Marc Marquez maintains MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix practice dominance
Marc Marquez edged out Cal Crutchlow by just 0.096 seconds to continue his unbeaten run in Qatar Grand Prix MotoGP practice sessions
Having already been fastest in practice one and two on his Honda, Marquez spent much of Friday's second session on race preparation, as his 1m54.828s from the previous practice remained unbeaten.
But in the closing minutes Marquez still found another 0.002s to ensure he took practice three honours with a 1m54.822s as well.
Prior to Marquez's lap, Crutchlow had looked set to top the session on his first race weekend with LCR Honda.
He moved ahead of previous pacesetter Andrea Iannone - his Ducati replacement - late in the session after the Italian had been spent a long spell in front.
Iannone was unable to respond as he had a heavy crash at Turn 2. He walked away unhurt and his earlier time was still good enough for third.
Aleix Espargaro put Suzuki in a very strong fourth place on its MotoGP return, just ahead of the second works Honda of Dani Pedrosa and Iannone's Ducati team-mate Andrea Dovizioso.
The Yamahas were right down in eighth and ninth, Jorge Lorenzo in front of Valentino Rossi and both behind Pramac Ducati rider Yonny Hernandez - although they were still within 0.370s of Marquez in a close lead group.
Pol Espargaro completed the top 10 on the Tech 3 Yamaha.
Iannone was one of four crashers, all at Turn 2. Marco Melandri's miserable MotoGP comeback continued as he fell within the first five minutes, and Loris Baz and Alex de Angelis later had similar incidents.
Follow MotoGP's season-opener in Qatar as it happens with AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live from 4pm UK time on Sunday March 29.
FREE PRACTICE 3 RESULTS
Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Marc Marquez | Honda | Honda | 1m54.822s | - | 16 |
2 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR | Honda | 1m54.918s | 0.096s | 16 |
3 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | Ducati | 1m54.992s | 0.170s | 14 |
4 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m54.994s | 0.172s | 13 |
5 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | Honda | 1m55.024s | 0.202s | 16 |
6 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | Ducati | 1m55.044s | 0.222s | 16 |
7 | Yonny Hernandez | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1m55.102s | 0.280s | 14 |
8 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m55.108s | 0.286s | 18 |
9 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m55.192s | 0.370s | 17 |
10 | Pol Espargaro | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1m55.328s | 0.506s | 17 |
11 | Hector Barbera | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1m55.396s | 0.574s | 12 |
12 | Scott Redding | Marc VDS | Honda | 1m55.447s | 0.625s | 17 |
13 | Maverick Vinales | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m55.676s | 0.854s | 12 |
14 | Stefan Bradl | Forward Racing | Yamaha Forward | 1m55.694s | 0.872s | 17 |
15 | Danilo Petrucci | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1m55.777s | 0.955s | 17 |
16 | Nicky Hayden | Aspar | Honda | 1m55.789s | 0.967s | 16 |
17 | Mike Di Meglio | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1m55.866s | 1.044s | 12 |
18 | Bradley Smith | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1m55.905s | 1.083s | 19 |
19 | Eugene Laverty | Aspar | Honda | 1m55.913s | 1.091s | 17 |
20 | Karel Abraham | AB Motoracing | Honda | 1m56.080s | 1.258s | 16 |
21 | Jack Miller | LCR | Honda | 1m56.162s | 1.340s | 15 |
22 | Loris Baz | Forward Racing | Yamaha Forward | 1m57.072s | 2.250s | 7 |
23 | Alvaro Bautista | Aprilia Gresini | Aprilia | 1m57.107s | 2.285s | 14 |
24 | Alex de Angelis | IodaRacing Project | ART/Aprilia | 1m57.509s | 2.687s | 15 |
25 | Marco Melandri | Aprilia Gresini | Aprilia | 1m59.339s | 4.517s | 13 |
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments