Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Petrucci fastest in delayed wet Motegi MotoGP FP3

Ducati's Danilo Petrucci topped third practice for MotoGP's Japanese Grand Prix at a wet Twin Ring Motegi, leading recently-crowned six-time champion Marc Marquez

Honda man Marquez led a rain-delayed FP3 from virtually start to finish, breaking the 1m55s barrier 15 minutes into the session to put himself comfortably ahead of the opposition.

It wasn't until 20 minutes to go in the session that any rider was able to lap within one second of Marquez's best time of 1m54.884s, Suzuki wildcard Sylvain Guintoli impressing to set the second-quickest lap.

It appeared Marquez would end FP3 at the top of the timesheets, but Petrucci fired in a 1m54.710s to snatch the top spot moments after the chequered flag dropped.

Marquez failed to improve on his previous benchmark in his final run and ended up 0.174 seconds behind in second, with Petronas Yamaha's Franco Morbidelli improving late on to jump up to third.

Maverick Vinales was fourth on the leading factory Yamaha, while Guintoli slipped to fifth ahead of the second Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso and his Suzuki team-mate Alex Rins.

Petronas SRT Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo was eighth, while Pol Espargaro (KTM) and Miguel Oliveira (Tech3 KTM) completed the top 10.

Valentino Rossi was a distant 12th for Yamaha, while struggling Honda rider Jorge Lorenzo set the 22nd-quickest time in the wet, only ahead of 2014 Moto2 champion Tito Rabat, whose session came to an early halt.

With the entire FP3 taking place on a wet circuit, there was no change in the combined classification, leaving Rins and LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow - who trailed in 20th place in FP3 - among others to navigate their way through Q1 in qualifying.

Practice three times

Pos Rider Team Time Gap Laps
1 Danilo Petrucci Ducati 1m54.710s - 15
2 Marc Marquez Honda 1m54.884s 0.174s 16
3 Franco Morbidelli Petronas Yamaha 1m55.175s 0.465s 19
4 Maverick Vinales Yamaha 1m55.458s 0.748s 19
5 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki 1m55.590s 0.880s 15
6 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1m55.722s 1.012s 18
7 Alex Rins Suzuki 1m55.796s 1.086s 18
8 Fabio Quartararo Petronas Yamaha 1m55.811s 1.101s 19
9 Pol Espargaro KTM 1m55.824s 1.114s 14
10 Miguel Oliveira Tech3 KTM 1m55.860s 1.150s 19
11 Joan Mir Suzuki 1m55.972s 1.262s 18
12 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m56.230s 1.520s 18
13 Mika Kallio KTM 1m56.243s 1.533s 19
14 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1m56.397s 1.687s 14
15 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda 1m56.537s 1.827s 18
16 Karel Abraham Avintia Ducati 1m56.809s 2.099s 17
17 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 1m56.812s 2.102s 18
18 Jack Miller Pramac Ducati 1m56.840s 2.130s 9
19 Francesco Bagnaia Pramac Ducati 1m57.176s 2.466s 19
20 Andrea Iannone Aprilia 1m57.226s 2.516s 16
21 Hafizh Syahrin Tech3 KTM 1m57.555s 2.845s 18
22 Jorge Lorenzo Honda 1m57.605s 2.895s 15
23 Tito Rabat Avintia Ducati 1m58.621s 3.911s 17

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Tank Slappers podcast: Is Honda using Zarco to pressure Lorenzo?
Next article Motegi MotoGP qualifying: Marc Marquez beats SRT Yamahas to pole

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe