---
title: "Vinales tops crash-strewn third practice in Texas"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2017/04/22/vinales-tops-crash-strewn-third-practice-texas/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Lewis Duncan"
section: "MotoGP News"
published: "2017-04-22T16:00:38Z"
modified: "2017-04-22T20:23:52Z"
---

# Vinales tops crash-strewn third practice in Texas

Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales topped a chaotic third practice session, which saw seven riders hit the deck and a total of 10 crashes.

The 23-strong MotoGP field was met with much cooler track conditions than experienced yesterday, with the ground temperature 20 degrees colder in FP3 than it was during second practice on Friday.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/04/665861614.jpg)

The caused absolute carnage, with several riders coming off in quick succession in the opening 10 minutes. Suzuki’s Alex Rins, who suffered an engine failure in FP2, crashed heavily at Turn 19 and fractured his left wrist. He will sit out the remainder of the weekend.

Aspar’s Alvaro Bautitsa slid off not long after at the fast Turn 2, followed quickly by factory Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso.

Aprilia’s Sam Lowes also took a trip into that particular gravel trap, and after two crashes for team-mate Aleix Espargaro, the Italian team opted to keep the Briton in the garage for the remainder of the session.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/04/666261414.jpg)

Lap times were massively down on what they were yesterday for much of the session, and improvements didn’t come until the final few minutes. LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow was the first big mover up to fifth with a 2m04.677s, with Jack Miller jumping up to 11th.

Vinales, who did not run the soft tyre at any point on Friday, popped in the first 2m03s lap of the weekend with a 2m03.979s right at the end to go top by just 0.082s.

Nearest challenger Marc Marquez was unable to improve on his Friday best after suffering two crashes. The Honda rider came off at Turn 18 midway through FP2, and again at Turn 15 in the closing stages on an out-lap. He heads into qualifying second quickest on combined times ahead of team-mate Dani Pedrosa.

> Twitter: 2nd crash of the session for #MM93! A nasty one as well… fortunately #RiderOK\
> \#AmericasGP https://t.co/0BH4gY8Nrt (@MotoGP)

Johann Zarco and Valentino Rossi failed to improve on their best times from yesterday in fourth and sixth, nor did Dovizioso in seventh. Scott Redding, on the other hand, did manage to do so in the final minutes to go eighth.

Jonas Folger and Andrea Iannone, who crashed at Turn 19 just second after Marquez a corner earlier, completed the top 10.

Jorge Lorenzo came into today optimistic of improving his position having found some much needed confidence on  his Desmosedici on Friday. Unfortunately, whilst pushing for a fast lap at the end, the Ducati rider fell at Turn 18 and will face QP1 for the second race in succession.

![](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/04/2017-04-22-1-1.png)