Quartararo battles Vinales as Dovizioso scrapes into Q2

Full San Marino MotoGP FP3 results at Misano

Fabio Quartararo has fought back against Friday’s fastest rider Maverick Vinales to top FP3 at Misano with the surprise package of Pol Espargaro on the Red Bull KTM in third place, as Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso ducked into the automatic Q2 places in 10th.

Quartararo battles Vinales as Dovizioso scrapes into Q2

Full San Marino MotoGP FP3 results at Misano

Fabio Quartararo has fought back against Friday’s fastest rider Maverick Vinales to top FP3 at Misano with the surprise package of Pol Espargaro on the Red Bull KTM in third place, as Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso ducked into the automatic Q2 places in 10th.

Both Quartararo and Vinales traded fastest laps in the closing minutes of the session, with everyone going for a late time attack, which saw the Petronas Yamaha rider produce a 1m 32.081s to lead Vinales at the chequered flag.

But the factory Yamaha rider comfortably held second place to hint at a straight battle between the pair for pole position later today.

Espargaro stunned in third place for KTM, albeit with a tow behind Quartararo during his final run, which saw MotoGP world championship leader Marc Marquez shuffled back to fourth place for Repsol Honda.

Franco Morbidelli grabbed fifth place on the satellite Yamaha just in front of a stunning penultimate lap from Takaaki Nakagami who bolted up to sixth place on the LCR Honda.

That pushed home hero Valentino Rossi into seventh place, sporting his customary one-off helmet design for the first time this weekend in FP3, as Silverstone race-winner Alex Rins skated into Q2 with his final lap of the session to take eighth place for Suzuki.

That saw Ducati wildcard Michele Pirro take ninth place in front of Dovizioso who claimed the final automatic Q2 spot by just 0.033s ahead of Johann Zarco on the KTM.

It was a solid showing all round for KTM with Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira 12th in the session, as Cal Crutchlow’s frustrations continued down in 13th place for LCR Honda.

Francesco Bagnaia also failed to challenge the top 10 spots for Pramac Ducati with Suzuki’s Joan Mir splitting the Pramac pair as Jack Miller could only reach 16th place.

It was a nightmare FP3 for Danilo Petrucci who struggled down in 17th place for the factory Ducati squad.

Aleix Espargaro suffered a small off missed by the TV cameras for Aprilia during the opening stages of FP3, while Jorge Lorenzo’s troubles at Repsol Honda continued with a suspected front suspension and brake issue.

The five-time world champion appeared to lock his front wheel while charging down the start/finish straight before touring back to the pits.

Tito Rabat grabbed 20th for Avintia Ducati ahead of team-mate Karel Abraham with Andrea Iannone 22nd after an early fall plus a technical issue in the final minutes of the session as Hafizh Syahrin rounded out the times on the Tech3 KTM.

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