Marquez remains fastest as Lorenzo suffers heavy fall

Full FP3 results at Qatar MotoGP

Marc Marquez has kept hold of top spot thanks to his Friday practice lap record at the Losail International Circuit as Repsol Honda team-mate Jorge Lorenzo suffers a heavy high-side to see him miss out in FP3.

Marquez’s 1m 53.380s from FP2 was enough to take the fastest time on the combined timesheet, while Francesco Bagnaia produced the best lap in FP3 ahead of his MotoGP debut.

But with in windy conditions the Pramac Ducati rider was one of just three riders to improve on their personal bests in FP3 compared to Friday’s times along with Red Bull KTM’s Pol Espargaro and Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira.

FP3 started with double disaster for Repsol Honda as Lorenzo saw his session ended after five minutes when he suffered a heavy high-side at Turn 6. The Spaniard appeared to be winded by the fall as he needed helping off the track by track marshals before immediately going to the medical centre for x-rays on his back and neck.

Almost instantly after Lorenzo’s off, team-mate Marquez slid off at Turn 14 after running wide off the kerbs, losing grip from the front of his Repsol Honda, before returning to track action 15 minutes later on his second bike.

Alex Rins was another faller in FP3, going down at Turn 2 in the final minute pushing for a quick lap on his Suzuki, but was able to walk away unhurt.

With top times largely unchanged, Lorenzo, Cal Crutchlow and Valentino Rossi remained the high-profile names to miss out on the automatic Q2 qualifying spots and will battle for the two promotion spots in Q1.