Phillip Island MotoGP qualifying

08:12 That's the end of the MotoGP qualifying at Phillip Island, the Australian Grand Prix is shaping up to be yet another thriller, make sure to tune in on Sunday as well. Thanks for following, see you tomorrow.

08:10

08:10 Zarco: "Difficult to say [where I missed a few tenths], my 1:28.7s is quite good, 1:28.3s, what Marquez did, I think I could not do today. Australia in the last two years in Moto2 was quite difficult for me so I can just be happy about the first row. I started well on Friday and worked well with the team today, felt well on the bike. In dry conditions we improve a lot and for this, first exit in qualifying I was quite good, but second exit I did, I push even more because the feeling was there and I did it so, just happy. It is so good to start in front row here, and let's see also the pace from FP4, it's not bad with the medium tyre. We need to keep enjoying, keep relaxed, and why not fight for a podium if I can, because 27 laps, it's gonna be long."

08:05 Vinales: "The tyres worked a lot different this afternoon, especially the second soft tyre improved a the behaviour of the bike a lot. Anyway, it's been so difficult. Tyres, weather quite different than in the test so we can't use anything. We struggle a lot in the laptimes, we are trying our best. I think in qualifying we found a little bit the way but anyway for tomorrow, still we have to improve a lot."

08:03 Marquez: "Of course you know in this circuit especially this one, when you have some slipstream it is helping a lot to make the laptime. First time I pushed a lot but immediately you saw the two guys were behind me, Iannone and Miller and they did more or less the same laptime. So for the second lap I knew that I was able to be faster, but I tried to find [a gap] without traffic and in the end, okay, a few riders behind but I had a clear track. I was in front because I felt good. Happy with the pace, happy with the rhythm more or less, so we will see tomorrow, just we will wait about the weather."

07:55

07:53 Q2 results: 1 Marquez; 2 Vinales; 3 Zarco; 4 Iannone; 5 Miller; 6 P. Espargaro; 7 Rossi; 8 A. Espargaro; 9 Smith; 10 Crutchlow; 11 Dovizioso; 12 Pedrosa.

07:53 Local hero Jack Miller takes an impressive fifth, behind Iannone and ahead of KTM's Pol Espargaro! Exciting second row, that.

07:52 Dovizioso is only 11th, he couldn't even beat the crashing Crutchlow.

07:51 Vinales won't improve, Zarco won't improve, Marquez takes his seventh pole of the season!

07:50 Chequered flag.

07:50 That was short-lived. 1:28.388s from Marquez puts him three tenths clear.

07:49 Vinales sets a new benchmark with a 1:28.719s, beats Zarco by 0.02s.

07:48 Zarco into the lead with only two minutes left on the clock.

07:47 Crutchlow crashed at Turn 4.

07:46

07:44 Definitely not a good start for Dovizioso, he is 1.28s slower than Marquez.

07:43 Seven minutes to go, the rather odd order is Marquez, Iannone, Miller, Zarco, Rossi, Vinales, Crutchlow, P. Espargaro, A. Espargaro, Pedrosa, Smith, Dovizioso.

07:42

07:41 Marquez takes the lead next time around, but he is barely ahead of Iannone and Miller, both in the timesheets and on track.

07:39 Iannone shadows Marquez during his first flyer and leads with a 1:29.265s. Marquez a close second.

07:38

07:35 Green flag for the 15-minute Q2 shootout.

07:32 Q2 line-up: A. Espargaro; Marquez; Dovizioso; Crutchlow; Vinales; Miller; Iannone; Zarco; Pedrosa; P. Espargaro; Rossi; Smith.

07:32

07:30 KTM continues to impress as both riders are in Q2 once again.

07:27 Q1 results: 1 Rossi; 2 Smith; 3 Rins; 4 Rabat; 5 Abraham; 6 Lorenzo; 7 Baz; 8 Petrucci; 9 Barbera; 10 Redding; 11 Parkes; 12 Bautista; 13 Lowes.

07:26 Not a lot of riders improved in the end, which means Rossi and Smith made it to Q2. Lorenzo only sixth, seven tenths slower than Rossi.

07:25 Time's up.

07:25 Petrucci's disappointing qualifying came to an end with a crash at Turn 10.

07:24 Rossi improves, he now leads by 0.359s with a time of 1m29.346s. KTM's Smith up to second.

07:20 At halfway point, Rossi is leading Rins, Abraham, Rabat, Smith, Lorenzo and Petrucci. That's about to change though, as the field is back on track after the mid-session stops.

07:16

07:16 It's the other way around after the next flyers - Rossi goes top with a 1m29.665s, Lorenzo in sixth.

07:14 First laps in, Lorenzo leads with a 1:30.085s. Rossi only fifth behind Karel Abraham, Tito Rabat and Bradley Smith.

07:13

07:12 On paper, this should be Rossi's and Lorenzo's time to shine. Potential challengers could be Alex Rins, whose Suzuki looks strong again, and Danilo Petrucci, a podium finisher last week at Motegi.

07:10 Q1 is underway.

07:10 Track conditions are dry at the moment, but it's a MotoGP official session at Phillip Island, so rain is probably more likely to arrive at one moment than not.

07:08 Q1 line-up: Lorenzo; Rossi; Abraham; Smith; Rins; Redding; Petrucci; Baz; Rabat; Lowes; Barbera; Bautista; Parkes.