2021 Barcelona MotoGP FP3 Result: Morbidelli Leads Quartararo

Submitted by Zara Daniela on Sat, 2021-06-05 09:05

The premier class returned to a much sunnier Montmeló on Saturday morning and the improved conditions saw the lap record improved further and gaps reduced throughout the field. Johann Zarco’s Friday benchmark stood until the final 15 minutes of FP3, when Fabio Quartararo anticipated the shootout and posted the first 1:38 time of the weekend, leaving rivals with a half second gap to recover. The timing screens only really turned red in the final couple of minutes and Franco Morbidelli promptly reminded his former teammate of his speed despite the antique material underneath him. The Italian went quicker by half a tenth and showed similar pace and consistency to Quartararo throughout the session.

Miguel Oliveira was the early leader of the session and kept close to the top positions to finish third, while Pecco Bagnaia left it really late to find his way back in the limelight, making the jump to fourth on his final flying lap. Aleix Espargaro in fifth was only a tenth off top spot and closely followed by Brad Binder. Although he finished down in 15th position in the session, Zarco’s FP2 time stood the test of time and kept him seventh on the combined timesheets, ahead of Maverick Viñales, who was only three tenths slower than his leading colleagues and showed similar pace on used rubber.

The final Q2 tickets went to two riders who will welcome the break from Q1, Joan Mir and Valentino Rossi, the Italian’s late charge demoting Jack Miller out of the combined top 10. The Ducati man will join the likes of Takaaki Nakagami, Danilo Petrucci and Repsol Honda duo Pol Espargaro and Marc Marquez in Q1.

Results:

Pos	No.	Rider	Bike	Time	Diff	Prev
1	21	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha	1'38.929
2	20	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	1'38.975	0.046	0.046
3	88	Miguel Oliveira	KTM	1'39.051	0.122	0.076
4	63	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	1'39.073	0.144	0.022
5	41	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	1'39.079	0.150	0.006
6	33	Brad Binder	KTM	1'39.166	0.237	0.087
7	12	Maverick Viñales	Yamaha	1'39.282	0.353	0.116
8	36	Joan Mir	Suzuki	1'39.324	0.395	0.042
9	46	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	1'39.426	0.497	0.102
10	43	Jack Miller	Ducati	1'39.495	0.566	0.069
11	30	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	1'39.498	0.569	0.003
12	44	Pol Espargaro	Honda	1'39.519	0.590	0.021
13	9	Danilo Petrucci	KTM	1'39.689	0.760	0.170
14	93	Marc Marquez	Honda	1'39.701	0.772	0.012
15	5	Johann Zarco	Ducati	1'39.760	0.831	0.059
16	89	Jorge Martin	Ducati	1'39.816	0.887	0.056
17	27	Iker Lecuona	KTM	1'39.918	0.989	0.102
18	73	Alex Marquez	Honda	1'39.928	0.999	0.010
19	10	Luca Marini	Ducati	1'40.075	1.146	0.147
20	23	Enea Bastianini	Ducati	1'40.743	1.814	0.668
21	32	Lorenzo Savadori	Aprilia	1'41.180	2.251	0.437