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Marco Bezzecchi recovered from a crash to top the timesheets ahead of Raul Fernandez in Australian MotoGP practice Friday interrupted by a wallaby hopping onto the track.The Italian Aprilia rider clocked a blistering lap of 1min 26.775sec at the death around the waterfront Phillip Island circuit -- which is hosting its final MotoGP -- in warm but windy conditions.Rain is forecast for the weekend.Ducati world champion Marc Marquez was third and Ai Ogura on his Aprilia fourth.Championship leader Jorge Martin, who is two points clear of Marquez with five rounds of the season left, was fifth fastest.Bezzecchi, who won last week in Indonesia and is third in the standings, finished 0.072 ahead of last year's Australian Grand Prix winner Fernandez, with Marquez 0.054 further adrift.The top 10 are exempt from Q1 qualifying on Saturday and guaranteed a top 12 grid placing in both the afternoon sprint race and Sunday's MotoGP.Among those missing out on the top 10 were Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo.Bezzecchi fell at Turn 4 early in the session after clipping the back of Alex Marquez which sent him sliding off with his bike landing on his right leg.A second red flag came out soon after the resumption when a wallaby was spotted on the track.Martin was leading at the time and when they got underway again the Spaniard was surpassed by a recovered Bezzecchi and then Marc Marquez.Marquez was the first to go under 1:27 with eight minutes left before Bezzecchi and Fernandez stormed past him as the clock ticked down.There was plenty of carnage in morning practice which was topped by Marc Marquez with Fernandez, Iker Lecuona, and Jack Miller all suffering nasty falls while Brad Binder had a big engine failure.Pramac Yamaha pair Miller and Augusto Fernandez, and Alex Marquez, came off in the afternoon run.Phillip Island has been a staple on the calendar since 1997 but the Australian race is moving next year to a street circuit in Adelaide. 

Marco Bezzecchi demolished the Australian MotoGP lap record in setting the standard during second practice on Friday, becoming the first rider ever to dip below 1:27 at Phillip Island.The Italian, who won the Indonesia sprint race a fortnight ago before slamming into world champion Marc Marquez during the grand prix, blazed round the waterfront circuit in 1:26.580 on his Aprilia.His time shattered the previous best of 1:27.246 set by Jorge Martin in 2023. Not content with that, he then bettered it with a sizzling 1:26.492.It left Bezzecchi 0.291sec clear of Raul Fernandez, also on an Aprilia, with Ducati-VR4 rider Fabio Di Giannantonio third and Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo fourth."An unbelievable lap, he hit the record two times, which means he has confidence with the bike," Aprilia team boss Paolo Bonora said of Bezzecchi."To be honest, our bike was good for the past year, but we didn't achieve many results."Ducati-Gresini's Alex Marquez came fifth, 0.453sec adrift, as he looks to seal the world championship runner-up spot behind brother Marc.Spain's Marquez has an 88-point lead over two-time world champion Francesco Bagnaia in the battle to clinch second in the standings with four rounds left of the 22-stop season.He can do so by finishing the weekend 111 points clear of his Italian Ducati rival, who failed to score a point in Indonesia just a week after winning the Japan MotoGP and sprint races.Bagnaia complained about his bike shaking in the opening session on Friday and again struggled early for pace. But he switched to the spare and steered it to ninth place.The top 10 times from second practice automatically qualified for Q2 on Saturday, and will be joined by the fastest two riders from Q1 to determine the first five rows of the grid both for the sprint race and Sunday's main event.Among those relegated to Q1 were Fermin Aldeguer, who won in Indonesia, and home hero Jack Miller, who topped the opening practice session.Marc Marquez, last year's Phillip Island winner, is not in Australia following shoulder surgery after being rammed by Bezzecchi in Indonesia.Bezzecchi must serve a double long lap penalty on Sunday for causing the incident, but is free to race as usual in Saturday's sprint showdown.He was quick all afternoon, owning the fastest lap of 1:27.516 for almost 15 minutes before Di Giannantonio went a fraction quicker.Teams tried a variety of tyre strategies in a bid to collect data in case of bad weather, and Bezzecchi on a hard front and soft rear then stunned the field with the new lap record.