Petronas Yamaha rider Franco Morbidelli set the pace in the third MotoGP practice ahead of the Catalan Grand Prix at Barcelona.
Ducati’s title contender Jack Miller was the highest-profile name to miss out on an automatic Q2 spot, while all four Hondas will also have to battle in Q1.
Having ended Friday a quiet 14th after forgoing a late soft-tyre run, KTM’s Miguel Oliveira led much of FP3 – having forced his way into the combined classification top 10, albeit a couple of tenths off Johann Zarco’s FP2-topping effort.
But Zarco’s lap would stand as the best of the weekend for a little while yet, until Fabio Quartararo headed out with a fresh pair of softs with 15 minutes to go, beating it with his very first attempt and then improving to an emphatic 1m38.975s.
Quartararo kept first place until the chequered flag, only to be ultimately usurped by Yamaha stablemate Morbidelli – who had had a lap 0.022s slower deleted a few minutes prior but ultimately went 0.046s quicker.
Oliveira completed the top three, with Francesco Bagnaia making up the top four after a last-gasp improvement – without which the Ducati man would’ve had to contest Q1.
The same was true for Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro in fifth, while Brad Binder made it two KTMs in the top six behind him.
Zarco was only 15th in the session in the end, but will advance to Q2 on the strength of his Friday time.
Maverick Vinales (Yamaha), Joan Mir (Suzuki) and Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha) will complete the automatic Q2 spots, Rossi’s side of the Petronas Yamaha garage celebrating wildly as he snuck into ninth place at the chequered flag, having followed Vinales and Espargaro on the lap.
It meant Miller was left outside by 0.069s.
Takaaki Nakagami was the top Honda in FP3 in 11th, with Honda’s six-time champion Marc Marquez only 14th and therefore consigned to his fourth Q1 appearance in five races.
Two riders crashed during the session. Enea Bastianini (Avintia Ducati) fell at Turn 5 early on, while Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori went down at Turn 5 in the closing stages.
Practice 3 Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Bike | Gap Next | Gap Leader | Best Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Franco Morbidelli | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | 1m38.929s | ||
| 2 | Fabio Quartararo | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +0.046s | +0.046s | 1m38.975s |
| 3 | Miguel Oliveira | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.076s | +0.122s | 1m39.051s |
| 4 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.022s | +0.144s | 1m39.073s |
| 5 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | +0.006s | +0.15s | 1m39.079s |
| 6 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.087s | +0.237s | 1m39.166s |
| 7 | Maverick Viñales | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +0.116s | +0.353s | 1m39.282s |
| 8 | Joan Mir | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | +0.042s | +0.395s | 1m39.324s |
| 9 | Valentino Rossi | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | +0.102s | +0.497s | 1m39.426s |
| 10 | Jack Miller | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.069s | +0.566s | 1m39.495s |
| 11 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | Honda | +0.003s | +0.569s | 1m39.498s |
| 12 | Pol Espargaró | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.021s | +0.59s | 1m39.519s |
| 13 | Danilo Petrucci | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.17s | +0.76s | 1m39.689s |
| 14 | Marc Marquez | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.012s | +0.772s | 1m39.701s |
| 15 | Johann Zarco | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.059s | +0.831s | 1m39.76s |
| 16 | Jorge Martin | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.056s | +0.887s | 1m39.816s |
| 17 | Iker Lecuona | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.102s | +0.989s | 1m39.918s |
| 18 | Alex Marquez | LCR Honda Castrol | Honda | +0.01s | +0.999s | 1m39.928s |
| 19 | Luca Marini | SKY VR46 Avintia Team | Ducati | +0.147s | +1.146s | 1m40.075s |
| 20 | Enea Bastianini | Avintia Esponsorama Racing | Ducati | +0.668s | +1.814s | 1m40.743s |
| 21 | Lorenzo Savadori | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | +0.437s | +2.251s | 1m41.18s |
