Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia
Practice report

Styria MotoGP: Mir puts Suzuki on top in FP3, Rossi to Q1

Suzuki’s Joan Mir led third practice for the MotoGP Styrian Grand Prix in tight session by 0.151 seconds, while Valentino Rossi missed the Q2 cut in 15th.

Joan Mir, Team Suzuki MotoGP

Joan Mir, Team Suzuki MotoGP

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

After a troubled Friday on his Petronas Yamaha in which he was hit with a mystifying “bad” feeling on Michelin’s tyres, Fabio Quartararo made an early improvement on the combined timesheets.

Quartararo’s 1m24.186s five minutes into the session put him ninth overall and top on the individual timesheets, though he was soon deposed by compatriot Johann Zarco.

The Avintia rider missed Friday’s action as he was unable to undergo a fitness test on Thursday following surgery on a fractured wrist the day before, but produced a 1m24.012s put him into eighth on the combined standings.

With 20 minutes to go, a handful of riders headed out on fresh soft slicks, with Quartararo amongst them.

The Petronas rider’s first effort of 1m24.052s was only good enough for 10th, but Maverick Vinales on the factory team Yamaha proved there was strong one-lap pace on the M1 when he set the best lap of the weekend thus far with a 1m23.617s.

Quartararo took notice and leaped up to second with a 1m23.628s, and 10 minutes later went top with a 1m23.607s having seemingly found form in the third sector after struggling through that section on Friday.

This was short-lived, however, as Mir took over with a 1m23.554s, which he improved to a 1m23.456s to end the morning session fastest of all.

Quartararo held onto second at the chequered flag, with LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami jumping up to third on the year-old Honda ahead of Austrian GP winner Andrea Dovizioso on the Ducati.

Vinales rounded out the top five ahead of Friday pacesetter Pol Espargaro, with the KTM rider’s 1m23.638s from FP2 keeping him sixth overall.

Miguel Oliveira put the Tech 3 KTM directly into Q2 in seventh, with Franco Morbidelli (Petronas), Suzuki’s Alex Rins and Jack Miller taking the final Q2 places on offer in FP3.

Pramac’s Miller held onto 10th spot by just 0.003s having crashed at Turn 6 in the closing stages, with KTM’s Brad Binder unable to capitalise.

Zarco was shoved out of the top 10 as the session wore on and will face Q1 having ended FP3 12th, though only 0.423s off the pace, with the top 19 down to Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro covered by under a second.

Zarco will face Q1 with factory Ducati counterpart Danilo Petrucci, who was 13th, and Rossi, who was unable to get on the pace of his fellow Yamaha riders down in 15th.

Honda’s Alex Marquez was the only other crasher in FP3, with the rookie sliding off at Turn 9 10 minutes into the session. He wounded up 20th at the chequered flag. 

Styria MotoGP - FP3 results:

Cla Rider Bike Time Gap
1 Spain Joan Mir
Suzuki 1'23.456
2 France Fabio Quartararo
Yamaha 1'23.607 0.151
3 Japan Takaaki Nakagami
Honda 1'23.610 0.154
4 Italy Andrea Dovizioso
Ducati 1'23.610 0.154
5 Spain Maverick Viñales
Yamaha 1'23.617 0.161
6 Spain Pol Espargaro
KTM 1'23.660 0.204
7 Portugal Miguel Oliveira
KTM 1'23.725 0.269
8 Italy Franco Morbidelli
Yamaha 1'23.727 0.271
9 Spain Alex Rins
Suzuki 1'23.754 0.298
10 Australia Jack Miller
Ducati 1'23.795 0.339
11 South Africa Brad Binder
KTM 1'23.798 0.342
12 France Johann Zarco
Ducati 1'23.879 0.423
13 Italy Danilo Petrucci
Ducati 1'23.881 0.425
14 Spain Iker Lecuona
KTM 1'23.889 0.433
15 Italy Valentino Rossi
Yamaha 1'23.950 0.494
16 United Kingdom Cal Crutchlow
Honda 1'24.126 0.670
17 United Kingdom Bradley Smith
Aprilia 1'24.136 0.680
18 Italy Michele Pirro
Ducati 1'24.296 0.840
19 Spain Aleix Espargaro
Aprilia 1'24.423 0.967
20 Germany Stefan Bradl
Honda 1'24.617 1.161
21 Spain Alex Marquez
Honda 1'24.742 1.286
22 Spain Tito Rabat
Ducati 1'25.047 1.591

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article MotoGP on TV today – How can I watch qualifying for the Styrian GP?
Next article Suzuki "perfect bike" for Red Bull Ring, says Quartararo

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia