Day 2: It’s Miller time at Phillip Island
Saturday, 15 October 2022
Many eyes will be on the Aussie.
It's qualifying day at the Animoca Brands Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix 2022 and there will be much to watch as the bikes take to the hallowed Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit.
Many eyes will be on Jack Miller in the third MotoGP™ Practice session, due to start at 9:55 am. The Ducati Corse star needs to find the speed to make the top 10 riders seeded into the second Qualifying session. Though Miller does have a history of speeding his way through Q1 and dazzling in Q2, even making the front row of the grid. So his task is difficult but far from impossible.
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Further back on the grid, Remy Gardner faces a big challenge to make it into the top 15 riders on a track that does not appear to suit the KTMs. None of the Austrian V4s made the top 10 on Friday, even works riders, Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder.
In Moto2, many eyes will be on title hopefuls Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Ai Ogura, who are further back than we are used to seeing them in seventh and 15th places, respectively. The two SpeedUp Boscoscuros of Fermin Aldeguer and Alonso Lopez look right at home at Phillip Island, while first-time PI racer Pedro Acosta is getting faster and closer to the guys at the front of the field.
In Moto3 it’s now or never for Honda’s Dennis Foggia. The Italian was the pick of many to lift the crown but GasGas rookie Izan Guevara has shown dazzling form in the second half of the season. Aussie Joel Kelso finished Friday on the edge of making the all-important top 14 and could step into the group in Saturday’s third Practice session.
It is also worth keeping an eye on experienced veterans John McPhee (Husqvarna) and Andrea Migno (Honda) on what is likely to be their last Moto3 outing at the Island before moving on to new challenges in 2023.
In National Superbikes, late news that Josh Waters would ride the Boost Mobile Ducati Panigale V4 resulted in a first-time win on Friday by the narrowest of margins, though Yamaha’s Cru Halliday and Mike Jones will not be taking a narrow Race 1 loss lying down.
In the Oceania Junior Cup, look for more unpredictability from the sport’s up-and-coming racers after the top six riders in Friday’s opening race were split by a mere 0.217s. Picking a winner in either of the races looks like an impossibility – so we will not even try.
