Viñales and Zarco complete the front row with Iannone P4

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) bounced back from a difficult Free Practice to mark his territory at Phillip Island once more, taking a fifth successive pole position at the venue in a magnificent Michelin® Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix Q2 session. Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was the closest challenger to Marquez’ 1:29.199 to line up in P2, with fellow Yamaha rider Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) completing the front of the grid in tricky conditions.

Q2 sees 12 riders taking to the track with the aim of setting the quickest lap time, with the fastest taking pole position on Sunday

As premier class riders headed out to set their opening lap times, the rain started to fall as it looked like we could be in for a damp pole position shoot-out. However, this didn’t last long, and it was home hero Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) who led the charge to set the first reference lap time, before Marquez then took over the reigns – a 1:31.282 his benchmark.

Conditions were not ideal for setting a quick lap time but no matter, Marquez then moved the goal posts again on his second flying lap as the 12 riders stormed the Island. A 1:29.742 now the time to beat, with Viñales slotting into P2 – 0.082 splitting the two Spaniards.

Then, the man who dominated Free Practice went quickest: Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar). But he was then quickly ousted by Zarco as the provisional pole chopped and changed in varying Phillip Island weather. 0.007 was a minimal gap splitting the duo, with Marquez then slotting into third, 0.037 back. The Champion didn’t stay there for long though, he shot to P1 by 0.506 as the number 93 raised the bar once more – a personal and session best lap time that would prove to be crucial.

Why? Well, as most of the riders pitted for fresh rubber, the heavens opened again. However, once more the rain didn’t stay but the light sprinkling proved a stretch too far for anyone to drastically improve their times. Miller – in typical Miller fashion – had other ideas as he set orange sectors, but he wouldn’t be able to improve after a huge moment coming onto the Gardner straight. Viñales then raised eyebrows by going quickest in the first sector, but he also couldn’t hook up the final sector in the difficult conditions.

An enthralling session ended with Marquez - who equals Casey Stoner's Phillip Island consecutive pole record -, Viñales and Zarco launching from Row 1, with Iannone missing out on a front row start by 0.007. Fellow Team Suzuki Ecstar rider Alex Rins will start from P5, with Miller grabbing P6 in front of his home fans. Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) will aim to challenge for a podium from P7 on the grid as he leads an all-Italian third row: Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing) sits ahead of Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) in P8 and P9 respectively, this was the latter’s worst qualifying result of the season.

After a huge Turn 1 FP3 crash, Hafizh Syahrin (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) earns his best Saturday afternoon result of the season in P10, with Q1 graduates Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Alvaro Bautista (Ducati Team) – who crashed heading into Turn 10 – completing the top 12 at Phillip Island.

Phillip Island, Saturday, October 27, 2018

Pos.    Num.    Rider    Nation    Team    Bike    Km/h    Time    Gap 1st/Prev.
1    93    Marc MARQUEZ    SPA    Repsol Honda Team    Honda    338.1    1'29.199    
2    25    Maverick VIÑALES    SPA    Movistar Yamaha MotoGP    Yamaha    332.5    1'29.509    0.310 / 0.310
3    5    Johann ZARCO    FRA    Monster Yamaha Tech 3    Yamaha    333.5    1'29.705    0.506 / 0.196
4    29    Andrea IANNONE    ITA    Team SUZUKI ECSTAR    Suzuki    331.3    1'29.712    0.513 / 0.007
5    42    Alex RINS    SPA    Team SUZUKI ECSTAR    Suzuki    331.6    1'30.026    0.827 / 0.314
6    43    Jack MILLER    AUS    Alma Pramac Racing    Ducati    332.8    1'30.140    0.941 / 0.114
7    46    Valentino ROSSI    ITA    Movistar Yamaha MotoGP    Yamaha    331.5    1'30.270    1.071 / 0.130
8    9    Danilo PETRUCCI    ITA    Alma Pramac Racing    Ducati    334.4    1'30.328    1.129 / 0.058
9    4    Andrea DOVIZIOSO    ITA    Ducati Team    Ducati    334.3    1'30.519    1.320 / 0.191
10    55    Hafizh SYAHRIN    MAL    Monster Yamaha Tech 3    Yamaha    326.7    1'30.593    1.394 / 0.074
11    44    Pol ESPARGARO    SPA    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    332.7    1'30.640    1.441 / 0.047
12    19    Alvaro BAUTISTA    SPA    Ducati Team    Ducati    331.3    1'32.367    3.168 / 1.727