The rain stayed away but cooler temperatures made for a dramatic FP3 in Assen. It’s still Ducati on top, but today Andrea Dovizioso shaved almost .7s off his previous best to post a time of 1m33.308 in the final moments of FP3.
Almost all improvements on yesterday’s times came in the last five minutes of the session, but the rest of FP3 wasn’t without drama. Marc Marquez was lucky not to crash into turn one when he locked the front wheel, smoke pouring off the rear tyre as it tried to overtake the front of his machine. The Repsol Honda crossed up and nearly threw him out of the seat so viciously it activated the airbag in his leathers. Nonetheless, he finished second fastest just .028 off of Dovizioso.
Maverick Vinales ended the session in third on 1m33.307, with Valentino Rossi in fourth just .1s off of Dovizioso. The only rider in the top 10 not to improve on yesterday’s time was Andrea Iannone, his time of 1m33.591 placing him in fifth.
Cal Crutchlow found improvements on yesterday to post a best of 1m33.611. He ends free practice in sixth, just ahead of Scott Redding with a fastest time of 1m33.690. Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers are Danilo Petrucci, Aleix Espargaro and Jorge Lorenzo. Lorenzo lost valuable track time when he slid out of turn seven, uninjured but visibly shaken.
Hector Barbera lost much of the session to a technical problem but just missed out on a Q2 place in 11th. Pol Espargaro had an identical crash to Lorenzo and ended the session in 12th. Dani Pedrosa continues to struggle in 13th with too much movement on his Repsol Honda, the Spaniard looking like a passenger on the machine much of the time.
Those three will be joined by Jack Miller (14th), Bradley Smith (15th), Stefan Bradl (16th), Eugene Laverty (17th) who suffered another crash, Yonny Hernandez (18th) and Michele Pirro (19th) who both had off-track excursions, Alvaro Bautista (20th) and Tito Rabat (21st).
Next session is FP4 at 1230 BST with Q1 due to start at 1310 BST.
