Valencia MotoGP Practice Results - Quartararo takes advantage to Q2

Fabio Quartararo maintained his grip on proceedings during free practice for the final round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship in Valencia as he topped FP3 from Marc Marquez.

Looking to cap off a superb rookie MotoGP season with his maiden victory on the Petronas SRT Yamaha at the final time of asking, Quartararo got his quest underway in strong style as he made it three-from-three across the practice sessions.

Setting a new benchmark of 1m 30.232secs, Quartararo was two tenths ahead of Marc Marquez on the Repsol Honda, the title winner nonetheless impressing with a rapid simulation run that had him circulating in the low 1m 31s for 15 laps.

With chilly morning conditions catching a number of riders out, Jack Miller continued to lead the way for Ducati with the third quickest time, ahead of a vastly improved Valentino Rossi, who bounced back from his two Friday crashes – which required a rebuild of his Yamaha – to go fourth.

That placed him ahead of fellow M1 riders Franco Morbidelli and Maverick Vinales as Yamaha’s quartet safely booked their passage through to Q2, along with Ducati duo Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso, Suzuki’s Joan Mir and Cal Crutchlow, the latter recovering from an early fall to squeeze into the deciding phase of qualifying.

A year after scoring KTM’s maiden MotoGP podium in Valencia, Pol Espargaro just missed out on a Q2 spot on in 11th, ahead of Alex Rins – again caught out when it matters in FP3 – and Johann Zarco, who couldn’t match his form from Malaysia two weeks earlier.

Two crashes for Aleix Espargaro saw him slip out of the top ten on the Aprilia, while Pecco Bagnaia suffered a bizarre crash when a locked brake coming out the pit-lane launched him over handlebars. Though able to walk away, he is being assessed by medical staff.

2019 Valencia MotoGP Free Practice Results [Combined]