Phillip Island MotoGP: Aleix Espargaro leads first practice
Aleix Espargaro opened MotoGP's Australian Grand Prix weekend with the fastest time in Friday morning practice at Phillip Island
World champion Marc Marquez had been quickest for the majority of the session, but in the final six minutes first Pramac Ducati rider Andrea Iannone then Forward Yamaha man Espargaro used their softer tyre options to go faster.
Espargaro's 1m29.749s kept him on top to the finish, with an eventual 0.160-second margin over Jorge Lorenzo, who put his Yamaha ahead of Iannone.
Marquez never improved on the 1m30.079s he set during his first run, so ended up fifth for Honda behind the second Yamaha of Valentino Rossi.
Andrea Dovizioso tried Bridgestone's asymmetric front tyre on the way to sixth, just ahead of Ducati team-mate Cal Crutchlow.
Bradley Smith, Dani Pedrosa and Stefan Bradl completed the top 10.
Broc Parkes, the only Australian in this year's MotoGP field, had a big crash at the first corner in the closing minutes.
That was the second accident of the morning, following a minor fall for Alvaro Bautista.
| Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aleix Espargaro | Forward Racing | Forward Yamaha | 1m29.749s | - |
| 2 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m29.909s | 0.160s |
| 3 | Andrea Iannone | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1m30.025s | 0.276s |
| 4 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m30.051s | 0.302s |
| 5 | Marc Marquez | Honda | Honda | 1m30.079s | 0.330s |
| 6 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | Ducati | 1m30.383s | 0.634s |
| 7 | Cal Crutchlow | Ducati | Ducati | 1m30.453s | 0.704s |
| 8 | Bradley Smith | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1m30.645s | 0.896s |
| 9 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | Honda | 1m30.667s | 0.918s |
| 10 | Stefan Bradl | LCR | Honda | 1m30.696s | 0.947s |
| 11 | Pol Espargaro | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1m30.770s | 1.021s |
| 12 | Yonny Hernandez | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1m30.898s | 1.149s |
| 13 | Nicky Hayden | Aspar | Honda | 1m31.034s | 1.285s |
| 14 | Hector Barbera | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1m31.143s | 1.394s |
| 15 | Scott Redding | Gresini Racing | Honda | 1m31.174s | 1.425s |
| 16 | Karel Abraham | Cardion AB Motoracing | Honda | 1m31.282s | 1.533s |
| 17 | Alvaro Bautista | Gresini Racing | Honda | 1m31.383s | 1.634s |
| 18 | Alex de Angelis | Forward Racing | Forward Yamaha | 1m31.588s | 1.839s |
| 19 | Hiroshi Aoyama | Aspar | Honda | 1m31.615s | 1.866s |
| 20 | Danilo Petrucci | IodaRacing Project | ART/Aprilia | 1m31.723s | 1.974s |
| 21 | Mike Di Meglio | Avintia Racing | Avintia/Kawasaki | 1m32.191s | 2.442s |
| 22 | Broc Parkes | Paul Bird Motorsport | PBM/Aprilia | 1m32.692s | 2.943s |
| 23 | Michael Laverty | Paul Bird Motorsport | PBM/Aprilia | 1m33.432s | 3.683s |
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