Pedrosa continues to lead the charge after FP3

Honda’s Dani Pedrosa began Saturday’s track action at Jerez as he finished it yesterday, the Spaniard topping the timesheets in third practice from a rejuvenated Jorge Lorenzo.

Pedrosa has been on top form all weekend so far, in both wet and dry conditions, and looks a hard man to beat heading into qualifying. Focusing on race tyre options for much of the session, Pedrosa ramped up the pace in the closing stages to post a 1m38.580 to go 0.218s clear of the field.

Ducati’s Lorenzo anticipated a tricky weekend at a circuit that has typically not been kind to the Italian marque over the years. However, the continued positive effects from a change in seating position and further adaptation of his riding style to suit the Desmosedici GP17 has allowed Lorenzo to be competitive at Jerez.

The five-times Spanish Grand Prix winner was second quickest at the end of FP3 and will bypass the first part of qualifying for the first time this season. In stark contrast, team-mate Andrea Dovizioso will contest QP1, after a mistake on his final lap left him 16th.

Yamaha got off to a fairly steady start in Spain yesterday, but Maverick Vinales returned to normal form in third place on the timesheets, with championship leader Valentino Rossi a couple of tenths back in fifth.

Marc Marquez was the first rider to improve on their Friday best in the early stages of FP3, though slipped back to fourth at the chequered flag. LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow completed the top six, with Tech 3’s Jonas Folger not far behind in seventh.

Scott Redding was next best Ducati rider in eighth on his Pramac GP16, with Johann Zarco putting in a last-gasp effort to pull himself up into the top 10 in ninth. Marc VDS Honda’s Jack Miller completed the top 10.

Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone languished outside of the top 20 as the 45-minute FP3 drew to a close, but managed to jump into the top 10 with a few minutes left. Unfortunately, he was denied a direct place in QP2 by just 0.080s.

Tito Rabat heads into QP1 for the first time looking like a serious contender to make it out of the session, after the Spaniard ended FP3 12th fastest and just 0090s down on team-mate Miller in 10th. Danilo Petrucci, Aleix Espargaro and Alvaro Bautista completed the top 15.