Practice report

Austrian MotoGP: Bagnaia leads Quartararo in FP3, Martin to Q1

Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia topped third practice for the MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix by 0.094 seconds, as Styrian GP winner Jorge Martin faces Q1 in qualifying after a late crash.

With the field saving dry tyres following FP2’s washout, improvements on the combined timesheets – still headed by Johann Zarco’s record lap of 1m22.827s from FP1 – were immediate.

Zarco set the initial individual timesheet benchmark with a 1m23.729s, while factory Ducati counterpart Bagnaia was the first big mover five minutes as he jumped up to fourth.

Martin improved to third with a 1m23.682s on combined times and taking over top spot from his Pramac Ducati teammate Zarco in FP1.

Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo improved to a 1m23.587s in second on combined times with just under 10 minutes of the 45-minute session gone, putting him top in FP3 before Zarco returned to top spot with a 1m23.484s.

Quartararo would make the first real charge on Zarco’s overall best lap with just under 20 minutes remaining when the Yamaha rider fitted fresh soft rubber.

His initial effort of 1m23.203s edged him closer to Zarco’s lap record, with his second lap of 1m22.975s putting him within 0.148s of the Pramac rider.

At the same time, Zarco was conducting race running on used medium rubber, a luxury he afforded himself with his record lap in FP1.

The Frenchman’s FP1 best would go unbeaten come the chequered flag, Zarco himself third on the individual timesheet in FP3.

Bagnaia topped the session with a 1m22.874s, putting him just 0.047s from Zarco’s overall best, while Quartararo held onto third on combined times and was second in FP3 with a 1m22.968s.

Honda’s Marc Marquez made a late charge up to fourth on the combined times with a 1m23.132s ahead of the Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro, with Jack Miller securing a direct place in Q2 in sixth on the factory team Ducati.

Reigning world champion Joan Mir – who battled braking issues on Friday - is currently the only Suzuki into Q2 later this afternoon after Suzuki teammate Alex Rins missed out by 0.001s in 11th.

The final riders directly into Q2 are LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami, KTM rider Brad Binder and the second factory Honda of Pol Espargaro.

Styrian GP poleman and race winner Martin was on course to get himself into Q2 with his final flying lap, but the Pramac Ducati rider crashed at the final corner.

This left him in 13th on combined times and in Q1, while yellow flags for the crash ended hopes of Q2 for the likes of KTM’s Miguel Oliveira in 14th and LCR’s Alex Marquez.

They will be joined in Q1 later this afternoon by Avintia duo Luca Marini and Enea Bastianini – who had an early crash at Turn 1 - Petronas SRT’s Valentino Rossi and Cal Crutchlow and the Tech 3 KTMs of Iker Lecuona and Danilo Petrucci.

Austrian MotoGP - FP3 results:

Cla	#	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap
1	63	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	1'22.874
2	20	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	1'22.968	0.094
3	5	Johann Zarco	Ducati	1'23.012	0.138
4	93	Marc Marquez	Honda	1'23.132	0.258
5	41	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	1'23.138	0.264
6	43	Jack Miller	Ducati	1'23.245	0.371
7	36	Joan Mir	Suzuki	1'23.320	0.446
8	30	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	1'23.362	0.488
9	33	Brad Binder	KTM	1'23.453	0.579
10	44	Pol Espargaro	Honda	1'23.481	0.607
11	42	Alex Rins	Suzuki	1'23.482	0.608
12	10	Luca Marini	Ducati	1'23.527	0.653
13	89	Jorge Martin	Ducati	1'23.558	0.684
14	88	Miguel Oliveira	KTM	1'23.677	0.803
15	46	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	1'23.687	0.813
16	73	Alex Marquez	Honda	1'23.695	0.821
17	27	Iker Lecuona	KTM	1'23.706	0.832
18	23	Enea Bastianini	Ducati	1'24.033	1.159
19	9	Danilo Petrucci	KTM	1'24.074	1.200
20	35	Cal Crutchlow	Yamaha	1'24.193	1.319
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