Barcelona MotoGP: Suzuki fastest again with Maverick Vinales
Suzuki rider Maverick Vinales beat Jorge Lorenzo to the top spot in the third session of MotoGP's Catalunya Grand Prix at Barcelona while compatriot Dani Pedrosa failed to make Q2
Vinales deposed long time session leader Lorenzo with three minutes remaining as he set the fastest lap during a frantic period as riders scrambled to get into the second phase of qualifying.
Friday pacesetter Aleix Espargaro completed the top three on the second Suzuki after the Spanish rider pushed Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso down to fourth place.
Pol Espargaro was fifth ahead of Valentino Rossi, who ended the session sixth overall and just made it into Q2 with his final lap of the session.
The Yamaha rider had spent the majority of third practice fighting to make it into the top 10 after his times from Friday's sessions were only good enough for 11th.
But Rossi's late improvement pushed Pedrosa down to 11th and the Honda rider will have to go through Q1 - as will Ducati's Mugello podium finisher Andrea Iannone.
Marc Marquez ended the session in seventh place as he was one of only four riders who did not improve their personal best time from the previous sessions.
The world champion looked to be struggling with the braking on his Honda as he twice missed the apex at Turn 10.
Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith also needed late improvements to secure eighth and 10th respectively, with Yonny Hernandez finishing the session in ninth on his Pramac Ducati.
Smith spent the majority of the session languishing in 19th but found time in the final few minutes.
Eugene Laverty had an early incident when he dropped his bike under braking for Turn 5. He was able to walk away but his Aspar Honda was badly damaged.
Jack Miller also crashed when he carried too much speed into Turn 4 and lightly hit the barrier after skating across the gravel trap on the exit of the corner.
PRACTICE THREE TIMES:
Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Maverick Vinales | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m41.105s | - | 17 |
2 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m41.158s | 0.053s | 17 |
3 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m41.232s | 0.127s | 19 |
4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | Ducati | 1m41.384s | 0.279s | 17 |
5 | Pol Espargaro | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1m41.473s | 0.368s | 19 |
6 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m41.479s | 0.374s | 20 |
7 | Marc Marquez | Honda | Honda | 1m41.563s | 0.458s | 19 |
8 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR | Honda | 1m41.644s | 0.539s | 18 |
9 | Yonny Hernandez | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1m41.658s | 0.553s | 18 |
10 | Bradley Smith | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1m41.667s | 0.562s | 18 |
11 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | Honda | 1m41.699s | 0.594s | 20 |
12 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | Ducati | 1m41.864s | 0.759s | 19 |
13 | Scott Redding | Marc VDS | Honda | 1m41.994s | 0.889s | 18 |
14 | Hector Barbera | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1m42.222s | 1.117s | 18 |
15 | Danilo Petrucci | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1m42.381s | 1.276s | 17 |
16 | Stefan Bradl | Forward Racing | Yamaha Forward | 1m42.458s | 1.353s | 18 |
17 | Alvaro Bautista | Aprilia Gresini | Aprilia | 1m42.519s | 1.414s | 19 |
18 | Mike Di Meglio | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1m42.623s | 1.518s | 18 |
19 | Nicky Hayden | Aspar | Honda | 1m42.723s | 1.618s | 17 |
20 | Jack Miller | LCR | Honda | 1m42.805s | 1.700s | 16 |
21 | Loris Baz | Forward Racing | Yamaha Forward | 1m42.817s | 1.712s | 14 |
22 | Karel Abraham | AB Motoracing | Honda | 1m43.013s | 1.908s | 17 |
23 | Eugene Laverty | Aspar | Honda | 1m43.267s | 2.162s | 13 |
24 | Alex de Angelis | IodaRacing Project | ART/Aprilia | 1m44.571s | 3.466s | 18 |
25 | Marco Melandri | Aprilia Gresini | Aprilia | 1m45.206s | 4.101s | 17 |
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