The opening free practice for the 250cc Australian Grand Prix was affected by low track temperatures and strong winds, which made life difficult for the quarter-litre riders at Phillip Island. Héctor Barberá was comfortably ahead of the chasing pack on his Aprilia, supposedly more suited to the fast corners at this circuit than the Hondas, although the Japanese manufacturer had two of its bike amongst the frontrunners today. The biggest surprise was that series leader Hiroshi Aoyama wasn’t amongst them, the series leader in tenth place yet curiously still ahead of his two main championship pursuers.
As is becoming custom, Mapfre rider Mike Di Meglio was amongst the day’s protagonists, riding the Aprilia RSA 250 for the first time at the circuit where he lifted the 125 title last year. The Frenchman quickly solved front end problems with his bike before climbing the time sheets to end up fourth overall, clocking a 1’35.013 on his last lap of 23. His team-mate Álvaro Bautista did not make the same level of progress as he tried to adapt the chassis of his Aprilia to the windy conditions. The Spaniard is hoping to make major improvements tomorrow as he aims to keep his championship challenge on track.
4th Mike Di Meglio 1.35.013 (23 laps):
“The start of the session was tough because I couldn’t get a feel for the front end but we found a solution and in the second half I felt comfortable. The wind was quite a big handicap throughout the day and as the session went on it realised how much more effort the 250 Aprilia requires here to a 125. The bike is heavier and you can feel the bumps a lot more. Either way, I still love Phillip Island! I’m happy with our performance today – the mechanics are getting to know me better each time and we’re finding it easier to find solutions. We got gradually better throughout the session and on my last run with new tyres I was able to set my best lap. We still have to find more confidence with the front tomorrow but we’re on the right lines.”
12th Álvaro Bautista 1.35.759 (26 laps):
“It was pretty windy today and to be honest I noticed it a lot. I had a few problems in some of the corners, where I had no feeling for the bike. It was moving around a lot in the exits and I couldn’t open the throttle. We worked on both bikes but the second one, which had a different chassis configuration, didn’t work as we had hoped. Anyway, we have to work with what we have and the conditions we’re faced with. Hopefully we can improve tomorrow because this wasn’t a good start. Apart from Barberá the rest of us are within a second so I guess we’ll all be looking to improve. This is the kind of circuit where a few small changes can gain you a lot of time. It’s only the first session and we have plenty of work to do to make me more comfortable on the bike.”
