The two riders who made it through to Q2 in Australia have been found: Francesco Bagnaia was the fastest after two great final laps, while Marc Márquez prepared a final attack in which he “stole” qualifying from Augusto Fernández.
Everything was in place for the start of Q1 and the lens was focused on Francesco Bagnaia, but in this session the Italian wasn’t the “only” rider of note, with Marc Márquez, Fabio Quartararo or Luca Marini among the favourites to make it through to Q2.
Bagnaia and Quartararo were precisely the two fastest riders after the first two laps, with Joan Mir third and Oliveira fourth.
On the following lap it was a Spaniard who moved to the front, Augusto Fernández, with Bagnaia 0.108s behind the #37.
Five minutes into the session and the riders were getting ready to return to the track for one of the most important moments of the weekend.
After a lap of preparation, the sectors were red for many riders and Bagnaia set the fastest time so far on lap six and moved to the front of the session, 0.275s off Fernández.
With seconds to go, Fernández’s second place was under threat from Marc Márquez, who… confirmed Q2!