Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro led the way again in the third MotoGP practice of the Catalan Grand Prix weekend, but his team-mate Maverick Vinales will have to fight his way through Q1.
Key moments:
> Aprilia duo split by 0.652s
> Six Ducatis advance to Q2
> Crashes for Binder and Espargaro
Espargaro narrowly surpassed his own Friday benchmark with 19 minutes to go in the session, before immediately following that up with a monster lap of 1m38.771s that made him the MotoGP lap record holder at this configuration of the Catalunya circuit.
This laptime came under late threat from a host of Ducatis, but ultimately held firm, with Espargaro ending up 0.131s clear of nearest rival Johann Zarco.
Zarco’s Pramac team-mate Jorge Martin completed the top three, while works riders Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller made it four Ducatis in the top five.
Two more Ducati riders – Luca Marini (VR46) and rookie Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini) – booked Q2 spots, as did reigning champion Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), Pol Espargaro (Honda) and Alex Rins (Suzuki), all three the sole representatives of their manufacturers in the top 10.
The younger Espargaro had shrugged off a Turn 5 crash midway through the session.
The latest rider to fall victim Turn 5! 💥@polespargaro immediately begins running back for his spare bike! 💨#CatalanGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/CmLJe134iJ
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 4, 2022
Vinales, who had been second-fastest on Friday, came up 0.010s short of advancing, while championship frontrunner Enea Bastianini (Gresini Ducati) was likewise out by a narrow margin.
An early spill for @BradBinder_41! 💥
The South African was pushing hard on a PB lap! 🛑#CatalanGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/myJ4bsajQI
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 4, 2022
There were no KTMs anywhere near an automatic Q2 spot, with Brad Binder leading the Austrian marque’s contingent in 16th despite a Turn 4 crash.
Practice 3 Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Bike | Gap Next | Gap Leader | Best Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 1m38.771s | ||
| 2 | Johann Zarco | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.131s | +0.131s | 1m38.902s |
| 3 | Jorge Martin | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.103s | +0.234s | 1m39.005s |
| 4 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.002s | +0.236s | 1m39.007s |
| 5 | Jack Miller | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.067s | +0.303s | 1m39.074s |
| 6 | Fabio Quartararo | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +0.014s | +0.317s | 1m39.088s |
| 7 | Luca Marini | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | +0.145s | +0.462s | 1m39.233s |
| 8 | Pol Espargaró | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.013s | +0.475s | 1m39.246s |
| 9 | Alex Rins | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | +0.014s | +0.489s | 1m39.26s |
| 10 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | +0.153s | +0.642s | 1m39.413s |
| 11 | Maverick Viñales | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | +0.01s | +0.652s | 1m39.423s |
| 12 | Enea Bastianini | Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | +0.016s | +0.668s | 1m39.439s |
| 13 | Joan Mir | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | +0.066s | +0.734s | 1m39.505s |
| 14 | Marco Bezzecchi | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | +0.035s | +0.769s | 1m39.54s |
| 15 | Franco Morbidelli | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +0.037s | +0.806s | 1m39.577s |
| 16 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.032s | +0.838s | 1m39.609s |
| 17 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | Honda | +0.056s | +0.894s | 1m39.665s |
| 18 | Miguel Oliveira | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.191s | +1.085s | 1m39.856s |
| 19 | Alex Marquez | LCR Honda Castrol | Honda | +0.047s | +1.132s | 1m39.903s |
| 20 | Andrea Dovizioso | WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team | Yamaha | +0.004s | +1.136s | 1m39.907s |
| 21 | Michele Pirro | Austrian Junior Cup | Ducati | +0.101s | +1.237s | 1m40.008s |
| 22 | Darryn Binder | WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team | Yamaha | +0.075s | +1.312s | 1m40.083s |
| 23 | Remy Gardner | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.13s | +1.442s | 1m40.213s |
| 24 | Raul Fernandez | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.079s | +1.521s | 1m40.292s |
| 25 | Stefan Bradl | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.117s | +1.638s | 1m40.409s |
