A guessing game ensued during qualifying at Phillip Island earlier today with the weather constantly changing, particularly in Q1. With no rain during Q2, the smart bet was to switch to dry tires earlier in the session, which Marc Marquez (Honda) did. Marquez took pole ahead of Cal Crutchlow (Honda) and Pol Espargaro (Yamaha), each of whom will also start on the front row tomorrow. Both Yamaha factory riders struggled in the changing conditions, with Jorge Lorenzo qualifying 12th and Valentino Rossi failing to move on from Q1, finishing 15th.
Stay tuned for race coverage tomorrow on MD. Here are the full results from Q2:
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 324.8 | 1’30.189 | |
| 2 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | LCR Honda | Honda | 326.8 | 1’30.981 | 0.792 / 0.792 |
| 3 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARO | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 326.0 | 1’31.107 | 0.918 / 0.126 |
| 4 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 321.3 | 1’31.673 | 1.484 / 0.566 |
| 5 | 43 | Jack MILLER | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 325.3 | 1’31.754 | 1.565 / 0.081 |
| 6 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | OCTO Pramac Yakhnich | Ducati | 321.8 | 1’32.420 | 2.231 / 0.666 |
| 7 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 318.6 | 1’32.944 | 2.755 / 0.524 |
| 8 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 319.5 | 1’33.015 | 2.826 / 0.071 |
| 9 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | Ducati | 330.3 | 1’33.090 | 2.901 / 0.075 |
| 10 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 332.7 | 1’33.914 | 3.725 / 0.824 |
| 11 | 45 | Scott REDDING | OCTO Pramac Yakhnich | Ducati | 322.0 | 1’34.682 | 4.493 / 0.768 |
| 12 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 320.1 | 1’36.840 | 6.651 / 2.158 |
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Way to go Nicky!
I think Rossi has given up now that Marquez has secured the title. Lorenzo is just “going through the motions” until his contract is up at the end of the year. I bet the race tomorrow is just as boring, Marc will lead every lap and win decisively!
those two are still battling for who gets second and who gets third in the Championship with Lorenzo having a slight points edge. Guarantee you Rossi wants second now.
“with Lorenzo having a slight points edge.”
Huh? Rossi was in second place in the championship heading into today’s race. Now he’s even further ahead of Lorenzo, who is closer in points to Vinales than he is to Rossi.
As for Rossi “giving up,” I’d say that his charge from fifteenth to second is all the proof anyone needs that Rossi is still fighting.
Oops yep, you are right. Don’t know why I thought JLo was ahead.???? Sometimes I worry about me lol
Last week, Lorenzo talked about his goal to beat Rossi for the title of “vice champion”, whatever the hell that is. Now, he should be more concerned with Vinales taking the “2nd Runner-Up” spot from him!
Well if last week hadn’t sealed the deal for Marquez, this week probably would have. Hope the race is dry, I am not fond of the rain races.