Riders are waking up to a bright and sunny Friday on scenic Phillip Island in southern Victoria eager to tackle one of the world motorsport’s great circuits.
They’re advised to soak it up while they can, because it might all go downhill from here.
Today’s forecast top of 23°C is as good as it’s going to get. By tonight the wind will be picking up and clouds will be gathering over Western Port Bay.
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Saturday will be wet. Sunday will be wetter. The wind is forecast to be strong enough to put the weekend at risk.
But that’s a problem for the weekend. For today riders will have glorious sunny conditions on which to enjoy this ribbon of tarmac and begin staking their claims for the weekend.
Action gets underway with opening practice for all classes this morning, but all eyes will be on MotoGP’s sole timed practice session at 3:00pm (AEDT), when 10 direct placements in Q2 will be up for grabs for Saturday.
FRIDAY SCHEDULE
Moto3 practice 1: 9:00am (35 minutes)
Moto2 practice 1: 9:50am (40 minutes)
MotoGP free practice 1: 10:45am (45 minutes)
Moto3 practice 2: 1:15pm (35 minutes)
Moto2 practice 2: 2:05pm (40 minutes)
MotoGP timed practice: 3:00pm (80 minutes)
Tough Phillip Island conditions expected | 00:45
MILLER ‘QUIETLY CONFIDENT’ OF BIG RESULT
Jack Miller is starting the weekend with an optimistic mindset, with the Aussie hopeful that KTM’s latest upgrade package will stand him in good stead for a big result at his home race.
KTM has switched from a steel chassis to an advanced carbon fibre frame in recent rounds, a major development in MotoGP research and development.
Ducati tried an abandoned a similar concept last decade. The Italian team and most others use aluminium.
“The bike’s been working really good as of late,” he said. “I’m feeling very comfortable.
“I had good pace in both Japan and Indonesia. I’m looking forward to hopefully just moving on that this weekend and challenging [the leaders].”
You can read more of Miller’s thoughts ahead of his first home race in the premier class representing KTM here.
TITLE CONTENDER MARTIN PUTS INDONESIA CRASH BEHIND HIM
It’s been a difficult few days for title contender Jorge Martin on the trip from Lombok to Melbourne.
The Spaniard had had last weekend’s the Indonesian Grand Prix in his hands with a dominant three-second lead over the field while his championship rival, Francesco Bagnaia, was still picking his way through the field from 13th on the grid.
But then he ran marginally wide at turn 10, picked up some dirt on his tyres and crashed at the next corner, putting himself out of the race.
He’d been leading the title race by seven points at the time after taking top spot in the sprint the day before. By the end of Sunday he was 18 points back behind.
“I think it was the shortest lead in history, less than 24 hours!” he joked in Melbourne.
“For sure it was not easy. After the race that evening I was thinking a lot.
“But then I’m lucky we have this race straightaway to start thinking about this weekend. Let’s try to do it well here.
“Hopefully I can recover those points.”
Martin said he was buoyed by the fact he demonstrated good pace in Indonesia, which in turn was coming off the back of a glittering three-race run delivering three sprint victories and a pair of grand prix wins.
“I think we don’t have to change anything,” he said. “We are competitive every weekend. We are almost fighting for the win always. We just have to do the same.
“I’m confident in all the areas. I feel I am strong, I’m fast. I have to be calm. I have to try to take profit of this speed.
“It will be super nice to at least have the chance in Valencia to fight for the championship. But anything can happen I will just try to be competitive.”
