Today saw the start of the 15th meeting of the season, with the opening practice session for the Australian 125GP in Phillip Island. Marc Márquez was the fastest of the Repsol riders, finishing in 5th spot, three ahead of Esteve Rabat. Teammate Scott Redding was out of luck, after a crash 20 minutes from the end left him back in 22nd place. Cameron Beaubier, making his debut on the Australian track, finished in 25th place.
At 12:40 in the afternoon local time, (03:40h in Spain), the 125cc riders took to the track for the opening practice session at one of the sport’s most picturesque circuits. With the track still cold and after just a few tweaks to the KTM 125 FRR, Marc Márquez had a session that steadily improved. The Repsol rider started by clocking up some mediocre times, outside the 10 best in the category, but, after a final visit to the boxes, improved considerably on the last laps, at one point lying in second. He closed the session in fifth, just 622 milliseconds off the best time clocked by Pol Espargaro.
Three tenths of a second behind came Esteve Rabat, who is beginning to find the consistency that failed him at the beginning of the season. Rabat was riding at all times today among the ten best times, looking for a race rhythm that would help him set up the Aprilia RSA. He finished in eighth, with a time of 1.39.360, almost 2 seconds ahead of teammate Scott Redding. The British rider crashed spectacularly 20 minutes from the end of the session, after an incident with Stefan Bradl, coming together in one of the faster sections of the circuit, and coming off the track at considerable speed. He was unable to return and remained in 22nd spot.
For Cameron Beaubier, today was another chance to get some kilometres in on a circuit that was completely new to him, and which is one of the most spectacular and demanding. The American rider managed to complete 26 laps, finishing 25th, even after a small crash shortly before the end.
Marc Marquez, 1.39.057 sec, 26 laps, 116 km. >> Audio
“It went quite well, although I found it a bit hard at the beginning. I wasn’t really getting a good feeling from the bike, because we had some adjustment problems I found it hard to get the best line. I wasn’t riding with much confidence, until someone went past me, and I managed to follow him and ride with more conviction. This has helped me put in a good time, but we know that tomorrow we have to get the bike set up better, because when I was riding on my own it was difficult. I’m happy with how the session ended, it went better, and if the weather is still good tomorrow, we’ll be trying to get in a good timed session.”
Esteve Rabat, 1.39.360 sec, 25 laps, 111 km. >> Audio
“The first sessions weren’t bad, and I began to build up some rhythm. It was quite an intense session in which we have tried various suspension, carburetion and tyre setups. We’ve managed to draw the first conclusions. We will gradually start getting an idea of the circuit, and work towards Sunday. We’ve also been lucky in having a sunny, dry track.”
Scott Redding, 1.41.237 sec, 14 laps, 62 km. >> Audio
“Throughout the first session I was feeling much better with the bike, until I crashed, when Bradl touched the front wheel of my bike. For me it was a very short session, I only managed a few laps, but on the positive side the bike was going a lot better than on previous weekends, and we tried a different setup with the suspension that seemed to be working. I took a bump on the arm and the finger, but there’s no damage and I’m OK”
Cameron Beaubier, 1.41, 763 sec, 26 laps, 116 km. >> Audio
“I started the session well today. It’s a spectacular track, and even though I was only riding for an hour, I can already say it’s my favourite. I felt really comfortable on the circuit right from the beginning, but in the end, in my last session on the track I had some problems with the front wheel and my times dropped off. I even came off, although it was nothing serious. I hope tomorrow we can sort out the front wheel and I can improve the speed.”
