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Ducati MotoGP rider Jack Miller was comfortably clear in the third practice session ahead of the Grand Prix of the Americas at COTA, with reigning champion Joan Mir (Suzuki) among those consigned to Q1.
LCR Honda man Takaaki Nakagami led most of the session, and was the first rider to fire in a quick lap on fresh softs in the final stages.
But he was swiftly usurped by Miller, who then swapped to another soft rear tyre and improved to a 2m02.923s, establishing a lead of over eight tenths with a minute left on the clock.
Nakagami did improve with his final push lap to move up to second, but neither he, nor anyone else, could get closer than 0.679s off of Miller’s time.
Suzuki rider Alex Rins, who won last time out at COTA, completed the top three, while Marc Marquez – usually dominant at the Texan venue – could only take fourth after having topped both of Friday’s sessions.
Two Frenchmen, Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) and championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), were the final remaining riders within a second of Miller.
Also making it directly to Q2 are Pol Espargaro (Honda), Brad Binder (KTM), Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati), with Binder’s late improvement coming at the expense of team-mate Miguel Oliveira’s Q2 ticket.
Mir was a fairly distant 13th, behind also Avintia Ducati’s Enea Bastianini, whose team-mate Luca Marini was a late faller at Turn 2.
😲 @AleixEspargaro's troubles continue!
The Aprilia rider is down at Turn 12! 💢#AmericasGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/N2hkyGtRbG
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 2, 2021
There was also a crash for Alex Marquez (LCR Honda) at Turn 1 earlier in the session, and a fall for Aleix Espargaro at the end of the back straight, coming a day on from Espargaro being one of the most vocal critics of the COTA track surface.
Practice 3 Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Bike | Gap Next | Gap Leader | Best Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack Miller | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 2m02.923s | ||
| 2 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | Honda | +0.679s | +0.679s | 2m03.602s |
| 3 | Alex Rins | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | +0.125s | +0.804s | 2m03.727s |
| 4 | Marc Marquez | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.077s | +0.881s | 2m03.804s |
| 5 | Johann Zarco | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.019s | +0.9s | 2m03.823s |
| 6 | Fabio Quartararo | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +0.044s | +0.944s | 2m03.867s |
| 7 | Pol Espargaró | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.153s | +1.097s | 2m04.02s |
| 8 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.02s | +1.117s | 2m04.04s |
| 9 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.085s | +1.202s | 2m04.125s |
| 10 | Jorge Martin | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.072s | +1.274s | 2m04.197s |
| 11 | Miguel Oliveira | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.063s | +1.337s | 2m04.26s |
| 12 | Enea Bastianini | Avintia Esponsorama Racing | Ducati | +0.167s | +1.504s | 2m04.427s |
| 13 | Joan Mir | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | +0.067s | +1.571s | 2m04.494s |
| 14 | Franco Morbidelli | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +0.016s | +1.587s | 2m04.51s |
| 15 | Valentino Rossi | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | +0.35s | +1.937s | 2m04.86s |
| 16 | Iker Lecuona | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.03s | +1.967s | 2m04.89s |
| 17 | Andrea Dovizioso | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | +0.42s | +2.387s | 2m05.31s |
| 18 | Alex Marquez | LCR Honda Castrol | Honda | +0.229s | +2.616s | 2m05.539s |
| 19 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | +0.019s | +2.635s | 2m05.558s |
| 20 | Luca Marini | SKY VR46 Avintia Team | Ducati | +0.37s | +3.005s | 2m05.928s |
| 21 | Danilo Petrucci | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.122s | +3.127s | 2m06.05s |
