MotoGP

Bagnaia tops third MotoGP practice, crash sends Marquez to Q1

by Valentin Khorounzhiy
3 min read

Francesco Bagnaia led MotoGP title rival Fabio Quartararo in third MotoGP practice at Misano, as a crash consigned Marc Marquez to Q1.

Marquez, second to Bagnaia at Aragon last time out, fell at the Turn 14 sharp right-hander in the final minutes, having sought to use reigning champion Joan Mir as a reference to follow for much of the session in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to avoid the first qualifying segment.

Having struggled so noticeably in the wet on Friday, championship leader Quartararo again found dry conditions much more to his liking, becoming the first rider to dip below 1m32s this weekend as the customary late-FP3 time attacks kicked off.

But Bagnaia then found an extra four hundredths with a 1m31.936s effort, and Quartararo’s late efforts to reinstate himself in first place were ultimately for naught.

Bagnaia’s works team-mate Jack Miller had to have his left eye cleaned during the session, but managed to finish third in the end, with Mir completing the top four.

Friday pace-setter Maverick Vinales continued his strong form for Aprilia, improving on his FP1 benhcmark with ease. Though his late efforts to improve looked to have been thwarted by yellow flags, he comfortably booked a Q2 spot in fifth.

Team-mate Aleix Espargaro initially had his best lap deleted for a yellow flag infringement, which demoted him out of the top 10 and into Q2. The same fate also befell LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami.

Unlike Nakagami, however, Espargaro eventually had his lap reinstated and took sixth place in the session, re-joining the Q2 roster at the expense of Ducati wildcard Michele Pirro.

The remaining riders to make Q2 automatically were Alex Rins (Suzuki), Pramac Ducati duo Johann Zarco and Jorge Martin, and Pol Espargaro, who is the only Honda rider to ensure a place in the pole shoot-out after having followed Quartararo on his fastest lap.

Beyond Marquez, there were late falls for KTM rider Miguel Oliveira and Tech3 KTM pair
Danilo Petrucci and Iker Lecuona, as well as a very slow one for Honda wildcard Stefan Bradl a few minutes prior.

Petronas Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi had had an earlier mid-session crash at the Turn 13 right-hander, tipping down on corner entry.

He was only 19th in the end, just a couple of hundredths up from new team-mate Andrea Dovizioso.

Practice 3 Results

Pos Name Team Bike Gap Next Gap Leader Best Time
1 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 1m31.936s
2 Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +0.039s +0.039s 1m31.975s
3 Jack Miller Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati +0.114s +0.153s 1m32.089s
4 Joan Mir Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +0.047s +0.2s 1m32.136s
5 Maverick Viñales Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia +0.064s +0.264s 1m32.2s
6 Alex Rins Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +0.124s +0.388s 1m32.324s
7 Johann Zarco Pramac Racing Ducati +0.04s +0.428s 1m32.364s
8 Pol Espargaró Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.052s +0.48s 1m32.416s
9 Jorge Martin Pramac Racing Ducati +0.011s +0.491s 1m32.427s
10 Michele Pirro Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati +0.005s +0.496s 1m32.432s
11 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda +0.049s +0.545s 1m32.481s
12 Stefan Bradl Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.069s +0.614s 1m32.55s
13 Marc Marquez Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.087s +0.701s 1m32.637s
14 Franco Morbidelli Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha +0.007s +0.708s 1m32.644s
15 Alex Marquez LCR Honda Castrol Honda +0.163s +0.871s 1m32.807s
16 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia +0.031s +0.902s 1m32.838s
17 Iker Lecuona Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.203s +1.105s 1m33.041s
18 Valentino Rossi Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha +0.012s +1.117s 1m33.053s
19 Enea Bastianini Avintia Esponsorama Racing Ducati +0.007s +1.124s 1m33.06s
20 Andrea Dovizioso Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha +0.014s +1.138s 1m33.074s
21 Luca Marini SKY VR46 Avintia Team Ducati +0.046s +1.184s 1m33.12s
22 Miguel Oliveira Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.115s +1.299s 1m33.235s
23 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.07s +1.369s 1m33.305s
24 Danilo Petrucci Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.02s +1.389s 1m33.325s
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