Motegi MotoGP: Andrea Dovizioso back on top for Ducati in practice
Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso returned to the top of the timesheets in third practice for MotoGP's Japanese Grand Prix, narrowly edging Cal Crutchlow and Johann Zarco
After Friday's second session was rendered unrepresentative by rain, Saturday morning's session took place in sunny weather - although it took until the final couple of minutes for Friday morning's best times to be beaten.
With 10 minutes left on the clock, the top six overall remained unchanged from Friday - with only a handful of riders improving prior to the all-important final runs.
LCR rider Crutchlow was first to beat Dovizioso's practice one benchmark with a 1m45.134s, with Honda stablemate Marc Marquez slotting into second moments later with a time 0.155 seconds slower.
But Dovizioso was able to go 0.027s quicker than Crutchlow on his final run to retake the top spot with a 1m45.107s.
A late improvement for the Tech3 Yamaha of Zarco shuffled Marquez down to fourth place, the Frenchman ending up just three thousandths shy of Crutchlow - creating an identical top four to first practice.
Valentino Rossi had dropped as low as 11th in the closing stages, outside the automatic Q2 cut-off, but the factory Yamaha rider booked his place in the pole shootout by going fifth fastest on his final lap. He was 0.315s off the pace.
Dani Pedrosa (Honda) was next up, followed by Maverick Vinales (Yamaha) and the lead Suzuki of Alex Rins.
Taking the final automatic Q2 places were Andrea Iannone and Jack Miller, whose Pramac Ducati team-mate Danilo Petrucci ruled himself out with a late crash at the Turn 12 kink near the end of the lap.
Alvaro Bautista also found himself squeezed out of the top 10, 0.054s behind Miller.
Katsuyuki Nakasuga led Japanese home hopes in 14th on his wildcard Yamaha, two places ahead of LCR Honda's Takaaki Nakagami.
Sylvain Guintoli, riding a 2019-spec machine for Suzuki this weekend, was slowest in the session and on combined times beat only the Avintia Ducati of Jordi Torres - who had an early fall at the Turn 7 right-hander.
FP3 times
Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | Ducati | 1m45.107s | - | 16 |
2 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR Honda | Honda | 1m45.134s | 0.027s | 18 |
3 | Johann Zarco | Tech3 Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m45.137s | 0.030s | 19 |
4 | Marc Marquez | Honda | Honda | 1m45.289s | 0.182s | 19 |
5 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m45.422s | 0.315s | 19 |
6 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | Honda | 1m45.428s | 0.321s | 19 |
7 | Maverick Vinales | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m45.470s | 0.363s | 18 |
8 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m45.508s | 0.401s | 20 |
9 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m45.599s | 0.492s | 19 |
10 | Jack Miller | Pramac Ducati | Ducati | 1m45.688s | 0.581s | 19 |
11 | Alvaro Bautista | Aspar Ducati | Ducati | 1m45.742s | 0.635s | 20 |
12 | Franco Morbidelli | MVDS Honda | Honda | 1m46.125s | 1.018s | 19 |
13 | Danilo Petrucci | Pramac Ducati | Ducati | 1m46.216s | 1.109s | 16 |
14 | Katsuyuki Nakasuga | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m46.341s | 1.234s | 19 |
15 | Pol Espargaro | KTM | KTM | 1m46.488s | 1.381s | 18 |
16 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda | Honda | 1m46.491s | 1.384s | 19 |
17 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | Aprilia | 1m46.518s | 1.411s | 16 |
18 | Scott Redding | Aprilia | Aprilia | 1m46.561s | 1.454s | 16 |
19 | Hafizh Syahrin | Tech3 Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m46.579s | 1.472s | 17 |
20 | Xavier Simeon | Avintia Ducati | Ducati | 1m46.608s | 1.501s | 14 |
21 | Thomas Luthi | MVDS Honda | Honda | 1m47.048s | 1.941s | 18 |
22 | Bradley Smith | KTM | KTM | 1m47.179s | 2.072s | 17 |
23 | Karel Abraham | Aspar Ducati | Ducati | 1m47.387s | 2.280s | 18 |
24 | Jordi Torres | Avintia Ducati | Ducati | 1m47.542s | 2.435s | 16 |
25 | Sylvain Guintoli | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m47.893s | 2.786s | 17 |
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