THE RAIN FORCES THE APRILIA RS-GP MACHINES TO THE GARAGE AFTER A GOOD FP1 SESSION
As forecast, the first day of practice at Phillip Island for the Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix had the weather as its main protagonist. In fact, the second session was initially postponed and then cancelled after just a few moments of action and with many riders staying in the garage in light of the prohibitive track conditions.
In FP1, on the other hand, the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders had found a good pace in the wet before the worsening weather conditions kept them from improving their times further. Alvaro Bautista did 15 laps, earning ninth place with a time of 1'42.956, whereas, on the seventh of his twelve laps, Stefan Bradl did a time of 1'43.070 that placed him in eleventh. Both of the Aprilia standard-bearers were then bumped up a position after the penalty inflicted on Valentino Rossi.