Marquez leads FP3 with Rossi, Dovizioso into Q1

Full FP3 results at the German MotoGP

Marc Marquez has retained top spot in FP3 at the German MotoGP as his chief title rival Andrea Dovizioso couldn’t keep a top 10 spot and heads into Q1 of qualifying along with Valentino Rossi.

The Repsol Honda rider produced a late 1m 20.347s during the final runs to keep hold of the top time ahead of Fabio Quartararo, as the Petronas Yamaha rider ended the session nursing his left wrist after suffering a violent tank-slapper coming down Turn 11 on his last lap.

The drama continued further down the order with Andrea Dovizioso only managing 14th place in FP3 leaving him outside the automatic Q2 spots. The factory Ducati rider is joined by fellow front-runner Valentino Rossi who missed out on the top 10 by just 0.007s behind Red Bull KTM’s Pol Espargaro.

It was a mixed session for all Yamaha riders with Quartararo, Maverick Vinales and Franco Morbidelli all taking trips through the gravel at Turn 1 struggling to stop and turn their M1 machines during the first runs in FP3.

But the trio of Yamaha riders resolved the issue as the session wore on to see Quartarao take second place ahead of Monster Yamaha’s Vinales in third with Morbidelli slotting into sixth place.

Cal Crutchlow produced a stunning late lap to jump up to fourth place on the LCR Honda ahead of Suzuki’s Alex Rins and Morbidelli.

Danilo Petrucci leads the Ducati charge in seventh place with his team-mate Dovizioso struggling for speed, while Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller claimed eighth place in front of Joan Mir on the second Suzuki.

Espargaro held on to the final guaranteed Q2 spot in 10th place despite a last-lap fall at Turn 3.

With Rossi 11th, Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro slotted into 12th place ahead of Takaaki Nakagami on the LCR Honda and Ducati’s Dovizioso.

Miguel Oliveira grabbed 15th on the combined times for Tech3 in front of Andrea Iannone on the Aprilia and Johann Zarco on the factory KTM.

Jorge Lorenzo’s injury stand-in Stefan Bradl could only manage 18th place for Repsol Honda, 1.096s behind team-mate and pace-setter Marquez, with Tito Rabat, Karel Abraham, Hafizh Syahrin and Francesco Bagnaia completing the timesheet.