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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


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