Marco Bezzecchi broke the all-time lap record of the Phillip Island circuit on course to topping the second MotoGP practice session.
The Aprilia rider returned to form after a disappointing Indonesian Grand Prix by topping the second practice session by 0.241s.
In a session which saw Francesco Bagnaia continue to struggle aboard the Ducati and Mandalika race winner Fermin Aldeguer find it difficult to gain consistency, the door opened for Bezzecchi to lay down a marker for the weekend.
Despite Ducati finding some late lap time, Bezzecchi stole the show as he broke the lap record with a time of 1:26.492 to take the second MotoGP practice session in Phillip Island.
Raul Fernandez proved Aprilia’s strong pace in second, while Fabio Di Giannantonio rounded out the top three as the top GP25.
Fabio Quartararo was fourth, as Alex Marquez split the factory Yamaha pair by taking fifth over Alex Rins.
Luca Marini was seventh, besting Pol Espargaro, who took eighth as he stands in for the injured Maverick Vinales.
Francesco Bagnaia was ninth after finding some late pace, with Pedro Acosta sneaking into the top 10 after a small crash early in the session.
Last week’s race winner, Fermin Aldeguer, narrowly missed out on a direct Q2 spot in 11th, 0.005s behind Acosta’s time.
Brad Binder was a tenth behind team-mate Acosta, as Jack Miller missed out on advancing at his home grand prix in 13th.
Joan Mir took 14th at the flag over satellite Honda rider Johann Zarco, with Miguel Oliveira in 16th the first rider outside a second of Bezzecchi’s time.
Franco Morbidelli struggled to 17th, narrowly edging ahead of Ai Ogura and Lorenzo Savadori in 18th and 19th, respectively.
Enea Bastianini’s best time had him 20th over Michele Pirro, while Somkiat Chantra completed the standings in 22nd.
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