The first practices of the weekend for the Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix got underway today with Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi battling soaking conditions. With very little track time to be had, due to persistent rain and the cancelation of FP2, the teammates finished 19th and 20th respectively in the combined times.

Lorenzo used the session with caution while getting to know the wet weather tyres and trying to find a matching set-up. The crew worked hard to find better stability for his bike as standing water across parts of the track made it difficult to find a good pace. Struggling to get heat in the tyres, causing a lack of grip, he set a best lap of 1'45.651s for 19th place.

Rossi found a good wet setting early on in the morning and was featured as one of the main protagonists throughout the session, setting a best lap of 1'40.998s at the end of an 11-lap long first stint. However, as he set his best lap on a super soft front tyre which riders are only allowed for no more than ten laps, all the times of his first outing were canceled, leaving him in 20th position.

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP teammates had to be patient for the second practice session to get underway as it was delayed due to the weather conditions. The afternoon free practice session got underway when the track started to dry out at 15:45 local time.

The Doctor was again eager to head out and completed a couple of laps, but the track action wasn't to last. FP2 was red flagged and suspended until 16:45 local time with still more than 31 minutes of the session remaining and was ultimately not restarted for safety reasons.

The cancelation of FP2 meant both Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders were unable to improve on their best morning lap, causing Lorenzo to complete the first day in 19th place in the combined session times and Rossi in 20th.

Massimo Meregalli - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

"Today has been less than an ideal scenario, to say the least. The conditions on track were extreme today, making it very challenging for the riders to find a good feeling. This is the worst kind of weather to try and set up a MotoGP bike. Nevertheless, we still managed to try a couple of settings in the morning session. Valentino was quite satisfied with the balance of his bike. Jorge didn't want to take unnecessary risks today and only rode a couple of laps to get a first feel for the track and his two bikes. We hope for better weather tomorrow and some additional practice time so our riders can progress to Q2."

Jorge Lorenzo - 19th / 1'45.651 / 5 laps

"I exited the pit lane quite late this morning and I didn't make so many laps on the first run. I was progressing little by little, but I stopped too early and when I tried the second bike there was already more water on the track, so I did just one more lap. It was difficult to find a good reference to understand on which bike we were better in these conditions."

Valentino Rossi - 20th / 1'47.225 / 15 laps

"The conditions were very difficult today. Unfortunately we had bad weather, it was very cold and there was lots of water. This morning we were able to ride for 20 minutes in acceptable conditions and it wasn't so bad, I was quite strong. In the afternoon the temperature went down and the amount of water was too much, so unfortunately we couldn't ride. We couldn't work on the feeling on the bike so we keep the quite good feeling we had at the beginning of the practice, but at the same time we lost the heat, so we have to wait for tomorrow."

1   - Cal Crutchlow Honda GBR 01'40.957
2   - Danilo Petrucci Ducati ITA 01'41.010
3   - Jack Miller Honda AUS 01'41.457
4   - Marc Marquez Honda ESP 01'41.511
5   - Andrea Dovizioso Ducati ITA 01'41.569
6   - Maverick Viñales Suzuki ESP 01'41.813
7   - Pol Espargaro Yamaha ESP 01'42.465
8   - Alvaro Bautista Aprilia ESP 01'42.956
9   - Nicky Hayden Honda USA 01'43.012
10 - Stefan Bradl Aprilia DEU 01'43.070
11 - Yonny Hernandez Ducati COL 01'43.132
12 - Scott Redding Ducati GBR 01'43.314
13 - Mike Jones Ducati AUS 01'43.483
14 - Loris Baz Ducati FRA 01'44.176
15 - Tito Rabat Honda ESP 01'44.178
16 - Eugene Laverty Ducati GBR 01'44.181
17 - Aleix Espargaro Suzuki ESP 01'44.551
18 - Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 01'44.792
19 - Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 01'45.651
20 - Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 01'47.225
21 - Bradley Smith Yamaha GBR 01'49.008