Ducati rider Andrea Iannone remained unbeaten today, setting the fastest time of 1:54.639 in a frantic FP3. Jorge Lorenzo was second, 0.137 off of Iannone’s time, while Marc Marquez found some pace in the Repsol Honda, rounding out the provisional front row.
In a dramatic session, less than a second covered the top 12 riders in a fierce battle to earn a free pass through to Q2 tomorrow. Andrea Dovizioso finished the session in fourth, with Maverick Vinales and Dani Pedrosa in fifth and sixth respectively.
Valentino Rossi could manage no better than seventh at the end of the session while Hector Barbera and Scott Redding were eighth and ninth. Pol Espargaro is the last rider to secure a place in Q2.
Of those who will fight it out for the last two Q2 spots, Aleix Espargaro was 11th while Bradley Smith in 12th crashed out of the session with 12 minutes remaining. He was uninjured and made it back in time to use his second bike, however, he couldn’t quite do enough to earn a spot in Q2.
Loris Baz may have been only 1.134 seconds off of the fastest time, but it was only good enough for 13th. Danilo Petrucci was 14th, with Cal Crutchlow’s disappointing weekend continuing in 15th.
The other riders to fight it out in Q1 will be Yonny Hernandez in 16th, followed by Jack Miller, Tito Rabat, Alvaro Bautista, Stefan Bradl and Ireland’s Eugene Laverty in 21st.
The fourth and final practice session takes place on Saturday at 16.55 GMT, followed immediately by Q1 at 17.35 and Q2 at 18.00.
