LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami put on a sensational showing to top Saturday morning’s MotoGP FP3 as Marc Marquez suffered a 120mph crash at Jerez in the closing stages.

Fabio Quartararo led Stefan Bradl in the MotoGP free practice top-three with Friday’s pace-setter Pecco Bagnaia almost missing out on Q2 contention entirely.

FP3 began with Maverick Viñales immediately taking charge of the times, just six-tenths off Pecco Bagnaia’s Friday’s best. Aleix Espargaro and Joan Mir repeatedly squabbled for second and third before Marc Marquez joined the fight at the front on his fourth lap. An early moment for Franky Morbidelli saw the Petronas rider save the M1 through the gravel at turn six before regrouping to circulate in seventh as the session developed.

Espargaro advanced the morning pace with his 1’37.492 after just 10 minutes of action - Miguel Oliveira’s ’37.816 the current gateway to Q2 promotion with Alex Rins, Jack Miller and Valentino Rossi so far adrift of the all-important safe zone.

20 minutes in and Espargaro was still in charge from Viñales, Mir and Marquez, with Johann Zarco hard on their wheels in fifth. Takaaki Nakagami, Fabio Quartararo, Rins and Morbidelli sat sixth to ninth respectively as Brad Binder held 10th in the session.

The South African, so far outside the overall promotion places, saw further drama as he lost his KTM at turn five with the 25-year-old lucky to escape injury from the high-speed incident.

Morbidelli came painstakingly close to Bagnaia’s overall best with 20 minutes left of practice, 0.011 the gap between the top-two as the Italian made the most of his 2019 machine. While Quartararo bested the pair five minutes later with a 1’37.010 effort to take the session and the overall standings with a third of the session still to play.

Miller joined the party and the top-five on his 14th lap just as Marquez fired up his challenge. The returning Repsol rider claiming third as his replacement took eighth simultaneously before the Australian proved he’d found his mojo on the Ducati by stealing the top-three position.

The track fell quiet as the pack returned for fresh tyres ahead of the final assault on the times, the Yamaha trio now controlling proceedings with seven minutes to go as Mir battled Miller for best of the rest.

The Suzuki advanced to second with four minutes left to fight and the times began to light up. Stefan Bradl was the next to challenge as he demoted the world champion, with Morbidelli briefly taking control before his ’36.684 was deleted due to track limits.

A sensational push saw Nakagami at the top with a ’36.9 as Quartararo fought hard to regain control when disaster struck Marquez at turn seven, his Honda obliterated as it slammed into the airfence with the paddock holding its breath as the Spaniard made his way back to the garage. He has gone to hospital for checks but is in no pain, say the team.

Back on track and the chequered flag was flying, the raised yellows having threatened to impede the closing charges as Nakagami concluded the session on top. Quartararo sat second from Bradl, Mir and Espargaro with Viñales and Morbidelli completing the top-seven.

Bagnaia initially looked to have missed out on the Q2 despite his Friday prowess before a final lap saw the Ducati-man sneak into eighth, his last-ditch effort heartbreakingly demoting his team-mate out of the promotion zone as Zarco and Rins claimed the final direct Q2 places.

Miller concluded FP3 in 11th from the battered Marquez and Binder, the younger LCR-mounted brother heading Rossi, Oliveira and Pol Espargaro with Luca Marini, Lorenzo Savadori, Enea Bastianini, Danilo Petrucci, Tito Rabat an Iker Lecuona completed the standings.