For the first time in three years the lights will go out on the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.
Jorge Martin, having never ridden at the track in the MotoGP class before this season, will start from pole for Pramac ahead of veteran Marc Márquez, whose recovery from a broken arm is recovering pace.
But the real battle will come from third, fourth and fifth.
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Zarco dominates opening practice | 04:42
Our chief championship protagonists have happened to line up alongside each other on the grid, with Francesco Bagnaia leading Aleix Espargaró and points leader Fabio Quartararo.
In what’s expected to be a tense and strategic race in which victory will depend on nous and management, the trio of title contenders will need to exercise all of their ability to emerge ahead and claim precious points with three rounds remaining.
Australian Grand Prix grid
1. Jorge Martin (Pramac), 2. Marc Márquez (Honda), 3. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati)
4. Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia), 5. Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), 6. Johann Zarco (Pramac)
7. Luca Marini (VR46), 8. Jack Miller (Ducati), 9. Marco Bezzecchi (VR46)
10. Álex Rins (Suzuki), 11. Alex Márquez (LCR), 12. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia)
13. Pol Espargaró (Honda), 14. Joan Mir (Suzuki), 15. Enea Bastianini (Gresini)
16. Brad Binder (KTM), 17. Cal Crutchlow (RNF), 18. Darryn Binder (RNF)
19. Remy Gardner (Tech3), 20. Fabio di Giannantonio (Gresini), 21. Raúl Fernandez (Tech3)
22. Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha), 23. Tetsuta Nagashima (LCR), 24. Miguel Oliveira (KTM)
OLIVEIRA PENALISED AFTER BAULKING TITLE OUTSIDER
Miguel Oliveira made a costly miscalculation at the end of Q1 that turned an already bad day for the KTM rider into a painful one.
The Portuguese rider baulked championship contender Enea Bastianini at Lukey Heights after a comedy of errors after the flag fell on qualifying.
It prevented Bastianini from progressing to Q2. The Gresini rider had just set a red second sector and was on track to pinch second place from Álex Rins when he stumbled over the slow KTM machine. He missed that target by just 0.04 seconds.
Ironically that lap was subsequently deleted for speeding in a yellow-flag zone, those yellow flags having been waved because of Oliveira’s practice start, which dropped Bastianini back to 15th after the session.
Oliveira hadn’t intended to impede the Italian. He’d assumed all riders had completed their final flying lap and embarked on a practice start when Bastianini, the last over the line, suddenly roared up behind him.
The stewards took a dim view of him nonetheless, penalising him three places to last on the grid and slapping him with a long-lap penalty.
Bastianini was hopeful that his yellow-affected lap would be reinstated, though the stewards don’t appear to have ruled in his favour on that count.
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TITLES UP FOR GRABS
There are six titles up for grabs today at Phillip Island, the third-last round of the 2022 campaign for all three classes.
MotoGP teams championship
Ducati leads Aprilia by 75 points. It must lead by 90 points leaving Australia to claim the crown. It is not on track to claim the crown based on grid position; it would leave with an 86-point lead.
MotoGP rookie of the year
Marco Bezzecchi is 57 points ahead of Fabio di Giannantonio. He must lead by 50 at the end of the weekend. He’s on track based on grid position.
MotoGP independent rider of the year
Enea Bastianini is 29 points ahead of Johann Zarco and needs to lead by 50 points. Zarco is on track to shrink that gap to 20 points based on grid position.
MotoGP independent team of the year
Pramac leads Gresini by 75 points and needs to lead by 91 points at the end of the weekend. It’s on track to leave the Island with a 109-point advantage based on grid position.
Moto3 riders champion
Izan Guevara is 49 points ahead of Dennis Foggia and needs to lead by 51 points at the end of the weekend to win the lightweight championship. He’s on track to claim it based on grid position.
Moto3 teams championship
Aspar leads Leopard by 130 points and must lead by 90 points to claim the championship — that is, Leopard must outscore Aspar by 41 points to keep the title alive. Aspar is on track for the championship based on grid position.
HOW CAN I WATCH IT?
Every practice, qualifying and race of the 2022 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix is live and ad-break free during racing on Kayo and Fox Sports 506.
Sunday — live from the paddock at 8:45am
Moto3 warm-up: 9am (AEDT)
Moto2 warm-up: 9:20am
MotoGP warm-up: 9:40am
Moto3 race: 11am
Moto2 race: 12:20pm
MotoGP race: 2pm
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