Australian MotoGP: Crutchlow tops wet opening practice
Cal Crutchlow edged out Valentino Rossi in a sopping wet opening practice session at Phillip Island.
Cal Crutchlow, Team LCR Honda
Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
The 45-minute session was wet top to bottom, the majority of the quick times coming midway through before heavier rain made it impossible to improve in the latter stages.
The best of those quick times went to LCR Honda rider Crutchlow, who first popped up on top when he knocked Marc Marquez out of P1 with a 1m41.941s right on the half-hour mark.
Marquez hit back straight away with a 1m41.511s, Crutchlow with an immediate response of his own with a 1m40.957s – which wound up being the fastest time of the session.
Valentino Rossi was the only other rider to dip under the 1m41s mark, a stint just after Crutchlow set the benchmark time putting him into P3 with a 1m41.477s, then into P2 with a 1m40.998s.
Danilo Petrucci made good use of the best of the conditions around that 30-minute mark as well, hovering around the top three throughout the session. He wound up third with a 1m41.010s, despite losing a winglet down the main straight midway through the session.
Hometown hero Jack Miller finished up fourth, having sat on top of the times after the first few representative times had been set. The Aussie was one of the latest to set a front-running time, popping up in fourth with a 1m41.457s before having a small off at Turn 1, keeping it upright as he went through the gravel.
World Champion Marquez slipped down to fifth by the finish, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso, Maverick Vinales, and Pol Espargaro. Alvaro Bautista was next, with Nicky Hayden 10th on his Repsol Honda comeback.
Jorge Lorenzo, meanwhile, had a shocking session. The Yamaha rider logged just five laps, ending up 20th, more than four and a half seconds off the pace.
First practice results:
Pos | # | Rider | Bike | Laps | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 8 | 1'40.957 | |
2 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | 14 | 1'40.998 | 0.041 |
3 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | 16 | 1'41.010 | 0.053 |
4 | 43 | Jack Miller | Honda | 12 | 1'41.457 | 0.500 |
5 | 93 | Marc Marquez | Honda | 13 | 1'41.511 | 0.554 |
6 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 13 | 1'41.569 | 0.612 |
7 | 25 | Maverick Viñales | Suzuki | 10 | 1'41.813 | 0.856 |
8 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | Yamaha | 15 | 1'42.465 | 1.508 |
9 | 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Aprilia | 15 | 1'42.956 | 1.999 |
10 | 69 | Nicky Hayden | Honda | 15 | 1'43.012 | 2.055 |
11 | 6 | Stefan Bradl | Aprilia | 12 | 1'43.070 | 2.113 |
12 | 68 | Yonny Hernandez | Ducati | 16 | 1'43.132 | 2.175 |
13 | 45 | Scott Redding | Ducati | 13 | 1'43.314 | 2.357 |
14 | 7 | Mike Jones | Ducati | 16 | 1'43.483 | 2.526 |
15 | 76 | Loris Baz | Ducati | 10 | 1'44.176 | 3.219 |
16 | 53 | Tito Rabat | Honda | 17 | 1'44.178 | 3.221 |
17 | 50 | Eugene Laverty | Ducati | 13 | 1'44.181 | 3.224 |
18 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | 14 | 1'44.551 | 3.594 |
19 | 8 | Hector Barbera | Ducati | 19 | 1'44.792 | 3.835 |
20 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | 9 | 1'45.651 | 4.694 |
21 | 38 | Bradley Smith | Yamaha | 7 | 1'49.008 | 8.051 |
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