Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) made a last minute lunge to take the top spot in FP3, in a session that saw the top sixteen separated by just under a second.
As always with FP3, in the last fifteen minutes everyone is on track and fighting for a top ten space which will give them direct entry into Q2. The top spot was constantly changing, but Marquez swooped in at the last second to take it from Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), who had put in a stunning lap.
By far the biggest surprise of the session was seeing Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar) ending the session in third after shooting up the times from twenty second. He’s struggled all season after making the switch from Ducati to Suzuki, and has constantly been coming under fire for his attitude and the fact that his team mate, Alex Rins, has been faster than him in most sessions.
Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) was the top Ducati in fourth, and will go straight through to Q2. But there will be some big names in the first qualifying session, most notably Dani Pedrosa who has looked good all weekend and has finished in third in both FP1 and FP2. He’ll have to battle with the likes of Danilo Petrucci (OCTO Pramac Racing), Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Hector Barbera (Reale Avintia Racing), who topped FP1.
Top ten:
- Marc Marquez- Repsol Honda Team – 1:23.459
- Johann Zarco- Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +0.423
- Andrea Iannone- Team Suzuki Ecstar +0.484
- Jorge Lorenzo- Ducati Team +0.509
- Valentino Rossi- Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +0.536
- Andrea Dovizioso- Ducati Team +0.590
- Maverick Viñales- Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +0.638
- Loris Baz- Reale Avintia Racing +0.650
- Karel Abraham- Pull&Bear Aspar Team +0.723
- Cal Crutchlow- LCR Honda +0.731
Into Q1:
- Scott Redding – OCTO Pramac Racing
- Danilo Petrucci – OCTO Pramac Racing
- Jonas Folger – Monster Yamaha Tech 3
- Hector Barbera – Reale Avintia Racing
- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team
- Alvaro Bautista – Pull&Bear Aspar Team
- Mika Kallio – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
- Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini
- Pol Espargaro – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
- Alex Rins – Team Suzuki Ecstar
- Jack Miller – EG 0,0 Marc VDS
- Tito Rabat – EG 0,0 Marc VDS
- Sam Lowes – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini
- Bradley Smith – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing