Submitted by Zara Daniela on
The Spielberg sun got the premier class out to play and there was action throughout the session. Having missed out on the action on Friday, Johann Zarco was eager to get up to speed and did so admirably, heading straight to the top of the timesheets in FP3 and joining the combined top ten after only a handful of laps. The fairytale turned into a nightmare when the anticipated shootout started with 20 minutes remaining, riders setting early banker laps to spare their blushes in case of a late yellow flag. The Yamahas were the keenest and Maverick Vinales took control of proceedings ahead of Fabio Quartararo, with roles reversed soon after. However, neither got to keep top spot as Joan Mir blitzed past to grab the headlines for the final handful of minutes.
With Mir over a tenth ahead of the rest and setting a solid pace at the front, Quartararo seemed to find his rhythm and climbed into second, while Takaaki Nakagami jumped to third, setting an identical time to Andrea Dovizioso in fourth. Vinales failed to improve after his early session topping time and dropped to fifth, despite being only a tenth and a half off the top time. Pol Espargaro was the only rider who failed to improve on his top time from Friday, settling for sixth in the session, but the Spaniard won’t be too bothered with the fine race pace he confirmed on Saturday morning. Miguel Oliveira might not be too happy with the attention he got from Espargaro during the session but he successfully joins Q2 from seventh place.
Franco Morbidelli fought hard to join the top 10 lineup and it seemed like his tendency to run wide at the final corner might cost him dearly but the Italian sneaked his way into eighth spot eventually. Alex Rins in ninth was only three tenths off the lead, while Jack Miller had a nervous wait to see if he secured a Q2 spot after a late crash at turn 6 saw him tumbling down the timesheets. The Pramac rider was relieved to round out the top ten as the likes of Brad Binder, Zarco, Danilo Petrucci or Valentino Rossi failed to find enough time to contest his Q2 place.
Results:
| Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Prev |
| 1 | 36 | Joan Mir | Suzuki | 1'23.456 | ||
| 2 | 20 | Fabio Quartararo | Yamaha | 1'23.607 | 0.151 | 0.151 |
| 3 | 30 | Takaaki Nakagami | Honda | 1'23.610 | 0.154 | 0.003 |
| 4 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'23.610 | 0.154 | |
| 5 | 12 | Maverick Viñales | Yamaha | 1'23.617 | 0.161 | 0.007 |
| 6 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | KTM | 1'23.660 | 0.204 | 0.043 |
| 7 | 88 | Miguel Oliveira | KTM | 1'23.725 | 0.269 | 0.065 |
| 8 | 21 | Franco Morbidelli | Yamaha | 1'23.727 | 0.271 | 0.002 |
| 9 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 1'23.754 | 0.298 | 0.027 |
| 10 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | 1'23.795 | 0.339 | 0.041 |
| 11 | 33 | Brad Binder | KTM | 1'23.798 | 0.342 | 0.003 |
| 12 | 5 | Johann Zarco | Ducati | 1'23.879 | 0.423 | 0.081 |
| 13 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | 1'23.881 | 0.425 | 0.002 |
| 14 | 27 | Iker Lecuona | KTM | 1'23.889 | 0.433 | 0.008 |
| 15 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | 1'23.950 | 0.494 | 0.061 |
| 16 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'24.126 | 0.670 | 0.176 |
| 17 | 38 | Bradley Smith | Aprilia | 1'24.136 | 0.680 | 0.010 |
| 18 | 51 | Michele Pirro | Ducati | 1'24.296 | 0.840 | 0.160 |
| 19 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 1'24.423 | 0.967 | 0.127 |
| 20 | 6 | Stefan Bradl | Honda | 1'24.617 | 1.161 | 0.194 |
| 21 | 73 | Alex Marquez | Honda | 1'24.742 | 1.286 | 0.125 |
| 22 | 53 | Tito Rabat | Ducati | 1'25.047 | 1.591 | 0.305 |
