Marini and Mir bring the fight throughout sunny Saturday in Australia
Phillip IslandEver-improving conditions made for even closer racing as the Phillip Island weekend continued at pace, Luca Marini and Joan Mir both fighting fiercely on their way to eighth and 11th respectively in the Sprint.
Barely a hint of a cloud in the sky produced another record-breaking day of MotoGP action at the Australian Grand Prix as the field continued to push themselves and their machines to the limit. Q1 and Q2 would be as close as ever, Joan Mir missing out on a transfer spot by just two tenths and an even finer margin separating Luca Marini from the front two rows.
Luca Marini continued his run as top Honda, starting in ninth thanks to a 1'27.095 - two tenths faster than last year's pole time. Stifled somewhat into Turn 1, Marini focused on trying to quickly make up lost ground and became locked in a multi-lap battle with Pol Espargaro. Eventually getting the best of the KTM rider, Marini went on to cross the line in eighth place and finish just 0.2s behind pole-setter Fabio Quartararo. Although not as competitive as in Motegi and Mandalika, Marini remains pleased with the overall speed he has shown this weekend as he continues to collect more points.
Like his Honda HRC Castrol teammate, Joan Mir spent much of the Sprint race embroiled in battles. Able to match the pace of the top five, the #36 quickly closed in on Marini and Espargaro and spent several laps waiting for his opportunity. An incident later in the race would drop Mir behind Bastianini and see the 2020 MotoGP World Champion cross the line in 11th. Confident in his pace, Mir is looking forward to Sunday's Grand Prix and aiming for a quicker start to the race to make early ground.
Due to extreme weather forecasts, the 27-lap Australian Grand Prix will start one hour later, at 15:00 Local Time, to avoid the worst of the weather.
When I was alone on track, I was really happy with our pace and I think that for tomorrow with different tyres we can be there in the fight for the podium, probably it will be a similar race as today so in that second group. At the start of the Sprint I lost quite a few positions and dropped off the back of the group fighting for the top five. Pol was riding really well so I had to spend a lot of time to get past him as well. This morning, I did a really good lap in Q2, but the others had a bit more. Tomorrow starting well and arriving into the front group early will be crucial. It's not our best weekend, but even like this we are there in the top ten and still fighting for a lot more than even one year ago. I also need to say a huge thank you to my team today, they did an incredible job.
When I was alone on track, I was really happy with our pace and I think that for tomorrow with different tyres we can be there in the fight for the podium, probably it will be a similar race as today so in that second group. At the start of the Sprint I lost quite a few positions and dropped off the back of the group fighting for the top five. Pol was riding really well so I had to spend a lot of time to get past him as well. This morning, I did a really good lap in Q2, but the others had a bit more. Tomorrow starting well and arriving into the front group early will be crucial. It's not our best weekend, but even like this we are there in the top ten and still fighting for a lot more than even one year ago. I also need to say a huge thank you to my team today, they did an incredible job.
Today we made some improvements over Friday, still some work to do, but we have to be happy with what we've done and aim to continue on Sunday. In the race I was quite strong, very close to the pace of the top five for the whole race, but it was a bit complicated to overtake. I had a moment with Marini and Pol towards the end and lost some ground, but it wasn't anything big. The strength of myself and our bike at the moment is heavy braking, so we are struggling a bit more but still we have been able to show our progress fighting for the top eight. Let's see what tomorrow brings, the conditions could be tricky.
Today we made some improvements over Friday, still some work to do, but we have to be happy with what we've done and aim to continue on Sunday. In the race I was quite strong, very close to the pace of the top five for the whole race, but it was a bit complicated to overtake. I had a moment with Marini and Pol towards the end and lost some ground, but it wasn't anything big. The strength of myself and our bike at the moment is heavy braking, so we are struggling a bit more but still we have been able to show our progress fighting for the top eight. Let's see what tomorrow brings, the conditions could be tricky.
