Zarco leads Ducati 1-2-3, but Bagnaia and Quartararo miss out on top ten

Johann Zarco made it a Ducati 1-2-3 by topping FP3 at the Emilia-Romagna MotoGP, but fellow Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia joined title rival Fabio Quartararo in missing the top ten. 

With less than five minutes gone of FP3, Lorenzo Savadori became the first rider to crash after suffering a heavy fall on the exit of turn one. 

Conditions were once again proving difficult with lap times some way off of what was possible in Friday’s FP2. 

However, Francesco Bagnaia unexpectedly found pace with just 12 minutes gone to move from eighth to fifth, before Miguel Oliveira and Marc Marquez also found significant improvements. 

Oliviera then jumped up to second, while Marquez slotted in behind the KTM rider with third. The Repsol Honda rider’s next lap put him just +0.010s off Miller’s best time from FP2 before he returned to pit lane. 

Joan Mir, who was in need of a better lap - outside the top ten during the early running -  momentarily went quickest, just for Miller to come across the line and regain top spot. 

Ducati riders continued to lead the way as Bagnaia then bettered his team-mates' time by half a tenth. 

Bagnaia’s time at the top lasted just a few seconds though as Oliveira broke into the 1m 40s for the first time this weekend. 

But while a return to form looked to be taking place for Oliveira, the Portuguese rider then crashed on the exit of turn 15. 

Like Bagnaia, Oliveira’s fastest time was soon bettered by impressive MotoGP rookie Jorge Martin who went nearly four tenths quicker on a 1:40.471s.

With lap times continuing to improve late on, Marquez moved from sixth to third, while a much needed lap from Quartararo put him tenth. 

However, the French rider was immediately bumped back out of the top ten by Tech 3 KTM rider Danilo Petrucci. Quartararo was unable to go any faster and ultimately finished 15th.

Late efforts from Aleix Espargaro, Pol Espargaro and Luca Marini then bumped Bagnaia out of the top ten, and although the Italian improved his time on his final lap, he too missed out on a direct Q2 appearance. 

The first non Ducati rider in fourth was Oliveira, while Marquez and team-mate P. Espargaro were fifth and sixth.