Franco Morbidelli tops FP3, Jack Miller remains fastest overall

Just as he did on the opening day of the Qatar MotoGP Grand Prix weekend, Franco Morbidelli was the fastest rider during the first practice session of the day.

You could have been mistaken for thinking it was a repeat of FP1, as Morbidelli took top spot just ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro who continues to shine at Losail. 

Morbidelli was quickest after the first runs of the session, and aside from a quick lap by Fabio Quartararo midway through, the Italian soon regained top spot and remained unchallenged. 

Espargaro claimed second place late on, and while it was another impressive showing from the Spaniard, the Aprilia rider did suffer a first crash on his final lap. 

As expected, lap times didn’t improve due to the hotter conditions, however the standout rider in FP3 was Luca Marini, with the rookie finishing third fastest. 

The Sky VR46 Esponsorama Ducati rider was only +0.179s down on Morbidelli. 

Lap times were over a second slower than FP2, with many riders lapping in the 1m 55s as the session ended. 

Alex Rins was fourth fastest and the only other rider to be in the 1m 54s, with Fabio Quartararo following closely in fifth. 

Joan Mir was sixth for Suzuki and will need to progress through Q1 if he is to secure a first four row start ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix.

It was a better start to the second day in Qatar for Honda, as Takaaki Nakagami was seventh for the LCR team, while Repsol Honda test rider Stefan Bradl was ninth. 

Maverick Vinales completed the session in eighth, whilst rounding out the top ten ahead of FP4 was KTM rider Miguel Oliveira. 

Ducati’s Jack Miller remained the fastest rider of the weekend so far, but suffered his second crash at the beginning of the session.