Bagnaia fastest in Portimao FP3 by just -0.001s from Quartararo
After narrowly missing out on top spot during Friday free practice, Francesco Bagnaia regained the upper-hand over Fabio Quartararo heading into qualifying for the Algarve MotoGP.
The top two riders in the championship were once again the clear pace setters and ended FP3 with just -0.001s between them.
While Friday’s combined times took a while to be challenged, Bagnaia cemented his status as a pre-race favorite alongside Quartararo during the very first laps.
The Italian led a Ducati 1-2 with Jorge Martin a further two tenths back, however, Bagnaia’s battle with Fabio Quartararo resumed once the Yamaha rider went half a tenth faster - 15 minutes into FP3.
Franco Morbidelli’s promising start on Friday continued during the opening stages of FP3. The Italian rider sat in fourth place, while Repsol Honda rider Pol Espargaro occupied fifth which was the same position he finished on day-one.
Bagnaia returned to pit lane shortly after losing top spot, while Quartararo continued on with his first stint and went even quicker to set a 1:40.048s.
As was the case in both FP1 and FP2, Joan Mir was very early in starting his time attack run - over 20 minutes left of the session
The Spaniard initially went second fastest in regards to FP3’s best times, before going third overall with a 1:39.586s.
Quartararo then extended his gap at the front by going another two tenths under his best time from Friday - three tenths better than Bagnaia.
However, Bagnaia responded on his very next lap to better Quartararo by just four hundredths of a second.
With just three minutes to go, Mir made it three riders within half a tenth by going third quickest, showing that Suzuki could be real challengers for a front row. There was a return to form for Alex Marquez as he went fifth late on - a position he maintained until the end.
Quartararo’s final effort was the lap that brought the gap between him and Bagnaia down to +0.001s, while Miller consolidated fourth on his final flying lap.
Rounding out the top ten was Morbidelli, Rins, P. Espargaro, Luca Marini and Martin.
