Aragon MotoGP: Valentino Rossi sets pace in third practice
Valentino Rossi set a late fastest time to lead the third MotoGP free practice session at Aragon
Overnight rain created damp track conditions that led to a largely uneventful session as riders were reluctant to explore the Aragon circuit.
It was left to newcomer Luca Scassa and Claudio Corti to provide any entertainment in the first 30 minutes as the pair made good use of the session and took turns at the top of the timesheets.
Bradley Smith was the first to join the duo and posted the first meaningful lap time with a 1m55.770s, which acted as a catalyst for the other riders to join in and led to a brief flurry of activity towards the end.
Half of the field headed out onto the track in the final five minutes and Rossi went fastest of all with his 1m50.464s, ahead of Alvaro Bautista and Nicky Hayden.
Aleix Espargaro was 2.3s adrift of the ultimate pace, while erstwhile leader Smith dropped to fifth, ahead of Hiroshi Aoyama and Andrea Iannone.
Those not posting lap times in the session included current championship leader Marc Marquez and Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa, as well as title rival Jorge Lorenzo and Tech 3's Cal Crutchlow.
Pos Rider Bike Time Gap Laps 1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m50.464s 6 2. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 1m51.003s +0.539s 8 3. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m51.545s +1.081s 6 4. Aleix Espargaro Aspar Aprilia 1m52.778s +2.314s 6 5. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 1m52.804s +2.340s 11 6. Hiroshi Aoyama Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m53.206s +2.742s 11 7. Andrea Iannone Pramac Ducati 1m53.505s +3.041s 7 8. Yonny Hernandez Pramac Ducati 1m53.888s +3.424s 6 9. Danilo Petrucci Ioda-Suter-BMW 1m53.946s +3.482s 6 10. Luca Scassa Cardion Aprilia 1m54.493s +4.029s 14 11. Claudio Corti Forward FTR-Kawasaki 1m55.101s +4.637s 11 12. Bryan Staring Gresini FTR-Honda 1m55.432s +4.968s 8 13. Randy de Puniet Aspar Aprilia 1m56.027s +5.563s 6 14. Michael Laverty PBM-Aprilia 1m56.138s +5.674s 6 15. Hector Barbera Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m57.290s +6.826s 3 16. Colin Edwards Forward FTR-Kawasaki 1m57.573s +7.109s 4 17. Lukas Pesek Ioda-Suter-BMW 1m59.232s +8.768s 4 18. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 2m01.521s +11.057s 3 19. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 20. Dani Pedrosa Honda 21. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 22. Damian Cudlin PBM-Aprilia 23. Marc Marquez Honda 24. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha
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