P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Jack Miller thrills home fans to top Phillip Island FP1 – Francesco Bagnaia’s GP25 troubles resurface before an encouraging recovery.
In opening practice for the 2025 Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island, local favorite Jack Miller topped the session by fitting fresh rubber, narrowly beating Alex Marquez by 0.036s on Friday morning. Miller’s new tires enabled him to surpass the long-time leader Marquez. Alex Marquez, aiming for second in the world championship, had a scary moment at Turn 1 when he clipped the back wheel of Oliveira, with the incident put under investigation and no action taken. Several riders, including Pedro Acosta, Fermin Aldeguer, and Fabio Quartararo, opted to stick with the same set of tires throughout FP1. Francesco Bagnaia had a tumultuous start but improved his pace significantly, briefly reaching the top four after starting on a medium front tire. The practice session also saw Johann Zarco as the top Honda rider, while Raul Fernandez was among the few to fit new tires for his final run. The first faller of the weekend was Franco Morbidelli at Turn 1, with the following practice determining direct access to Saturday’s Qualifying 2, scheduled for 3pm local time.
