Quartararo tops FP3, series leader Dovizioso stuck in Q1

Petronas Yamaha MotoGP rider Fabio Quartararo set the pace in the Saturday morning practice session at Barcelona, as championship leader Andrea Dovizioso was consigned to contesting Q1.

Quartararo was “not feeling well” through Friday practice, but bounced back in emphatic style in FP3 as he led Yamaha stablemate Maverick Vinales by 0.044s.

Denied a late flyer on Friday by a brakes problem, Quartararo wasted little time in setting his best effort of the weekend so far – as he jumped to the top with a 1m40.359s.

He then equipped another fresh set of soft tyres, front and rear, and posted a 1m39.768s early in the second half of the session, surpassing team-mate Franco Morbidelli’s benchmark from Friday running.

A few minutes later, Pol Espargaro took over out front by 0.012s, recording his lap in the tow of Joan’s Mir Suzuki, but was usurped by a clean-air effort 1m39.687s from Vinales shortly thereafter.

Vinales’ next lap, two tenths quicker, looked to have put the Spaniard out of reach for his rivals, but Quartararo’s 1m39.418s at the chequered flag preserved Petronas Yamaha’s perfect record of topping sessions in Barcelona so far this weekend.

A late dash by Tech 3 KTM rider Miguel Oliveira (above) elevated him to third place, just 0.089s off the pace, while Danilo Petrucci was the sole 2020-spec Ducati rider to make it to the top 10 in fourth.

Johann Zarco on the Avintia-run 2019 Ducati completed the top five just 0.007s behind Petrucci, and ahead of KTM’s Pol Espargaro and the Yamahas of Morbidelli and works rider Valentino Rossi.

Both Rossi and Morbidelli had better laptimes chalked off for track limits, which would’ve put them fourth and fifth respectively if they had they stood.

Espargaro’s KTM team-mate Brad Binder and Suzuki rider Joan Mir were the last riders to secure automatic Q2 spots.

Pramac Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia and Dovizioso both followed Oliveira on that decisive final lap, but both came up short, placing 11 th and 13 th respectively – with Bagnaia’s team-mate Miller sandwiched between them.

LCR riders Takaaki Nakagami and Cal Crutchlow both looked in with a shot of Q2, despite Crutchlow’s ligaments injury, but both fell on their final runs. They placed 15 th and 16 th, behind Mir’s team-mate Alex Rins.

Also crashing during the session were Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and Tech 3 KTM rider Iker Lecuona, who suffered his third fall in three sessions at Barcelona so far.

Practice 3 Results