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Phillip Island MotoGP: Marc Marquez leads Cal Crutchlow in practice

Marc Marquez continued to set the pace at MotoGP's Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island in third practice, ahead of Cal Crutchlow

In what had largely been a sedate practice session, Honda rider Marquez sparked the field into action with five minutes left on the clock as he recorded a 1m29.081s - the fastest lap of the weekend so far.

The Spaniard then looked as though he might go quicker on his next lap, only to be blocked by Pol Espargaro.

That mattered little though as Crutchlow's best effort was more than four tenths slower - the Briton nevertheless impressing with the third-best time from the three sessions combined.

Jorge Lorenzo could not improve on his time from second practice but still set the third-fastest lap of Saturday morning aboard his Yamaha while Scott Redding, who had struggled in both of Friday's sessions, turned arguably the performance of the session to post the fourth fastest time and seal his place in Q2.

Maverick Vinales continued his impressive pace with fifth for Suzuki, marginally quicker than his best time from Friday, ahead of Andrea Iannone.

Championship leader Valentino Rossi was one of the few riders to improve early on in the session but had to settle for seventh, while Dani Pedrosa hung on to a spot in Q2 despite a low-key session aboard the second Honda.

Bradley Smith booked his place in Q2 with a late effort as he went eighth quickest.

The second Suzuki of Aleix Espargaro and his brother Pol's Tech 3 Yamaha are among those having to go through Q1, along with local favourite Jack Miller despite his strong Friday pace.

PRACTICE THREE TIMES:

Pos Rider Team Bike Time Gap Laps
1 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 1m29.081s - 20
2 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 1m29.509s 0.428s 19
3 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Yamaha 1m29.520s 0.439s 18
4 Scott Redding Marc VDS Honda 1m29.675s 0.594s 19
5 Maverick Vinales Suzuki Suzuki 1m29.715s 0.634s 18
6 Andrea Iannone Ducati Ducati 1m29.755s 0.674s 22
7 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha 1m29.815s 0.734s 20
8 Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 1m29.877s 0.796s 22
9 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 1m29.962s 0.881s 20
10 Aleix Espargaro Suzuki Suzuki 1m29.982s 0.901s 18
11 Jack Miller LCR Honda 1m30.034s 0.953s 18
12 Hector Barbera Avintia Racing Ducati 1m30.163s 1.082s 19
13 Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha 1m30.193s 1.112s 21
14 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Racing Ducati 1m30.295s 1.214s 19
15 Nicky Hayden Aspar Honda 1m30.351s 1.270s 19
16 Alvaro Bautista Aprilia Gresini Aprilia 1m30.404s 1.323s 20
17 Yonny Hernandez Pramac Racing Ducati 1m30.414s 1.333s 20
18 Dani Pedrosa Honda Honda 1m30.505s 1.424s 20
19 Eugene Laverty Aspar Honda 1m30.766s 1.685s 18
20 Loris Baz Forward Racing Yamaha Forward 1m31.145s 2.064s 18
21 Mike Di Meglio Avintia Racing Ducati 1m31.176s 2.095s 17
22 Stefan Bradl Aprilia Gresini Aprilia 1m31.419s 2.338s 20
23 Anthony West AB Motoracing Honda 1m31.898s 2.817s 19
24 Toni Elias Forward Racing Yamaha Forward 1m31.913s 2.832s 21
25 Damian Cudlin IodaRacing Project ART/Aprilia 1m34.302s 5.221s 15

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