until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League

MotoGP

What went on in third MotoGP practice in Barcelona

by Valentin Khorounzhiy
3 min read

until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League

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.

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.

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
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • More Networks