Championship leader Franco Morbidelli took the top spot on his sixth lap and stayed there for the rest of the session, knocking Hafizh Syahrin back to second ahead of Silverstone winner Takaaki Nakagami.
With 21 minutes to go Mattia Pasini suffered a small crash, but he managed to pick it up and continue the session without any fuss. A lot of riders had their laps removed for exceeding track limits, but that was no problem for Morbidelli who set a pace that couldn’t be matched.
I have constantly sung the praises of Miguel Oliveira, who has looked incredibly strong throughout the season and has constantly fought within the leading group. For an unknown reason, he ended FP3 in 22nd, with Francesco Bagnaia (who has also been a strong contender at the front) behind him in 23rd. Although FP3 doesn’t count towards qualifying, it could be a sign of things to come and both riders will need to find the extra second in qualifying to see them starting strong in the race tomorrow.
Top ten:
- Franco Morbidelli – (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) 1:37.941
- Hafizh Syahrin – (Petronas Raceline Malaysia) +0.163
- Takaaki Nakagami – (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) +0.359
- Thomas Luthi – (CarXpert Interwetten) +0.397
- Simone Corsi – (Speed Up Racing) +0.443
- Dominique Aegerter – (Kiefer Racing) +0.468
- Augusto Fernandez – (Speed Up Racing) +0.537
- Mattia Pasini – (Italtrans Racing Team) +0.594
- Stefano Manzi – (Sky Racing Team VR46) +0.624
- Fabio Quartararo – (Pons HP40) +0.642
