Practice report
MotoGP Austrian GP
Austrian MotoGP: Bagnaia leads Quartararo in FP3, Martin to Q1
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia topped third practice for the MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix by 0.094 seconds, as Styrian GP winner Jorge Martin faces Q1 in qualifying after a late crash.
Lewis Duncan
Edited: Aug 14, 2021, 1:08 PM
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With the field saving dry tyres following FP2’s washout, improvements on the combined timesheets – still headed by Johann Zarco’s record lap of 1m22.827s from FP1 – were immediate.
Zarco set the initial individual timesheet benchmark with a 1m23.729s, while factory Ducati counterpart Bagnaia was the first big mover five minutes as he jumped up to fourth.
Martin improved to third with a 1m23.682s on combined times and taking over top spot from his Pramac Ducati teammate Zarco in FP1.
Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo improved to a 1m23.587s in second on combined times with just under 10 minutes of the 45-minute session gone, putting him top in FP3 before Zarco returned to top spot with a 1m23.484s.
Quartararo would make the first real charge on Zarco’s overall best lap with just under 20 minutes remaining when the Yamaha rider fitted fresh soft rubber.
His initial effort of 1m23.203s edged him closer to Zarco’s lap record, with his second lap of 1m22.975s putting him within 0.148s of the Pramac rider.
At the same time, Zarco was conducting race running on used medium rubber, a luxury he afforded himself with his record lap in FP1.
The Frenchman’s FP1 best would go unbeaten come the chequered flag, Zarco himself third on the individual timesheet in FP3.
Bagnaia topped the session with a 1m22.874s, putting him just 0.047s from Zarco’s overall best, while Quartararo held onto third on combined times and was second in FP3 with a 1m22.968s.
Honda’s Marc Marquez made a late charge up to fourth on the combined times with a 1m23.132s ahead of the Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro, with Jack Miller securing a direct place in Q2 in sixth on the factory team Ducati.
Reigning world champion Joan Mir – who battled braking issues on Friday - is currently the only Suzuki into Q2 later this afternoon after Suzuki teammate Alex Rins missed out by 0.001s in 11th.
The final riders directly into Q2 are LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami, KTM rider Brad Binder and the second factory Honda of Pol Espargaro.
Styrian GP poleman and race winner Martin was on course to get himself into Q2 with his final flying lap, but the Pramac Ducati rider crashed at the final corner.
This left him in 13th on combined times and in Q1, while yellow flags for the crash ended hopes of Q2 for the likes of KTM’s Miguel Oliveira in 14th and LCR’s Alex Marquez.
They will be joined in Q1 later this afternoon by Avintia duo Luca Marini and Enea Bastianini – who had an early crash at Turn 1 - Petronas SRT’s Valentino Rossi and Cal Crutchlow and the Tech 3 KTMs of Iker Lecuona and Danilo Petrucci.
Austrian MotoGP - FP3 results:
Cla # Rider Bike Time Gap 1 63 Francesco Bagnaia
Ducati 1'22.874 2 20 Fabio Quartararo
Yamaha 1'22.968 0.094 3 5 Johann Zarco
Ducati 1'23.012 0.138 4 93 Marc Marquez
Honda 1'23.132 0.258 5 41 Aleix Espargaro
Aprilia 1'23.138 0.264 6 43 Jack Miller
Ducati 1'23.245 0.371 7 36 Joan Mir
Suzuki 1'23.320 0.446 8 30 Takaaki Nakagami
Honda 1'23.362 0.488 9 33 Brad Binder
KTM 1'23.453 0.579 10 44 Pol Espargaro
Honda 1'23.481 0.607 11 42 Alex Rins
Suzuki 1'23.482 0.608 12 10 Luca Marini
Ducati 1'23.527 0.653 13 89 Jorge Martin
Ducati 1'23.558 0.684 14 88 Miguel Oliveira
KTM 1'23.677 0.803 15 46 Valentino Rossi
Yamaha 1'23.687 0.813 16 73 Alex Marquez
Honda 1'23.695 0.821 17 27 Iker Lecuona
KTM 1'23.706 0.832 18 23 Enea Bastianini
Ducati 1'24.033 1.159 19 9 Danilo Petrucci
KTM 1'24.074 1.200 20 35 Cal Crutchlow
Yamaha 1'24.193 1.319 View full results
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