Ducati Sporting Club UK > News Items > Ducati Press Releases > Pecco Bagnaia closes in eighth place on the first day of free practices for the Australian GP at Phillip Island. Thirteenth Jack Miller

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MotoGP | Round 18 - Australian GP 2022 | Friday 14 October 2022

Pecco Bagnaia closes in eighth place on the first day of free practices for the Australian GP at Phillip Island. Thirteenth Jack Miller

• Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) tops Friday at Phillip Island ahead of the Desmosedici GP of Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Racing Team)

The Ducati Lenovo Team riders took part in two free practice sessions today, both held in the dry, at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, stage this weekend of the Australian GP, the third-to-last round of the 2022 MotoGP season. After the heavy rain that fell yesterday, the strong wind that picked up this morning partly pushed the bad weather away, making way for a dry FP1 during which both Pecco Bagnaia and Jack Miller were able to reacquaint themselves with the Australian track, which is back on the calendar this year after an absence of three years.

After closing FP1 with a fastest lap of 1:31.077, in this afternoon's FP2, Bagnaia set a fastest lap of 1:29.838 with the soft tire, finishing Day 1 in eighth place. On the other hand, Jack Miller ended Friday in thirteenth place after spending most of the two sessions working on the setup of his Desmosedici GP ahead of the race.

The first day of free practices for the Australian GP saw two Ducatis leading the way. Johann Zarco was the quickest with the Desmosedici GP of the Pramac Racing Team, followed by Marco Bezzecchi, rider of the VR46 Racing Team.

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) - 8th (1:29.838)
"The balance of today is positive, and so I am happy. In FP1 and FP2, I had some difficulties in the first run, but later we managed to straighten things out and get good results at the end of both sessions. We still have some work to do, but we are at a good point, and I know where we can still improve. The areas where I'm losing something are the first and third, so tomorrow, I will focus mainly on doing well in those two parts of the track. It will be crucial to be able to qualify up front, and I know I have the potential to be fast."

Jack Miller (#43 Ducati Lenovo Team) - 13th (1:30.021)
"Today definitely didn't end the way we hoped. I'm struggling to turn the bike, and because of some small issues we had during the second session, combined with the strong wind, we couldn't improve in the time attack. In any case, I am happy to be here again at Phillip Island. It's great to see how many people came this weekend, and that motivates me a lot. I'm sure that tomorrow morning if the weather allows us, we can make progress and qualify well."

The Ducati Lenovo Team riders will be back on track tomorrow at 9:55am Australian time (00:55am in Italy) for FP3, while qualifying will be held from 2:10pm local time (5:10am Italian time) at the end of FP4.