What went on in MotoGP’s Valencia practice three crashfest

Jack Miller led the way in the third practice session of the MotoGP title decider in Valencia, as title hopefuls Fabio Quartararo and Pecco Bagnaia both secured direct passage to Q2.

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Key moments:

> Early Bezzecchi fall brings out red flag

> Many more crashes follow

> Quartararo and Bagnaia head to Q2

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A litany of crashes punctuated the 45-minute session, beginning with an outlap shunt for VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi at Turn 7 that got practice immediately suspended – with Bezzecchi’s Ducati GP21 tumbling through the gravel and what remained of it after said tumble soon erupting in flames.

EARLY DRAMA just a couple of minutes into the session 😱@Marco12_B crashes out and his bike in on fire! Thankfully the Italian is back on his feet 💪#TheDecider pic.twitter.com/szYwXQRu8g

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) November 5, 2022

In the minutes after the red flag was lifted, Turn 10 caught out two riders in Raul Fernandez (Tech3 KTM) and Enea Bastianini (Gresini Ducati), with the former coming off worse – Fernandez up on his feet but taken to the medical centre with a simple “rider conscious” message, his session over after four laps. He was subsequently taken to hospital for “further medical checks”.

Tricky Saturday in full swing 😮

Down goes @25RaulFernandez at T10 ⚠️#TheDecider pic.twitter.com/TEBh7sgEpN

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) November 5, 2022

Bezzecchi, meanwhile, would himself fall for a second time later in the session, this time at Turn 6.

But it was Turn 4, a right-hander that follows a sequence of five consecutive left-handers, that proved most treacherous, presumably due to the low ambient temperature making it a huge challenge to keep the right side of the front tyre warm enough.

Darryn Binder crashed his RNF-run Yamaha there moments after the red flag was lifted, while his brother Brad (KTM), Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) and Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) were caught out in quick succession later on.

Treacherous Turn 4 strikes again! 💥

That's a rare sight as Maverick Viñales goes down ⚠️ #TheDecider pic.twitter.com/qLh3SYR3eB

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) November 5, 2022

Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco led much of the session, but Miller jumped out ahead in the closing stages during the traditional FP3 qualifying simulations, ending up a tenth clear of Zarco.

Brad Binder shrugged off his crash to finish third for KTM, followed by Quartararo in fourth, the Yamaha man three tenths off the pace.

Bagnaia was just a tenth off Quartararo, but finished a fairly nervy ninth in the combined practice classification, only a late improvement allowing him to avoid having to contest Q1.

Also booking their Q2 spots in FP3 were Honda’s Marc Marquez, Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and Suzuki’s Joan Mir (by 0.005s over team-mate Alex Rins), while Friday pace-setter Luca Marini (VR46 Ducati) and Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) progressed to Q2 on the strength of their FP2 times.

Practice 3 Results