Le Mans MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo leads practice three for Yamaha

Lorenzo overcame overcast and very cold conditions to head the timesheets for much of the session.

Andrea Dovizioso had held the top spot early on before he was deposed by Lorenzo as few riders improved on their Friday best times for much of the session.

Andrea Iannone briefly took the top spot away from Lorenzo before the Yamaha rider reclaimed it and then extended his advantage to 0.371 seconds with the last lap of the session.

Iannone ended up second quickest ahead of Cal Crutchlow, who improved with his final effort to push Dovizioso into fourth place and split the Ducatis.

Several riders were forced to take to the run-off area at Turn 8, with Yonny Hernandez taking avoiding action when Iannone suddenly appeared down the inside in the braking zone.

Aleix Espargaro suffered a huge crash as he was thrown from his Suzuki when he lost control as he accelerated on the exit of the Turn 4 chicane.

The Spaniard landed heavily on his back and looked to be in some pain as he walked away.

The crash prevented him from returning to the action and he dropped out of the top 10, being he will be forced to run in the first qualifying segment.

Bradley Smith, who topped the times in practice two, wound up fifth fastest in the third session but could not make an improvement to his personal best time of the weekend.

Reigning champion Marc Marquez explored the limits of the track and looked set to at least match Lorenzo's time mid-way through the session before he encountered traffic and finished the session in sixth.

His team-mate Dani Pedrosa was just one place further back in his strongest performance of his comeback weekend so far.

Lorenzo's Yamaha team-mate, Valentino Rossi, was another rider who did not improve his best time and finished a low-key session in 10th.

PRACTICE THREE TIMES: