | 1’30.640 | 1.441 / 0.047 |
| 12 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 331.3 | 1’32.367 | 3.168 / 1.727 |
| 13 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Angel Nieto Team | Ducati | 330.3 | 1’30.174 | 0.323 / 0.069 |
| 14 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | JPN | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | Honda | 329.9 | 1’30.452 | 0.601 / 0.278 |
| 15 | 21 | Franco MORBIDELLI | ITA | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 327.9 | 1’30.518 | 0.667 / 0.066 |
| 16 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | GBR | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 329.9 | 1’30.646 | 0.795 / 0.128 |
| 17 | 10 | Xavier SIMEON | BEL | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati | 330.3 | 1’30.679 | 0.828 / 0.033 |
| 18 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 325.3 | 1’30.770 | 0.919 / 0.091 |
| 19 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 328.9 | 1’30.911 | 1.060 / 0.141 |
| 20 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | SWI | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 328.7 | 1’30.958 | 1.107 / 0.047 |
| 21 | 81 | Jordi TORRES | SPA | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati | 338.2 | 1’31.141 | 1.290 / 0.183 |
| 22 | 45 | Scott REDDING | GBR | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 326.2 | 1’31.309 | 1.458 / 0.168 |
| 23 | 7 | Mike JONES | AUS | Angel Nieto Team | Ducati | 325.3 | 1’32.639 | 2.788 / 1.330 |
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