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MotoGP

Ducati completes Austria practice hat-trick, Espargaro to Q1

by Valentin Khorounzhiy
3 min read

until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League

Johann Zarco led compatriot and championship leader Fabio Quartararo in the Saturday morning MotoGP practice session at the Red Bull Ring.

Key moments:

> Five Ducatis in top six

> Espargaro misses Q2 spot by 0.002s

> Four crashes

Quartararo’s main championship rival Aleix Espargaro had entered FP3 on the outside of the automatic Q2 cut-off, and again found the going tough, crashing out of his first late-session qualifying simulation run at the second half of the new chicane.

This was the same place where Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori had fallen in a very similar manner earlier in the session.

Espargaro did briefly manage to climb into the top 10 once back out, but was swiftly relegated back outside the top 10, and a mistake in a desperate final flying lap at Turn 9 ensured he was headed to Q1, by the margin of 0.002s behind Suzuki’s Joan Mir.

Out front, Quartararo – the only Yamaha rider anywhere near Q2 contention – led coming to the chequered flag, but was usurped by a 1m28.964s from Zarco late on, the latter ensuring Ducati had topped each of the first three sessions.

Jack Miller (Ducati), Jorge Martin (Pramac), Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Enea Bastianini (Gresini) completed a top six that featured five Desmosedici bikes.

Alex Rins will join team-mate Mir in Q2, which will also feature KTM’s Brad Binder and Espargaro’s Aprilia team-mate Maverick Vinales.

While there were as many as seven Ducatis in the top eight yesterday, the two VR46 Ducatis slid out of the Q2 spots in FP3, with Luca Marini not aided by a Turn 3 fall on his outlap.

The only other rider to crash was Remy Gardner, the Tech3 KTM man’s second fall of the weekend coming at Turn 9.

 

Practice 3 Results

Pos Name Team Bike Gap Next Gap Leader Best Time
1 Johann Zarco Pramac Racing Ducati 1m28.964s
2 Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +0.153s +0.153s 1m29.117s
3 Jack Miller Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati +0.163s +0.316s 1m29.28s
4 Jorge Martin Pramac Racing Ducati +0.044s +0.36s 1m29.324s
5 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati +0.053s +0.413s 1m29.377s
6 Enea Bastianini Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati +0.08s +0.493s 1m29.457s
7 Alex Rins Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +0.016s +0.509s 1m29.473s
8 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.048s +0.557s 1m29.521s
9 Maverick Viñales Aprilia Racing Aprilia +0.002s +0.559s 1m29.523s
10 Joan Mir Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +0.015s +0.574s 1m29.538s
11 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia Racing Aprilia +0.002s +0.576s 1m29.54s
12 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda +0.045s +0.621s 1m29.585s
13 Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati +0.038s +0.659s 1m29.623s
14 Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati +0.018s +0.677s 1m29.641s
15 Luca Marini Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati +0.043s +0.72s 1m29.684s
16 Pol Espargaró Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.026s +0.746s 1m29.71s
17 Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +0.045s +0.791s 1m29.755s
18 Miguel Oliveira Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.066s +0.857s 1m29.821s
19 Andrea Dovizioso WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha +0.024s +0.881s 1m29.845s
20 Alex Marquez LCR Honda Castrol Honda +0.172s +1.053s 1m30.017s
21 Stefan Bradl Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.009s +1.062s 1m30.026s
22 Darryn Binder WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha +0.446s +1.508s 1m30.472s
23 Remy Gardner Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.082s +1.59s 1m30.554s
24 Raul Fernandez Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.65s +2.24s 1m31.204s
25 Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia Racing Aprilia +0.495s +2.735s 1m31.699s
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