Reigning Champion Marc Marquez kept his stranglehold on the timesheets at the Catalan GP in FP3, as the track layout reverted to the chicane used in 2016 and the third practice session solely dictated entry to Q2. Just a tenth behind the number 93 was his teammate Dani Pedrosa, with Alvaro Bautista completing the top three.
Both Marquez and Bautista were crashers in the session, sliding out at Turn 10 in high synchronicity but low drama for both. Johann Zarco was another who fell, taking a dusty sprint back to the pits.
Aleix Espargaro put in a stunner to go through to Q2 in P4 at his home race after some recent struggles, ahead of Mugello winner Andrea Dovizioso. Jorge Lorenzo – second fastest on Friday – put in another impressive turn of speed in P6 – and only 0.008 behind teammate ‘DesmoDovi’.
Andrea Iannone took seventh to move through to Q2 and is back to full strength after suffering with illness at his home race last time out, ahead of a solid double top ten for Octo Pramac Racing as Scott Redding pipped teammate Danilo Petrucci to P8. Hector Barbera was the final rider automatically going through to Q2.
That makes no Yamahas automatically moving through, with Jonas Folger the quickest for the Japanese manufacturer in eleventh. High profile names heading to Q1 include Cal Crutchlow, Championship leader Maverick Vinales and nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi – last year’s victor on the layout now being used in 2017.
FP3 Result:
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | Marc MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | 1’44.178 | |
| 2 | Dani PEDROSA | Repsol Honda Team | 1’44.279 | 0.101 / 0.101 |
| 3 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | 1’44.395 | 0.217 / 0.116 |
| 4 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’44.409 | 0.231 / 0.014 |
| 5 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | 1’44.615 | 0.437 / 0.206 |
| 6 | Jorge LORENZO | Ducati Team | 1’44.623 | 0.445 / 0.008 |
| 7 | Andrea IANNONE | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’44.656 | 0.478 / 0.033 |
| 8 | Scott REDDING | OCTO Pramac Racing | 1’44.676 | 0.498 / 0.020 |
| 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | OCTO Pramac Racing | 1’44.681 | 0.503 / 0.005 |
| 10 | Hector BARBERA | Reale Avintia Racing | 1’44.740 | 0.562 / 0.059 |
| 11 | Jonas FOLGER | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1’44.763 | 0.585 / 0.023 |
| 12 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | LCR Honda | 1’44.803 | 0.625 / 0.040 |
| 13 | Maverick VINALES | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | 1’44.889 | 0.711 / 0.086 |
| 14 | Loris BAZ | Reale Avintia Racing | 1’44.985 | 0.807 / 0.096 |
| 15 | Valentino ROSSI | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | 1’45.053 | 0.875 / 0.068 |
| 16 | Johann ZARCO | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1’45.240 | 1.062 / 0.187 |
| 17 | Tito RABAT | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1’45.252 | 1.074 / 0.012 |
| 18 | Jack MILLER | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1’45.289 | 1.111 / 0.037 |
| 19 | Sylvain GUINTOLI | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’45.912 | 1.734 / 0.623 |
| 20 | Pol ESPARGARO | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’46.243 | 2.065 / 0.331 |
| 21 | Karel ABRAHAM | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | 1’46.259 | 2.081 / 0.016 |
| 22 | Sam LOWES | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’46.267 | 2.089 / 0.008 |
| 23 | Bradley SMITH | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’46.853 | 2.675 / 0.586 |
Source: MotoGP.com
