Marquez ups the pace as Dovizioso scrapes into Q2 after crash
Marc Marquez gives a warning to his MotoGP rivals with blistering FP3 pace as championship leader Andrea Dovizioso suffers a late off
Full FP3 results from Argentina MotoGP
Marc Marquez has laid down a warning to his MotoGP rivals with blistering FP3 pace as championship leader Andrea Dovizioso suffers a late off to see his Q2 spot go under threat.
The Repsol Honda rider dominated FP3 from the off having found significant lap time gains overnight to see him produce a 1m 38.471s to keep a two-tenths advantage over nearest challenger Jack Miller for Pramac Ducati who claimed pole position in Argentina 12 months ago.
Cal Cructhlow, who won last year’s race, grabbed third place late on for LCR Honda ahead of Qatar pole-sitter Maverick Vinales on the Monster Yamaha as Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci recovered from a tough opening day to storm to fifth place in FP3.
But disaster was narrowly avoided by his Ducati teammate and Qatar race-winner Dovizioso as he low-sided off at Turn 1 at the start of his final stint meaning he was unable to improve his Friday-topping FP2 time.
5774263478001
With the Italian under pressure, a number of riders did improve but it wasn’t enough which enabled Dovizioso to take eighth place on the combined times and keep hold of an automatic Q2 spot.
Franco Morbidelli impressed to take sixth place for Petronas Yamaha, two-tenths quicker than factory Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi in seventh, and also ahead of Dovizioso.
Jorge Lorenzo found much-needed breakthroughs in FP3 on the Repsol Honda to leap up the order into ninth place, but still 0.719s off teammate Marqeuz, as rookie Fabio Quartararo pinched the final top 10 place from Takaaki Nakagami with his final lap.
The LCR Honda rider will lead the Q1 riders aiming for the two promotion spots in the first qualifying session along with Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Ducati) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia).
His brother Pol Espargaro led the Red Bull KTM charge, despite Johann Zarco showing early promise before fading, as Suzuki struggled for single-lap speed with Alex Rins down in 15th place.
Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech3) split the Suzuki duo with Joan Mir in 17th place.
