Jerez MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa heads third practice
Dani Pedrosa topped the times in the third MotoGP practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez on Saturday morning
The Honda rider posted a best time of 1m38.769s late in the session to finish ahead of Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo, the only other rider to lap the Spanish circuit in the 1m38s bracket.
Championship leader Marc Marquez finished third on the second Honda, while Lorenzo's team-mate Valentino Rossi was fourth, over three tenths of a second off the pace.
Colin Edwards was the surprise of the session, setting the fifth fastest time on the Forward Yamaha. The 'Texas Tornado' led the Open class field, with Aleix Espargaro down in seventh behind LCR's Stefan Bradl.
Ducati Andrea Dovizioso, and Tech 3's Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith completed the top 10 who qualified automatically for Q2.
The session kicked off with problems for Michele Pirro, the Italian having to stop his Ducati.
Danilo Petrucci would also suffer issues later on, the Italian returning to the pit with smoke pouring from his Aprilia.
Marquez set the pace from the start, posting the fastest time of the weekend at the five-minute mark before Lorenzo became the first man to lap in the 1m38s moments later to move to the head of the times.
The Yamaha man's 1m38.918s would remain unbeaten for most of the session, until Pedrosa went quicker with less than three minutes left on the clock.
Folllow all the action from MotoGP race day at Jerez with AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live on Sunday. Coverage starts from Moto3 and Moto2 from 10am UK time
Pos Rider Bike Time Gap Laps 1. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m38.769s 20 2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m38.918s +0.149s 19 3. Marc Marquez Honda 1m39.007s +0.238s 19 4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m39.094s +0.325s 20 5. Colin Edwards Forward Yamaha 1m39.200s +0.431s 17 6. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 1m39.238s +0.469s 19 7. Aleix Espargaro Forward Yamaha 1m39.267s +0.498s 18 8. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1m39.439s +0.670s 18 9. Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha 1m39.530s +0.761s 18 10. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 1m39.561s +0.792s 18 11. Michele Pirro Ducati 1m39.597s +0.828s 11 12. Andrea Iannone Pramac Ducati 1m39.694s +0.925s 18 13. Yonny Hernandez Pramac Ducati 1m39.765s +0.996s 19 14. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 1m39.823s +1.054s 19 15. Hiroshi Aoyama Aspar Honda 1m39.859s +1.090s 19 16. Cal Crutchlow Ducati 1m39.960s +1.191s 18 17. Nicky Hayden Aspar Honda 1m40.048s +1.279s 20 18. Hector Barbera Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m40.239s +1.470s 15 19. Karel Abraham Cardion Honda 1m40.535s +1.766s 19 20. Scott Redding Gresini Honda 1m40.634s +1.865s 19 21. Mike di Meglio Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m41.581s +2.812s 16 22. Broc Parkes PBM Aprilia 1m41.942s +3.173s 15 23. Danilo Petrucci Ioda Aprilia 1m41.971s +3.202s 13 24. Michael Laverty PBM Aprilia 1m42.776s +4.007s 18
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