Overview
- Marco Bezzecchi topped Friday practice with a 1:26.492 all‑time lap record and reported lingering back pain from his Indonesia crash.
- Bezzecchi must serve a double long‑lap penalty in Sunday’s grand prix for causing Marc Marquez’s Mandalika incident, having practiced the loop at an estimated 2.6 seconds’ loss.
- Newly crowned champion Marc Marquez is out after shoulder/collarbone surgery, with Ducati test rider Michele Pirro deputising at Phillip Island.
- Last year’s front‑row starters Jorge Martin and Maverick Vinales are also absent through injury, with Lorenzo Savadori and Pol Espargaro stepping in.
- Jack Miller led FP1 for Pramac Yamaha, Alex Marquez sits in the title runner‑up hunt and can secure second if he ends the weekend 111 points clear of Francesco Bagnaia.