Spanish MotoGP, Jerez - Saturday Practice Results
| 2023 Spanish MotoGP, Jerez - Free Practice (3) Results | |||||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time/Diff | Lap | Max | |
| 1 | ^4 | Miguel Oliveira | POR | RNF Aprilia (RS-GP22) | 1'37.229s | 6/15 | 290k |
| 2 | ^13 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +0.103s | 4/11 | 293k |
| 3 | ˅2 | Aleix Espargaro | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP23) | +0.243s | 5/8 | 291k |
| 4 | ^12 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +0.283s | 14/14 | 290k |
| 5 | ^9 | Takaaki Nakagami | JPN | LCR Honda (RC213V) | +0.295s | 3/15 | 288k |
| 6 | ^1 | Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | Mooney VR46 Ducati (GP22) | +0.404s | 6/11 | 295k |
| 7 | ^5 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +0.410s | 6/13 | 293k |
| 8 | ^3 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Pramac Ducati (GP23) | +0.414s | 4/7 | 293k |
| 9 | ˅3 | Alex Marquez | SPA | Gresini Ducati (GP22) | +0.418s | 5/14 | 292k |
| 10 | ˅8 | Maverick Viñales | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP23) | +0.436s | 5/15 | 290k |
| 11 | ˅7 | Johann Zarco | FRA | Pramac Ducati (GP22) | +0.557s | 7/14 | 293k |
| 12 | ˅4 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP23) | +0.587s | 6/11 | 293k |
| 13 | ˅3 | Luca Marini | ITA | Mooney VR46 Ducati (GP22) | +0.637s | 6/15 | 290k |
| 14 | ˅5 | Dani Pedrosa | SPA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +0.688s | 4/16 | 297k |
| 15 | ˅12 | Jack Miller | AUS | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +0.691s | 5/15 | 293k |
| 16 | ^1 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | ITA | Gresini Ducati (GP22) | +0.869s | 12/13 | 293k |
| 17 | ^1 | Stefan Bradl | GER | Team HRC (RC213V) | +1.019s | 12/15 | 286k |
| 18 | ^1 | Joan Mir | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | +1.058s | 4/12 | 286k |
| 19 | ^4 | Augusto Fernandez | SPA | Tech3 GASGAS (RC16)* | +1.238s | 8/13 | 287k |
| 20 | ˅7 | Raul Fernandez | SPA | RNF Aprilia (RS-GP22) | +1.269s | 3/12 | 289k |
| 21 | = | Alex Rins | SPA | LCR Honda (RC213V) | +1.405s | 6/14 | 288k |
| 22 | ˅2 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP23) | +1.864s | 5/5 | 294k |
| 23 | ˅1 | Jonas Folger | GER | Tech3 GASGAS (RC16) | +2.306s | 10/12 | 288k |
| 24 | = | Iker Lecuona | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | +2.527s | 7/13 | 286k |
* Rookie
Key:
^X Rider is X positions higher than Practice 2.
= Rider is same position as Practice 2.
˅X Rider is X positions lower than Practice 2.
Fastest Friday time:
Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia 1m 36.708s
Official Jerez MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati 1m 36.170s (2022)
Fastest race lap:
Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati 1m 37.669s (2022)
RNF Aprilia's Miguel Oliveira dominates Free Practice 3 for the 2023 Spanish MotoGP at Jerez.
Seventh on Friday, the Portuguese took the top spot from Fabio Quartararo by 0.103s on his sixth lap of the session and remained ahead thereafter.
Meanwhile factory Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro, fastest on Friday, had a much more stressful session on his way to third.
The Spaniard suffered a scary near miss when a cat ran across the back straight just in front of him, before falling a few minutes later when he lost the front at the 150km/h Turn 11. Pramac Ducati's Jorge Martin also tumbled at a similar time.
Just 16th on Friday as he struggled with corner speed and aggressive bike behaviour, Quartararo set his best lap of the weekend so far for second in FP3, backed up by team-mate Franco Morbidelli in fourth.
But, as Takaaki Nakagami (fifth this morning) explained yesterday, some riders are fast in the cooler morning conditions but lose speed in the afternoon. In Nakagami's case, the problem is rear traction disappearing in the heat.
VR46 Ducati's Marco Bezzecchi, KTM's Brad Binder and Pramac Ducati's Jorge Martin (who fell) completed the top eight.
Qualifying 1 for those outside of the top ten on Friday - including reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia (12th this morning), 2021 champion Quartararo and current title leader Marco Bezzecchi - will now get underway.
One rider that won't be present is Enea Bastianini, who continued to struggle with shoulder pain this morning and has withdrawn from the remainder of the event.
While Enea Bastianini tried to return to action after being side-lined by shoulder injuries in the season-opening sprint race, Marc Marquez is missing his third event in a row due to hand injuries sustained in his collision with Miguel Oliveira in Portimao.
The eight-time world champion is being replaced at Jerez by Honda WorldSBK rider Iker Lecuona, who raced in MotoGP for Tech3 KTM during the 2020 and 2021 seasons with a best finish of sixth place. Lecuona, 23, took a WorldSBK podium last season and is currently ninth in the early 2023 standings.
31-time MotoGP winner Dani Pedrosa is also re-joining the premier-class grid this weekend, as a KTM wild-card. It is Pedrosa’s first grand prix appearance since Austria 2021 and first at Jerez since his final full-time season, at Repsol Honda, in 2018.
Pol Espargaro continues to recover from multiple injuries in Portugal and is again replaced at Tech3 by Pedrosa’s fellow KTM test rider Jonas Folger.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
