Maverick Vinales led the way in a wet opening practice session for the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island that also saw Fabio Quartararo suffer a violent tumble.
The Australian circuit was soaked owing to constant rain that had continue to fall even prior to the Moto3 and 2 sessions, the tricky conditions being illustrated by the rapidly improving times as the riders continued to gain confidence.
Vinales was the man on top after the first third of the session with a 1:39.165, before improving minutes later as the first of the session to dip below the 1:39 mark-his 1:38.957 the new benchmark.
This is how it would remain, although Jack Miller and Marc Marquez would close in before the session came to a close.
The Aussie got closest to the Yamaha with a lap just 0.147 slower, while Marquez took third fastest in the session just under four-tenths back.
Valentino Rossi was fourth fastest on the second of the factory Yamaha M1’s, with Danilo Petrucci rounding out the top five on the first of the official Ducati machines.
Franco Morbidelli was sixth quickest ahead of SRT Petronas team-mate Quartararo, who suffered a dramatic crash in the closing stages of the session.
The Frenchman high-sided while negotiating the uphill left-hander of Lukey Heights, shooting off into the gravel and seemingly injuring his left leg as a result that saw him stretchered from the side of the circuit shortly afterwards.
Pol Espargaro was eighth on the first of the KTM’s ahead of Tech 3 man Miguel Oliveira, while Andrea Dovizioso closed out the top ten on his GP19 Ducati.
Johann Zarco was an impressive 13th in his first session on a Honda MotoGP bike, nearly a second clear of factory rider Jorge Lorenzo and a tenth quicker than LCR team-mate Cal Crutchlow.
Suzuki looked to struggle in the wet conditions, with Alex Rins the highest placed GSX-RR pilot in 12th 1.9 seconds away from Vinales’ benchmark, while Joan Mir was 15th just a couple of tenths further behind.
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