Phillip Island was left under water following heavy rain on Thursday, but the weather had cleared by the time FP1 got underway and dry conditions would stick for the rest of the day.
Pramac’s Johann Zarco led a Ducati 1-2 on his Pramac-run GP22 from factory counterpart Jack Miller, making his first – and only – appearance on home soil as a factory team Ducati rider.
Split by just 0.091 seconds, few riders did any soft tyre time attacks as that running was reserved for the latter stages of FP2 in the afternoon.
Miller, who comes into his home race 40 points down on Fabio Quartararo in the championship with 75 up for grabs in the final three rounds, was the leading title contender in FP1 with Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro the next-best in fifth.
Espargaro was shadowed by track rookie Enea Bastianini on the Gresini Ducati, with Francesco Bagnaia eighth and Quartararo a low-key 12th.
In the early stages of the second 45-minute session, Maverick Vinales – who battled for victory in MotoGP’s last visit to Australia in 2019 – set the benchmark pace with a 1m31.016s.
The Aprilia rider improved to a 1m30.615s, before Marc Marquez on the updated factory Honda shot to the top of the order with a 1m30.126s.
Honda debuted the new front aerodynamic fairing in FP1 it first trialled at the Misano test in September, as well as a Ducati-style rear wing set-up.
The rear wings disappeared from Marquez’s bike for the start of FP2, with his 1m30.126s remaining the time to beat up until the closing stages when the field engaged in a soft tyre time attack.
Marquez’s time would finally be toppled with four minutes remaining when VR46 Ducati rookie Marco Bezzecchi fired in a 1m29.871s.
Vinales and Quartararo over the next minute and a half would go quicker with respective 1m29.745s and 1m29.614s laps, before Bezzecchi edged ahead with a 1m29.513s.
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
But it would be Zarco who would deny Bezzecchi top honours on Friday at Phillip Island, the Frenchman ending the day fastest of all with a 1m29.475s.
Pol Espargaro on the factory Honda was a solid third at a circuit his team-mate Marquez expected wouldn’t favour the 2022 RC213V coming into the weekend.
Championship leader Quartararo was just 0.139s off the pace in fourth as the leading title challengers, with his former Yamaha team-mate Maverick Vinales fifth ahead of Marquez.
Aleix Espargaro was seventh on the sister Aprilia,…
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