Marco Bezzecchi dominates Australian MotoGP warm-up ahead of penalty-win quest, Francesco Bagnaia last
Marco Bezzecchi must overcome a double long lap penalty to win the Australian MotoGP, Francesco Bagnaia last in warm-up.
Can Marco Bezzecchi win the Australian MotoGP despite needing to serve two long lap penalties?
From the evidence of a windy warm-up, he certainly has the speed.
The Sprint winner's advantage peaked at over one second clear of the field, as riders switched to the medium rear tyre (and, for most, the hard front).
Bezzecchi needs to serve the penalty for causing the scary opening lap incident with Marc Marquez at Mandalika and practised the loop several times again in warm-up.
The penalty is expected to cost Bezzecchi 5-6 seconds, in total, as well as track position. But he won the half-distance Sprint by over 3 seconds, despite having to catch and pass Raul Fernandez.
Home hero Jack Miller, who has qualified on the front row and narrowly lost out on third to Pedro Acosta in the Sprint, reversed that order by edging out the KTM rider for second (+0.394s from Bezzecchi) in warm-up.
Pole qualifier Fabio Quartararo, whose Sprint chances ended when he picked the medium front tyre, was fourth on the hard front this morning as he looks to make amends.
Fernandez, Pol Espargaro, Ai Ogura, Alex Marquez, Luca Marini and Fabio di Giannantonio completed the warm-up top ten.
Wind gusts of 50-60km/h and overcast conditions awaited the riders as they took to the track for this morning’s ten-minute session, pushing the riders down the home straight but acting as a crosswind at the likes of Turn 3, Stoner corner.
Fortunately, there were no fallers in warm-up and MotoGP will hope the wind calms down – and risk of rain stays away - for the delayed 3pm race.
While some riders - such as Quartararo - have suggested they will gamble on keeping the soft rear tyre for the grand prix, Marini thinks it’ll end in disaster.
“We’ll go with the medium, I think for everybody it’ll be the same choice,” Marini said.
“If somebody wants to try the soft maybe they’ll do the same as Jorge Martin in the past – fantastic, then the last four laps the tyre will be finished!”
Bagnaia last after violent GP25 shaking
Francesco Bagnaia’s miserable weekend continued with last place in warm-up.
Any suggestion that the Ducati Lenovo rider’s problems are purely mental was rubbished by violent shaking from his GP25 as it exited the fast final corner early in the session.
The double world champion swapped to his second bike, a change that had helped in previous sessions, but was still 13 seconds off the pace before returning to the pits and ending warm-up early.
“We had some issues with both bikes, and we just need to solve them for the race,” a glum Bagnaia said afterwards.
Is a top ten possible this afternoon?
“I don’t think so, but let’s see,” Bagnaia replied.
Bagnaia and Brad Binder will both serve three-place grid penalties for the race, demoting them to 14th and 16th on the grid respectively.
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Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
