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Practice report

Styrian MotoGP: Bagnaia fastest in FP3 from Quartararo

Francesco Bagnaia topped third practice for the MotoGP Styrian Grand Prix, as Yamaha duo Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Vinales almost came to blows.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Perfect conditions for FP3 meant combined order lap time improvements came immediately, Pramac rookie Jorge Martin making the biggest jump on his Ducati early on.

Martin fired in a 1m23.834s, an improvement of well over a second from his Friday best, to go second overall and move into the lead of the individual session timesheet.

After 10 minutes of the 45-minute session, all but four riders had improved on the combined order, with Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales taking over top spot with a 1m23.781s moments later.

This lap stood as the benchmark for around the next 10 minutes before world champion Joan Mir, using Suzuki’s new ride height adjuster, moved ahead with a 1m23.599s having one out on a fresh soft tyre early.

Both Mir and Alex Rins have one of the new ride height device each this weekend.

Another 10 minutes passed before top spot changed hands again, this time Marc Marquez on his Honda doing the honours with a 1m23.513s.

But it was a short-lived stint for the Spaniard, as Yamaha-mounted compatriot Vinales returned to the top of the order with a 1m23.475s.

Vinales found more time on his following effort with a 1m23.375s to extend his advantage over Marquez to a slender 0.138 seconds.

Team-mate and championship leader Fabio Quartararo was nudged out of the top 10 as the session reached its final five minutes having had a difficult session on his M1.

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: MotoGP

Quartararo struggled on a number of occasions to get his bike stopped into the Turn 3 right-hander, the Frenchman visibly becoming frustrated with his plight.

On one occasion Quartararo almost clattered into Vinales, leaving the latter fuming as the pair entered pitlane in the closing stages of the session.

With just under three minutes to go Quartararo leaped up to second with a 1m23.416s, but had that lap cancelled for a track limits violation, dumping him back to 15th.

His following effort of 1m23.142s returned him to top spot and safely secured him a place in Q2 in qualifying.

But it was the Ducati of Bagnaia who would end the session fastest of all with a last-gasp 1m23.114s, the Italian heading Quartararo and Vinales at the chequered flag.

Jorge Martin was fourth fastest to get his first Q2 appearance since Germany – though the Spaniard did have an embarrassing low-speed tumble at Turn 1 at the end of the session.

Mir completed the top five on his updated Suzuki ahead of Pramac’s Johann Zarco and the leading factory Honda of Marquez, while Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro, Ducati’s Jack Miller and Friday pacesetter Takaaki Nakagami on the LCR Honda secured the final Q2 places.

Pol Espargaro on the sister factory Honda was denied a Q2 place by just 0.017s, while wildcard Dani Pedrosa was the leading KTM in 12th in a difficult session for the Austrian marque on home soil.

Brad Binder was the next best KTM in 15th, trailing LCR’s Alex Marquez and Suzuki’s Rins, while last year’s Styria winner Miguel Oliveira was 16th as he battled through a wrist injury.

Trailing them came Tech3 KTM duo Iker Lecuona and Danilo Petrucci, while Petronas SRT duo Valentino Rossi in 19th and Cal Crutchlow in 23rd will also face Q1.

Avintia’s Luca Marini was the only other crasher in FP3, the rookie 21st as a result behind team-mate Enea Bastianini but ahead of Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori and Crutchlow.

MotoGP Styrian Grand Prix - FP3 results

Cla Rider Bike Laps Time Gap
1 Italy Francesco Bagnaia Ducati 23 1'23.114  
2 France Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 24 1'23.142 0.028
3 Spain Maverick Viñales Yamaha 21 1'23.262 0.148
4 Spain Jorge Martin Ducati 20 1'23.294 0.180
5 Spain Joan Mir Suzuki 23 1'23.387 0.273
6 France Johann Zarco Ducati 22 1'23.487 0.373
7 Spain Marc Marquez Honda 21 1'23.513 0.399
8 Spain Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 19 1'23.594 0.480
9 Australia Jack Miller Ducati 23 1'23.731 0.617
10 Japan Takaaki Nakagami Honda 22 1'23.740 0.626
11 Spain Pol Espargaro Honda 21 1'23.757 0.643
12 Spain Dani Pedrosa KTM 23 1'23.758 0.644
13 Spain Alex Rins Suzuki 24 1'23.766 0.652
14 Spain Alex Marquez Honda 24 1'23.789 0.675
15 South Africa Brad Binder KTM 22 1'23.799 0.685
16 Portugal Miguel Oliveira KTM 22 1'23.935 0.821
17 Spain Iker Lecuona KTM 21 1'24.159 1.045
18 Italy Danilo Petrucci KTM 21 1'24.342 1.228
19 Italy Valentino Rossi Yamaha 21 1'24.381 1.267
20 Italy Enea Bastianini Ducati 22 1'24.384 1.270
21 Italy Luca Marini Ducati 18 1'24.403 1.289
22 Italy Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia 23 1'24.437 1.323
23 United Kingdom Cal Crutchlow Yamaha 21 1'24.644 1.530

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