until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
Jorge Martin responded to his Mandalika heartbreak last Sunday by absolutely crushing his MotoGP opposition in the first practice session for this weekend's Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.
Now 18 points behind title rival Pecco Bagnaia again after crashing from the lead in Indonesia, Martin began his bid to get back on terms by holding first place for the vast majority of the Friday morning session.
The most impressive moment came when Pramac Ducati rider Martin's long-time benchmark 1m29.882s lap was beaten by Maverick Vinales' Aprilia late on.
Martin not only instantly regained first place, he did so by a full half a second, then improved again on his next lap (albeit aided by the fact he was the only rider to use a soft rear tyre).
That meant he ended the session with a fastest time of 1m29.039s and a 0.720s margin over surprise second-place man Augusto Fernandez of Tech3 Gas Gas.
Vinales dropped back to third, followed by Brad Binder's KTM and Martin's team-mate Johann Zarco.
Bagnaia appeared to struggle to get a smooth lap, pitting late on to have what was reportedly the remains of a very large insect removed from his gloves. He was only 11th in the results.
An early spill for @marcmarquez93! 💥
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 20, 2023
He loses the front at Turn 10! Rider OK! 👍#AustralianGP 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/ESGbVAd2Tf
The 45-minute session featured two crashes, both by Hondas and both low-sides. Marc Marquez was first to fall, followed by LCR Honda's Alex Rins.
