Johann Zarco was comfortably quickest in a damp Saturday morning MotoGP practice session at Valencia.
After heavy overnight rain, the track never improved sufficiently for truly quick times – with the best laps still 8s from Friday’s benchmarks.
Zarco, Miguel Oliveira, Maverick Vinales and Stefan Bradl were the main protagonists at the front during the session, but all will have to go into Q1 based on their Friday performances as practice three made no difference to the qualifying group split.
Esponsorama Ducati rider Zarco eventually got down to a 1m40.007s, which put him 0.736s clear of Vinales – who is already doomed to a pitlane start as a consequence of Yamaha’s engine strife.
LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami, the only Honda rider currently heading for Q2, was third fastest, with team-mate Cal Crutchlow fifth and the Pramac Ducati of Francesco Bagnaia (also heading for Q1) between them.
Valentino Rossi made his first appearance of the weekend, reclaiming his Yamaha from star Friday performer Garrett Gerloff now he is officially clear of COVID-19.
Rossi was eighth fastest but had no hope of directly qualifying for Q2 in the morning’s conditions.
Championship leader Joan Mir makes it directly into Q2 by just 0.005s over Vinales on the Friday times. Mir was 10th in third practice, just behind Suzuki team-mate Alex Rins.
Mir’s leading title rival Fabio Quartararo continued to struggle in the damp and was way back in 19th, with Aragon winning Petronas SRT Yamaha team-mate Franco Morbidelli just two places ahead of him. Both make it into Q2 on Friday times, though.
Friday pacesetter Jack Miller opted against setting a time in the session.
Saturday’s weather means Aprilia is guaranteed a Q2 spot with Aleix Espargaro thanks to his Friday performance. He was only 18th this morning, while his new team-mate Lorenzo Savadori took 13th.
Practice 3 Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Bike | Gap Next | Gap Leader | Best Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johann Zarco | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1m40.007s | ||
| 2 | Maverick Viñales | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | +0.736s | +0.736s | 1m40.743s |
| 3 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda | Honda | +0.328s | +1.064s | 1m41.071s |
| 4 | Francesco Bagnaia | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.122s | +1.186s | 1m41.193s |
| 5 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR Honda | Honda | +0.092s | +1.278s | 1m41.285s |
| 6 | Miguel Oliveira | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | +0.067s | +1.345s | 1m41.352s |
| 7 | Alex Marquez | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.237s | +1.582s | 1m41.589s |
| 8 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | +0.053s | +1.635s | 1m41.642s |
| 9 | Alex Rins | Team Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki | +0.137s | +1.772s | 1m41.779s |
| 10 | Joan Mir | Team Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki | +0.085s | +1.857s | 1m41.864s |
| 11 | Stefan Bradl | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.02s | +1.877s | 1m41.884s |
| 12 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati Team | Ducati | +0.125s | +2.002s | 1m42.009s |
| 13 | Lorenzo Savadori | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | +0.292s | +2.294s | 1m42.301s |
| 14 | Pol Espargaró | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.205s | +2.499s | 1m42.506s |
| 15 | Tito Rabat | Avintia Racing | Ducati | +0.041s | +2.54s | 1m42.547s |
| 16 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati Team | Ducati | +0.277s | +2.817s | 1m42.824s |
| 17 | Franco Morbidelli | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | +0.007s | +2.824s | 1m42.831s |
| 18 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | +0.126s | +2.95s | 1m42.957s |
| 19 | Fabio Quartararo | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | +0.277s | +3.227s | 1m43.234s |
| 20 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.3s | +3.527s | 1m43.534s |
| 21 | Jack Miller | Pramac Racing | Ducati |
