Alex Rins led a damp FP3 for Suzuki as he switched to slicks late on as track conditions improved, posting a time over a second quicker than Maveick Vinales’ Yamaha.
Due to the expected overnight rain ultimately materialising, the fastest ten riders from free practice two yesterday will progress direct to Q2 as the damp conditions made any time improvement during FP3 impossible.
The session started slowly as most riders opted to perform only an out-lap to scrub tyres ready for later on, although Vinales went on somewhat of a push on a set of medium compound wet tyres- the Spaniard posting an early best of 1:59.465.
The track conditions slowly improved throughout the 45 minute practice, allowing the times to slowly drop as the riders became ever more confident with the ever evolving Aragon track surface.
Johann Zarco’s KTM replacement Mika Kallio had his time in the spotlight, the Finn shooting to the head of the times late on with a 1:58.310 to head earlier pacesetters Joan Mir and Fabio Quartararo, extending his advantage on his very next lap as he posted a 1:57.744.
Vinales then demoted Kallio to second with what would turn out to be the fastest medium wet lap-a 1:57.013- before he himself was relegated to the position by a charging Rins on a set of soft compound slicks.
The Suzuki rider shaved over a second from Vinales time on his way to a 1:55.934, a time that wouldn’t be beaten as the chequered flag was waved on the session.
Behind Vinales and Kallio in fourth was the Petronas SRT Yamaha of Franco Morbidelli, while Miguel Oliveira was fifth fastest on his Tech 3 KTM.
Francesco Bagnaia bagged the sixth best time on the first of the Pramac-run Ducati machines ahead of Valentino Rossi, with Aprilia wild-card Bradley Smith wheeling his RS-GP to eighth fastest.
Quartararo and Mir slipped to ninth and tenth respectively by the end of the session, while some riders failed to set a representative time.
The highest profile of these was run-away Friday leader Marc Marquez, who only ventured out for a pair of sighting laps at the beginning and end of the session, with fellow Q2 men Aleix Espargaro and Jack Miller also refraining from posting a time.
Discussion about this post