German MotoGP, Sachsenring - Free Practice (3) Results

* Rookie

Key:
^X Rider is X positions higher than FP2.
= Rider is same position as FP2.
˅X Rider is X positions lower than FP2.

Fastest Friday time:
Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati 1m 20.018s

Official Sachsenring MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati 1m 20.018s (2022)
Fastest race lap:
Marc Marquez SPA Honda 1m 21.228s (2019)

Francesco Bagnaia keeps control of Free Practice 3 for the German MotoGP with another new lap record at the Sachsenring.

With riders working feverishly on race pace with medium and hard tyres, Bagnaia's 1m 20.018s (soft tyre) Friday time remained unchallenged until Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro, the only non-Ducati rider in the top six on Friday, put new soft rubber on his RS-GP with 12mins to go.

The Spaniard, eager to banish his Barcelona misery, improved again on his next lap - although hopes of a first-ever 1m 19s came to an end when he was held up behind Franco Morbidelli through the final corner.

That incident duly left Bagnaia to become the first rider under 1m 20s, the Italian's only issue this morning being a botched practice start, but there was late drama for Yamaha's reigning champion and title leader Fabio Quartararo whose helmet visor came loose in the crucial closing minutes.

Quartararo, in sixth, was forced back to the pits to fix the issue but kept his vital top ten place with Enea Bastianini, Pol Espargaro and Alex Rins among those missing the cut and heading for Qualifying 1 this afternoon.

Rins, in 17th, has said he will make a decision on whether to continue riding with his broken wrist after FP3. Luca Marini was the only rider, other than Rins, not to improve in FP3 but retained a top ten place.

Rookie Marco Bezzecchi was the first MotoGP faller of the day, inside the opening ten minutes, when the Italian suffered an unusual incident on the exit of Turn 12. LCR Honda riders Alex Marquez and Takaaki Nakagami then fell in the closing minutes.

This weekend will see a new winner of the German MotoGP for the first time since 2013, with Marc Marquez - unbeaten at the Sachsenring since the 125cc class in 2011 - absent from the event as he continues to recover from a fourth operation on his right arm. Marquez is again replaced by HRC test rider and home Sachsenring hero Stefan Bradl.

Meanwhile, Fabio Quartararo leads the MotoGP standings by 22 points over Aleix Espargaro, after victory in Catalunya was combined with a last-lap blunder by the Aprilia rider.

But the pair have both now pulled clear of triple 2022 race winner Enea Bastianini, whose third DNF in five races has left the Gresini Ducati rider 53 from Quartararo, with Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) close behind.

Bastianini’s crew chief Alberto Giribuola is absent this weekend due to Covid. Gresini technical coordinator Sergio Verbena is standing in as his replacement.

Over at Pramac Ducati, Jorge Martin is riding for the first time since surgery to solve a nerve problem in his right hand.

Bagnaia and Alex Rins were taken out by Takaaki Nakagami’s scary turn-one accident at the Barcelona race. Rins (who suffered a wrist fracture) and Nakagami (kept in hospital overnight) both missed the post-race test as a result of the incident, but are back in action this weekend..

Sachsenring is the shortest circuit on the MotoGP calendar, being just 3.7km in length and with the longest straight of 700m. The circuit also has a heavy anti-clockwise bias of 10 left-hand corners, compared to 3 right turns, one of them being the infamous ‘waterfall’ downhill plunge at Turn 11.

Sachsenring also marks the midway point of the planned 20-round world championship season.

2022 German Grand Prix – MotoGP schedule (UK Time)

Friday 17 June

8am - 8.40am - Moto3 Free Practice 1

8.55am - 9.40am - MotoGP Free Practice 1

9.55am - 10.35am - Moto2 Free Practice 1

12.15pm - 12.55pm - Moto3 Free Practice 2

1.10pm - 1.55pm - MotoGP Free Practice 2

2.10pm - 2.50pm - Moto2 Free Practice 2

Saturday 18 June

8am - 8.40am - Moto3 Free Practice 3

8.55am - 9.40am - MotoGP Free Practice 3

9.55am - 10.35am - Moto2 Free Practice 3

11.35am - 11.50am - Moto3 Qualifying 1

12pm - 12.15pm - Moto3 Qualifying 2

12.30pm - 1pm - MotoGP Free Practice 4

1.10pm - 1.25pm - MotoGP Qualifying 1

1.35pm - 1.50pm - MotoGP Qualifying 2

2.10pm - 2.25pm - Moto2 Qualifying 1

2.35pm - 2.50pm - Moto2 Qualifying 2

Sunday 19 June

8am - 8.10am - Moto3 warm-up

8.20am - 8.30am - Moto2 warm-up

8.40am-9am - MotoGP warm-up

10am - Moto3 race

11.20am - Moto2 race

1pm - MotoGP race