Honda rider Dani Pedrosa kept his stranglehold on the timesheets in FP3 at the Red Bull Gran Premio de Espana, with times tumbling in the final minutes as the floodgates opened for timeattack laps.
Second was a stunning lap from ‘Spartan’ Jorge Lorenzo, who has showed huge progress this weekend and was only two tenths off his old sparring partner at the top. Maverick Vinales was third and only 0.011 off the five-time World Champion in second.
Reigning Champion Marc Marquez was fourth as the four home heroes led the session, with the ‘Doctor’ in enemy territory Valentino Rossi completing the top five after both men were outside the top ten on Day 1.
Cal Crutchlow was top Independent Team rider once again in P6, ahead of Jonas Folger, Scott Redding, Johann Zarco and Friday’s second fastest Jack Miller.
Andrea Iannone just missed out in P11 after a late charge, just ahead of Tito Rabat. Danilo Petrucci, Aleix Espargaro, Alvaro Bautista and Andrea Dovizioso will be joining the tight fight to move through from Q1.
FP3 Result:
| Pos | # | Rider | Nat | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 291.6 | 1’38.580 | |
| 2 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 293.0 | 1’38.798 | 0.218 / 0.218 |
| 3 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | SPA | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 291.1 | 1’38.809 | 0.229 / 0.011 |
| 4 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 289.6 | 1’38.971 | 0.391 / 0.162 |
| 5 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 288.5 | 1’39.082 | 0.502 / 0.111 |
| 6 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | LCR Honda | Honda | 289.9 | 1’39.107 | 0.527 / 0.025 |
| 7 | 94 | Jonas FOLGER | GER | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 292.0 | 1’39.155 | 0.575 / 0.048 |
| 8 | 45 | Scott REDDING | GBR | OCTO Pramac Racing | Ducati | 289.6 | 1’39.216 | 0.636 / 0.061 |
| 9 | 5 | Johann ZARCO | FRA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 291.1 | 1’39.364 | 0.784 / 0.148 |
| 10 | 43 | Jack MILLER | AUS | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 290.5 | 1’39.412 | 0.832 / 0.048 |
| 11 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | ITA | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 290.4 | 1’39.492 | 0.912 / 0.080 |
| 12 | 53 | Tito RABAT | SPA | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 289.3 | 1’39.582 | 1.002 / 0.090 |
| 13 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | OCTO Pramac Racing | Ducati | 291.6 | 1’39.645 | 1.065 / 0.063 |
| 14 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 289.1 | 1’39.653 | 1.073 / 0.008 |
| 15 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | Ducati | 293.1 | 1’39.662 | 1.082 / 0.009 |
| 16 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 292.6 | 1’39.840 | 1.260 / 0.178 |
| 17 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | GBR | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 288.9 | 1’39.906 | 1.326 / 0.066 |
| 18 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARO | SPA | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 291.5 | 1’40.026 | 1.446 / 0.120 |
| 19 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati | 291.4 | 1’40.189 | 1.609 / 0.163 |
| 20 | 76 | Loris BAZ | FRA | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati | 287.3 | 1’40.288 | 1.708 / 0.099 |
| 21 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | Ducati | 290.4 | 1’40.289 | 1.709 / 0.001 |
| 22 | 22 | Sam LOWES | GBR | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 286.2 | 1’40.552 | 1.972 / 0.263 |
| 23 | 12 | Takuya TSUDA | JPN | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 286.5 | 1’40.953 | 2.373 / 0.401 |