Opening practice for the Australian MotoGP was cancelled Friday because of persistent heavy rain, denying the riders a crucial session on the newly resurfaced Phillip Island circuit.
Organisers made the decision almost two hours after it had been due to start with too much water on the track. With four race weekends left, the championship is finely poised with Spanish Pramac star Jorge Martin just 10 points ahead of Italy's Ducati defending champion Francesco Bagnaia.
The lack of practice puts more emphasis on the second session, which is due to start at 3:00 pm (0400 GMT). The 10 quickest riders from that, should it go ahead, move straight through to Saturday's second qualifying which shapes the first four rows of the grid for the sprint race and Sunday's main event.
This group are joined by the fastest two in Saturday's first qualifying stint. With the track newly resurfaced, teams wanted a dry day to gather data on what tyres were best suited to the new asphalt.