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Misano MotoGP: Zarco tops FP3 to snatch Q2 spot

Johann Zarco and Jack Miller were first and second in the damp third MotoGP practice at Misano, both riders earning a spot in Q2 as a result.

Johann Zarco, Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Johann Zarco, Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

The session started in damp conditions, and most of the field decided to stay in pits in the early stages, with only a few riders completing one lap on wets.

The only three riders lapping on slicks from the get go were Alvaro Bautista, Dani Pedrosa and Zarco, with Bautista setting and then repeatedly lowering the FP3 benchmark.

The Nieto Ducati rider's first lap was a 1m44.251s but the pace improved by eight seconds during the next 15 minutes and, when Pedrosa finally demoted the World Superbike-bound Spaniard, others started to venture out on track as well.

Pedrosa still led for another 10 minutes when fellow Honda rider Tom Luthi edged him out, and then Marc Marquez took over.

Marquez first set two 1m35s efforts and then another two in the 1m33s range, the second of those giving him a lead of 1.9s with 12 minutes on the clock.

But with Marquez not improving, others caught up before Andrea Dovizioso and Zarco moved ahead.

Zarco, only 11th overall after FP2, was battling for a Q2 spot, but his 1m33.010s was two tenths off Franco Morbidelli's, 10th on Friday, time from Friday.

The Tech 3 Yamaha rider did not improve next time around but Miller, who followed him on track, did - moving into the overall top 10 with the 1m32.871s he set just a few seconds before the chequered flag fell.

However, Zarco fought back as he had time for another lap to eventually take first in FP3 with a 1m32.788s, which translated to ninth in the overall classification.

Miller was second, 0.073s adrift, with Dovizioso and Marquez completing the top four.

LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow took fifth ahead of Alex Rins, with the top six all securing Q2 berths.

Franco Morbidelli continued his impressive weekend with a seventh, but he, along with Andrea Iannone, was pushed out of the overall top 10 by Zarco and Miller.

Qualifying later on Saturday will thus mark the first time Andrea Iannone has had to fight through the opening segment since this race last year.

Pedrosa ended up eighth with Hafizh Syahrin recovering from a difficult Friday to ninth.

It was a quiet session for the factory Yamahas as Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi were 10th and 20th respectively, but both are into Q2.

The Ducati GP18s of Danilo Petrucci, 15th, and Jorge Lorenzo, who ended FP3 without a laptime, also stayed in the overall top 10.

Tom Luthi and Bradley Smith both crashed in the dying stages at Turn 8 and 14 respectively.

FP3 results

Cla # Rider Bike Laps Time Gap
1 5 France Johann Zarco  Yamaha 21 1'32.788  
2 43 Australia Jack Miller  Ducati 14 1'32.861 0.073
3 4 Italy Andrea Dovizioso  Ducati 8 1'33.278 0.490
4 93 Spain Marc Marquez  Honda 13 1'33.322 0.534
5 35 United Kingdom Cal Crutchlow  Honda 10 1'33.366 0.578
6 42 Spain Alex Rins  Suzuki 11 1'33.554 0.766
7 21 Italy Franco Morbidelli  Honda 9 1'33.600 0.812
8 26 Spain Dani Pedrosa  Honda 17 1'33.689 0.901
9 55 Malaysia Hafizh Syahrin  Yamaha 12 1'33.743 0.955
10 25 Spain Maverick Viñales  Yamaha 8 1'33.774 0.986
11 19 Spain Alvaro Bautista  Ducati 22 1'33.926 1.138
12 30 Japan Takaaki Nakagami  Honda 11 1'34.170 1.382
13 10 Belgium Xavier Simeon  Ducati 12 1'34.485 1.697
14 45 United Kingdom Scott Redding  Aprilia 13 1'34.500 1.712
15 9 Italy Danilo Petrucci  Ducati 5 1'34.681 1.893
16 6 Germany Stefan Bradl  Honda 13 1'34.889 2.101
17 41 Spain Aleix Espargaro  Aprilia 7 1'34.941 2.153
18 51 Italy Michele Pirro  Ducati 9 1'34.953 2.165
19 44 Spain Pol Espargaro  KTM 13 1'34.963 2.175
20 46 Italy Valentino Rossi  Yamaha 10 1'35.202 2.414
21 38 United Kingdom Bradley Smith  KTM 15 1'35.236 2.448
22 12 Switzerland Thomas Luthi  Honda 10 1'35.598 2.810
23 17 Czech Republic Karel Abraham  Ducati 11 1'35.808 3.020
  23 France Christophe Ponsson  Ducati 8 1'40.469 7.681
  29 Italy Andrea Iannone  Suzuki 2 1'50.722 17.934
  99 Spain Jorge Lorenzo  Ducati      

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