Morbidelli tops FP3, all Ducatis consigned to Q1 again

Petronas Yamaha rider Franco Morbidelli set the pace in the third Teruel Grand Prix practice, as all six Ducati MotoGP riders were consigned to contesting Q1 again.

Morbidelli had entered the day outside of the combined practice top 10, but needed little time to rectify that as he took the early lead in FP3 and got himself into the provisional Q2 spots by 0.006s.

His next two laps brought two more improvements as he settled on a 1m48.233s, leading a Petronas Yamaha 1-2 with team-mate Fabio Quartararo, who had followed his main championship rival Joan Mir on his first run.

Trading Mir’s slipstream for clean air on the second run, Quartararo – equipped with fresh softs, front and rear – swiftly jumped half a tenth clear of Morbidelli, before uncorking a 1m47.401s that lowered Takaaki Nakagami’s previous weekend benchmark by nearly four-tenths.

Nakagami, however, lapped just 0.009s slower than Quartararo a few minutes later and then 0.009s faster with his subsequent attempt.

This kept him top until the chequered flag, when Morbidelli found another half a tenth, setting the best lap of FP3 – a 1m47.333s.

Nakagami and Quartararo completed the top three, with Maverick Vinales – who had sat out the first 10 minutes of FP3 – making it all three Yamahas in the top four.

Aragon Grand Prix podium finisher Alex Marquez risked missing out on a direct Q2 spot but shot right up the order in the final minutes, settling on fifth place.

He was 0.002s quicker than fellow rookie Iker Lecuona, the Tech3 rookie taking sixth as the lead KTM rider – with his team-mate Miguel Oliveira in eighth, and both works factory KTMs facing Q1.

Suzuki rider Alex Rins slotted in between the two Tech3 riders. His points-leading team-mate Mir, however, was only 10th, 0.007s slower than LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow and 0.024s away from losing the final direct Q2 spot to Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller.

Ducati’s leading championship contender Andrea Dovizioso looked to have forced his way into top 10 contention with a few minutes left on the clock, but was ultimately shuffled down to 14th place, 0.545s off Morbidelli’s pace.

Avintia Ducati rider Johann Zarco was alone in crashing during the session, falling at the ‘reverse corkscrew’, and ultimately completed the FP3 order despite being just 1.168s slower than the pace-setter.

Practice 3 Results