Silverstone MotoGP: Zarco late lap seals fastest third practice time
Tech 3 Yamaha rider Johann Zarco topped third free practice for MotoGP's British Grand Prix, with track conditions meaning the automatic Q2 qualifiers were unchanged from Friday
The 45-minute session started in slightly damp conditions, although riders quickly headed out on slicks as Valentino Rossi moved into top spot.
Twenty-five minutes in Honda's Marc Marquez hit the front but, with track temperatures close to half what they were at their peak yesterday and the pace improving throughout the session, it wasn't until the final minutes that riders set their quickest times.
LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow, fastest yesterday, went quickest with seven minutes remaining at the start of a flurry of improvements.
Marquez and Pramac Ducati's Danilo Petrucci both briefly went fastest before Zarco went moved to the front with a 2m01.762s, which lifted him from eighth in the combined practice classification to seventh.
Zarco then improved again, posting a 2m01.734s to make sure of ending the session fastest, although this did not improve his overall position.
Maverick Vinales put his Yamaha second, 0.143s slower than Zarco, late on, with Jonas Folger putting the second Tech 3 Yamaha into third place.
Folger was one of the few riders to improve his position in the combined classification, although it was only good enough to move him up to 13th.
Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso was fourth ahead of Petrucci and Crutchlow, with Marquez shuffled down to seventh at the end ahead of KTM's Pol Espargaro.
Dani Pedrosa was ninth fastest, but the Honda rider did not improve his time from Friday practice and is the highest-profile rider to miss out on automatic Q2 qualification.
Scott Redding was tenth, just ahead of Rossi, with the Pramac rider holding onto his place in the top 10 of combined classification despite not improving.
The third and final rider to improve his overall practice time was KTM's Bradley Smith, who moved from 23rd to 22nd with a 2m03.167s lap to jump Aprilia's Sam Lowes in the combined classification.
Aprilia rider Aleix Esparagro, who was struggling with a pinched ligament yesterday that made riding uncomfortable, did not run but has made it to Q2 with the fourth fastest time overall.
FP3 times
Pos | Rider | Team | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Johann Zarco | Tech3 Yamaha | 2m01.734s | - |
2 | Maverick Vinales | Yamaha | 2m01.877s | 0.143s |
3 | Jonas Folger | Tech3 Yamaha | 2m02.088s | 0.354s |
4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 2m02.208s | 0.474s |
5 | Danilo Petrucci | Pramac Ducati | 2m02.287s | 0.553s |
6 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR Honda | 2m02.318s | 0.584s |
7 | Marc Marquez | Honda | 2m02.513s | 0.779s |
8 | Pol Espargaro | KTM | 2m02.530s | 0.796s |
9 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | 2m02.602s | 0.868s |
10 | Scott Redding | Pramac Ducati | 2m02.818s | 1.084s |
11 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | 2m02.852s | 1.118s |
12 | Jack Miller | MVDS Honda | 2m02.871s | 1.137s |
13 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | 2m02.946s | 1.212s |
14 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 2m02.965s | 1.231s |
15 | Tito Rabat | MVDS Honda | 2m03.029s | 1.295s |
16 | Bradley Smith | KTM | 2m03.187s | 1.453s |
17 | Hector Barbera | Avintia Ducati | 2m03.352s | 1.618s |
18 | Loris Baz | Avintia Ducati | 2m03.362s | 1.628s |
19 | Alvaro Bautista | Aspar Ducati | 2m03.757s | 2.023s |
20 | Karel Abraham | Aspar Ducati | 2m03.798s | 2.064s |
21 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | 2m03.919s | 2.185s |
22 | Sam Lowes | Aprilia | 2m04.242s | 2.508s |
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