Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez made his intentions clear at the Twin Ring Motegi after topping the time sheets in FP3 with the first and so far only 1m44s lap of the weekend.
The Spanish rider was one of the few to head out on track at the start of the session with fresh rubber, immediately setting the timing screens ablaze. Marquez guided his RC213V to a 1m44.987s before focussing his efforts on race pace.
The big news of the session was a crash for Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo. The Spaniard was on his qualifying simulation at the end of the session when he suffered a huge highside exiting Turn 2. Lorenzo landed heavily on his ankle and had to be stretchered off track. He was able to get back to the paddock and to the medical centre, but has since been airlifted to hospital for a CT scan.
Twitter: Huge drama for #JL99 on his OUT LAP
A substantial highside leaves him struggling to walk away.
#JapaneseGP https://t.co/pxsOs59yJn (@MotoGP)
This comes just a day after compatriot Dani Pedrosa was ruled out of this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, and likely the rest of the flyaways, after he sustained a fractured collarbone in a big crash at Turn 11.
LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow tends to be something of an FP3 specialist and was once again right at the sharp-end, setting a lap right at the death that was just 0.039s off of the time set by Marquez, Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso completed the top three.
Hector Barbera looks as if he has dialled into the Desmosedici GP16 after he put in a strong performance in FP3. The Spaniard, who is standing in for the injured Andrea Iannone this weekend, ended the session fourth fastest with a 1m45.120s. Lorenzo, despite his crash, rounded out the top five.
Aleix Espargaro held a slight advantage over Suzuki teammate Maverick Vinales heading into qualifying, whilst Valentino Rossi will need to find something extra this afternoon if he is to have any hope of a front row start after completing FP3 in eighth spot. Pol Espargaro and Danilo Petrucci are the last of the runners directly into QP2 later this afternoon.
Scott Redding will be left feeling rather frustrated in 11th after missing out on a placement in the second part of qualifying by just one hundredths of a second to his Pramac Ducati teammate, who pipped him in the final minute of the session.
Aprilia debuted their latest engine upgrade this morning and were strong once again. Stefan Bradl was just two tenths away from the top 10 in 12th, whilst teammate Alvaro Bautista would likely have been close too had a crash at Turn 3 not derailed his progress.
Yonny Hernandez was sandwiched between the pair in 13th, with Yamaha test rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga brushing off a fall at Turn 10 to end the morning 15th fastest. Eugene Laverty was 16th by virtue of his Friday times but was absent from FP3, the Northern Irishman undergoing further medical checks following a big off yesterday.
Jack Miller’s confidence will be in tatters after suffering two crashes this morning. The Australian is returning to action this weekend having missed the last two races through injury and was 17th in FP3 ahead of Marc VDS teammate Tito Rabat.
Pedrosa’s replacement Hiroshi Aoyama made his first Grand Prix appearance this morning since Germany last year and was a respectable 19th, with Bradley Smith, Loris Baz and Mike Jones completing the field.
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