Reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez has taken charge in the third Motorland Aragon free practice session, setting the fastest lap of the weekend so far with a 1’48.123 but it is disaster for Misano winner Valentino Rossi who failed to make it into qualifying two.
The Doctor struggled yesterday with corner entry grip and tried any number of tyre combinations to fix the problem but changes overnight have not found any solutions and he ended the third session in 11th place, eight-tenths slower than Marquez and will now have to go through qualifying one. His final lap might well have got him into the last timed session but he was held up by Hiro Aoyama half way around.
Rossi spent the session using a soft front, hard rear setup but to no avail. Team-mate Jorge Lorenzo is suffering the same issues but managed to find a lap that was good enough for eighth place. By contrast, the satellite Monster YZR-M1s of Pol Espargaro are suffering no such woes with Pol Espargaro in fourth place and Bradley Smith in sixth.
Marquez, meanwhile, is easily the fastest rider on the hard rear, setting 13 laps in the 1’48s bracket with no-one else even close. Lorenzo put in five, Pol Espargaro managed six, Andrea Iannone two, Andrea Dovizioso one and Dani Pedrosa, on the second Repsol bike, just two so it looks very much like the world champion-elect’s race to lose.
Yesterday’s quickest man Dovizioso didn’t manage to better his time from free practice two and was circulating on the hard rear but still managed the fourth quickest time of the session on his last lap, three-tenths slower than Marquez.
Cal Crutchlow squeaked into qualifying two with his final circuit, jumping into ninth from 11th and pushing Rossi out of automatic qualification while Aleix Espargaro was the last man to go straight through.
Scott Redding found some time overnight, finishing in 15th place but behind Karel Abraham while Nicky Hayden was 19th but he put in 17 laps so his dodgy hand is holding up well as he put in his fastest time on his last lap. Michael Laverty was 22nd.
