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Motegi MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo beats Ducatis in practice three

Jorge Lorenzo stormed to another fastest time in third practice for MotoGP's Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, despite a strong late challenge from the Ducatis

Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso looked set to threaten Yamaha rider Lorenzo's weekend-long supremacy when they put on the extra soft rear tyres for the final minutes of the Saturday morning session.

But though Iannone was briefly fastest, Lorenzo responded with a 1m44.235s then a 1m44.089s - nearly half a second clear of both the Ducatis in the session and of Dovizioso's 2014 pole time.

Lorenzo's title rival and team-mate Valentino Rossi improved slightly on his Friday form to take fifth, behind Marc Marquez on the leading Honda.

Both Tech 3 Yamaha riders crashed yet still made it through to Q2 - Pol Espargaro thanks to a late lap when back on his bike, and Bradley Smith because his Friday time was good enough to keep him safe even as he sat out the closing minutes.

Eugene Laverty and Mike di Meglio also had accidents. Both were unhurt, although the Frenchman's Avintia Ducati's front end was ripped off in his violent crash.

Dani Pedrosa, Cal Crutchlow and Aleix Espargaro are also going into Q2, with Scott Redding and Maverick Vinales narrowly missing out and joining the satellite Ducatis in Q1.

Both Pedrosa and Espargaro made the Q2 cut on Friday times having been outside the top 10 on Saturday morning.

PRACTICE THREE TIMES:

Pos Rider Team Bike Time Gap Laps
1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Yamaha 1m44.089s - 16
2 Andrea Iannone Ducati Ducati 1m44.497s 0.408s 21
3 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 1m44.568s 0.479s 18
4 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 1m44.771s 0.682s 17
5 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha 1m44.822s 0.733s 18
6 Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha 1m45.088s 0.999s 16
7 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 1m45.103s 1.014s 17
8 Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 1m45.319s 1.230s 18
9 Scott Redding Marc VDS Honda 1m45.446s 1.357s 18
10 Maverick Vinales Suzuki Suzuki 1m45.458s 1.369s 15
11 Dani Pedrosa Honda Honda 1m45.507s 1.418s 18
12 Aleix Espargaro Suzuki Suzuki 1m45.557s 1.468s 17
13 Hector Barbera Avintia Racing Ducati 1m45.716s 1.627s 18
14 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Racing Ducati 1m45.840s 1.751s 18
15 Yonny Hernandez Pramac Racing Ducati 1m45.848s 1.759s 15
16 Takumi Takahashi Honda Honda 1m46.090s 2.001s 20
17 Alvaro Bautista Aprilia Gresini Aprilia 1m46.166s 2.077s 16
18 Nicky Hayden Aspar Honda 1m46.190s 2.101s 16
19 Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha Yamaha 1m46.280s 2.191s 17
20 Mike Di Meglio Avintia Racing Ducati 1m46.599s 2.510s 13
21 Jack Miller LCR Honda 1m46.644s 2.555s 15
22 Stefan Bradl Aprilia Gresini Aprilia 1m46.675s 2.586s 20
23 Eugene Laverty Aspar Honda 1m46.755s 2.666s 16
24 Loris Baz Forward Racing Yamaha Forward 1m47.106s 3.017s 16
25 Toni Elias Forward Racing Yamaha Forward 1m47.408s 3.319s 13
26 Alex de Angelis IodaRacing Project ART/Aprilia 1m48.192s 4.103s 10
27 Kosuke Akiyoshi AB Motoracing Honda 1m48.449s 4.360s 14

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