Misano MotoGP: Quartararo comfortably fastest in FP3

Quartararo fired in a late 1m32.081s to outpace nearest rival Maverick Vinales by 0.356s, with only three other riders managing to lap within a second of the Frenchman.

The top three in both of Friday's practice session - Vinales, Quartararo and Marc Marquez - reassumed their usual positions at the sharp end from the get go in FP3, with the Honda man setting a 1m33.051s to lead Vinales by three hundredths and Quartararo by a tenth.

Quartararo improved to within 0.052s of Marquez early in the second half of the session, and Vinales was then up on the reigning champion's time after three sectors on two separate occasions, but Marquez's laptime held out until the final minutes.

Vinales then used a fresh pair of soft tyres to put together a 1m32.437s, going six tenths clear in FP3 and overhauling his own benchmark from Friday.

However, Quartararo responded immediately with an effort just under a tenth quicker, before lowering the benchmark further still with his next attempt and making sure of the top spot.

Behind the two Yamahas, Pol Espargaro was a standout third for KTM, seeing off Marquez by less than half a tenth despite the championship leader improving at the end.

Quartararo's teammate Franco Morbidelli shot up to fifth at the chequered flag, leading LCR Honda's Takaaki Nakagami and Valentino Rossi, who made it four Yamahas in the top seven.

Suzuki's Alex Rins faced a potential battle through Q1, but managed to fight his way into the top 10 at the last moment, taking eighth ahead of the two Ducatis of wildcard Michele Pirro and Andrea Dovizioso.

Rins' last-gasp heroics denied KTM's Johann Zarco a spot in Q2, the Frenchman missing out by just 0.033s - with Tech 3's Miguel Oliveira only another half a tenth down despite nursing a shoulder injury after his collision with Zarco at Silverstone.

LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow, Pramac Ducati's Jack Miller and works Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci were among the biggest names to miss out on an automatic Q2 spot.

Also missing out was Jorge Lorenzo in 19th, the three-time champion's FP3 compromised by an apparent problem that manifested itself in the front wheel getting sideways and locking up on the straight.

Aprilia's Andrea Iannone was 22nd, having suffered his second crash of the weekend at the Turn 4 right-hander.

Session results:

Cla	#	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap
1	20	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	1'32.081
2	12	Maverick Viñales	Yamaha	1'32.437	0.356
3	44	Pol Espargaro	KTM	1'32.646	0.565
4	93	Marc Marquez	Honda	1'32.686	0.605
5	21	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha	1'33.056	0.975
6	30	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	1'33.098	1.017
7	46	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	1'33.103	1.022
8	42	Alex Rins	Suzuki	1'33.140	1.059
9	51	Michele Pirro	Ducati	1'33.294	1.213
10	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	1'33.340	1.259
11	5	Johann Zarco	KTM	1'33.373	1.292
12	88	Miguel Oliveira	KTM	1'33.426	1.345
13	35	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	1'33.432	1.351
14	63	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	1'33.448	1.367
15	36	Joan Mir	Suzuki	1'33.497	1.416
16	43	Jack Miller	Ducati	1'33.550	1.469
17	9	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	1'33.680	1.599
18	41	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	1'33.890	1.809
19	99	Jorge Lorenzo	Honda	1'33.951	1.870
20	53	Tito Rabat	Ducati	1'34.177	2.096
21	29	Andrea Iannone	Aprilia	1'34.537	2.456
22	17	Karel Abraham	Ducati	1'34.423	2.342
23	55	Hafizh Syahrin	KTM	1'34.644	2.563
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