Ducati goes into Thai Grand Prix MotoGP qualifying in the strongest position, while Marc Marquez must go through Q1 despite his Friday pace and Aprilia’s problems continued.
The top four positions on combined practice times at Buriram all went to Ducatis, with Pramac’s Jorge Martin setting the Saturday morning pace with a 1m30.205s.
Works man Jack Miller made it a Ducati 1-2 in the session with a lap 0.012s slower, but then crashed going into the long Turn 3.
The lead pair’s respective team-mates Johann Zarco and Pecco Bagnaia completed an all-Ducati top four on combined times, without needing to improve on their Friday pace to guarantee Q2 presence.
Championship leader Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha was just behind them on combined times and third in practice three itself.
Marquez had looked strong on Friday, leading practice one and going sixth-fastest in the afternoon.
But an error at Turn 12 on a late lap in practice three and then the yellows coming out for Miller’s crash meant he couldn’t improve on his Friday time and was knocked out of the top 10 when Brad Binder leapt into the Q2 spots.
Title contender Aleix Espargaro continues to face a nightmare weekend as Aprilia struggles to find any pace at Buriram.
He was 12th in the Saturday morning session, 0.6s off the pace, and only 14th on combined times.
Team-mate Maverick Vinales was slower still and making his frustration very visible with plenty of head shaking and gesticulating as various laps ended in trips wide.
Seven of the 10 guaranteed Q2 places belong to Ducatis – Enea Bastianini, Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini joining the Pramac and factory duos in the combined top 10.
Quartararo’s Yamaha, Binder’s KTM and Alex Rins’ Suzuki join them.
Yamaha had begun Friday with three bikes in the top 10, but Franco Morbidelli was pushed down to 13th on combined times on Saturday morning.
RNF’s Cal Crutchlow was cleared to continue last night after checks for possible ankle damage from his nasty crash at the end of practice two. He was 14th in third practice.
While Danilo Petrucci is loving his MotoGP return and Suzuki debut, he fell to the bottom of the order on combined times, behind fellow stand-in rider Tetsuta Nagashima’s LCR Honda.
Tech3 KTM rider Raul Fernandez sat the session out completely due to stomach discomfort, having been ill during Friday practice too.
Practice 3 Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Bike | Gap Next | Gap Leader | Best Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jorge Martin | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1m30.205s | ||
| 2 | Jack Miller | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.012s | +0.012s | 1m30.217s |
| 3 | Fabio Quartararo | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +0.093s | +0.105s | 1m30.31s |
| 4 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.095s | +0.2s | 1m30.405s |
| 5 | Alex Rins | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | +0.039s | +0.239s | 1m30.444s |
| 6 | Johann Zarco | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.045s | +0.284s | 1m30.489s |
| 7 | Enea Bastianini | Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | +0.003s | +0.287s | 1m30.492s |
| 8 | Marco Bezzecchi | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | +0.021s | +0.308s | 1m30.513s |
| 9 | Luca Marini | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | +0.003s | +0.311s | 1m30.516s |
| 10 | Marc Marquez | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.01s | +0.321s | 1m30.526s |
| 11 | Miguel Oliveira | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.292s | +0.613s | 1m30.818s |
| 12 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | +0.013s | +0.626s | 1m30.831s |
| 13 | Franco Morbidelli | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +0.061s | +0.687s | 1m30.892s |
| 14 | Cal Crutchlow | WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team | Yamaha | +0.014s | +0.701s | 1m30.906s |
| 15 | Remy Gardner | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.022s | +0.723s | 1m30.928s |
| 16 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | +0.013s | +0.736s | 1m30.941s |
| 17 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.203s | +0.939s | 1m31.144s |
| 18 | Maverick Viñales | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | +0.034s | +0.973s | 1m31.178s |
| 19 | Pol Espargaró | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.002s | +0.975s | 1m31.18s |
| 20 | Alex Marquez | LCR Honda Castrol | Honda | +0.251s | +1.226s | 1m31.431s |
| 21 | Tetsuta Nagashima | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | Honda | +0.212s | +1.438s | 1m31.643s |
| 22 | Darryn Binder | WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team | Yamaha | +0.043s | +1.481s | 1m31.686s |
| 23 | Danilo Petrucci | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | +0.142s | +1.623s | 1m31.828s |
