Oh good old Phillip Island. Is the Australian Grand Prix really the Australian Grand Prix without a good rain shower, delays and session cancellation? We all know the answer to that. It was quite an eventful opening day in Phillip Island for MotoGP™, with Free Practice 1 cancelled after multiple delays this morning, as the heavy rain showers made it too risky for riders to go out. Everything was to be played in the afternoon's session with Pedro Acosta and Augusto Fernandez getting their first track time of the day, while having to get on with the time attacks to make it to Q2. Acosta was on a good path to qualify for Q2, but a late crash saw him being pushed out of the top 10, to finish 13th. Fernandez was not far with an encouraging pace, and he finished in P15, just 0.2 seconds from Q2.

Rookie Pedro Acosta unfortunately saw a much-needed Free Practice 1 cancelled on Friday morning, one session usually used by the young rider to accustom himself to the track with the MotoGP™ machine. But Acosta seems made of something else, it has become quite evident since he arrived to the premier class, and his afternoon Practice session showcased his special talent once more. As all riders rushed into the 60 minute-session in prevention of another rain, times were fast quick, for Acosta included, who appeared to have quickly found his way around the Phillip Island layout as he settled early in the top 10. With 40 minutes left on the clock, the rookie was in 5th with a 1’29.439. With the storm looming and clouds getting darker and darker, many riders pushed to get a fast lap clocked in. Half an hour left on the clock, the #31 found himself outside of the top 10, but he quickly made a new entrance to the Q2 spots to P7 with an improved 1’29.220, and the next lap he moved up to 4th with a 1’29.126. As less than 15 minutes remained on the clock, still no sign of rain meant that it was time to push even harder for the final time-attacks. Again outside of the top 10, Acosta found a strong 1’28.528 to get himself up to 5th, but the fight was tough with laps going down for all riders. While he was in danger in 10th with just 2 minutes left, the rookie made a mistake at T4 as he went straight, but he had no chance on the wet grass and crashed. He was eventually pushed back to P13, and will have to go through Q1 on Saturday, but the rookie remains calm as a final FP2 remains tomorrow morning to get ready for qualifying.

After a must-see UNO game in the garage to pass time this morning while waiting for the rain to stop, it was time to get in the focus zone again for Augusto Fernandez with the key Practice session. The Spaniard has often been quite good when conditions are tricky, and it was an opportunity for the #37 to close the gap on his rivals. Which he did, progressively throughout the session. In his second run, he rode a 1’29.496, which was improved in the next run to a 1’28.926 placing him in P12 with ten minutes on the clock. The feeling on the RC16 seemed good for the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 rider, and we saw him gain a few more to 1’28.628, to eventually finish in 15th, but 0.2 seconds from the top 10, an encouraging result for the Spaniard who will look to get his best grid position of the season. The action will be back on Saturday morning with a special Free Practice 2 of 40 minutes at 10:00 (GMT+11), before qualifying kicks off at 10:50. Phillip Island will then host its first-ever Tissot Sprint at 15:00, after it was cancelled in 2023 due to bad track conditions.