Franco Morbidelli led the way in FP3 for the Czech grand prix at Brno, heading a top ten covered by just a quarter-of-a-second.
The Petronas SRT racer decided to head out early towards the end of the session to set his final flying effort in a bid to secure an automatic Q2 spot, duly delivering with a sensational 1:56.037 that put him nearly half-a-second clear of anyone else.
Morbidelli’s time was ultimately impregnable, the impressive Johann Zarco getting just 0.016 away from heading the Italian with his Avintia-run 2019-spec Ducati machine.
The Frenchman was Ducati’s highest representative by a long way, with tenth placed Danilo Petrucci the only other Desmosedici to feature in the top ten.
Friday pacesetter Fabio Quartararo managed a lap quick enough for third ahead of Pol Espargaro’s KTM, with early session leader Valentino Rossi completing the top five.
Aleix Espargaro continued to display significantly stronger form for Aprilia with the sixth fastest effort, the new RS-GP’s first direct-to-Q2 appearance to boot.
Joan Mir hustled his Suzuki into seventh position ahead of the continually recovering Cal Crutchlow’s LCR Honda, while Maverick Vinales just clung on to a top ten position ahead of Petrucci-the factory Ducati man just 0.257 down on Morbidelli’s benchmark.
Several big names will therefore have to contest Q1 in order to bag one of the final two spots in the pole shootout later this afternoon, the second Suzuki of Alex Rins and FP1 leader Takaaki Nakagami the first in line to fight for a way in.
Andrea Dovizioso continued to struggle for one lap speed as he langusised down in 13th, just clear of Miguel Oliveira who crashed in the closing minutes of the session.
The Tech 3 pilot looked to be on a lap potentially good enough to bag him a top ten slot, but he tucked the front of his KTM RC16 at Turn 13 and slid into the gravel-leaving him defenceless to other riders improving their own positions on the leaderboard.
Jack Miller and Brad Binder were surprise stragglers further down the field with 15th and 16th on the timesheets respectively-albeit both just half-a-second from the top times.
Alex Marquez meanwhile was the highest factory Honda racer in FP3, the Spaniard a lowly 19th though just 0.174 clear of team-mate Stefan Bradl a further place back.
Brno, Saturday, August 08, 2020
| # | Rider | Team | Time | Gap / Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’56.037 | |
| 2 | Johann ZARCO | Esponsorama Racing | 1’56.053 | 0.016 / 0.016 |
| 3 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’56.134 | 0.097 / 0.081 |
| 4 | Pol ESPARGARO | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’56.140 | 0.103 / 0.006 |
| 5 | Valentino ROSSI | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’56.150 | 0.113 / 0.010 |
| 6 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’56.183 | 0.146 / 0.033 |
| 7 | Joan MIR | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’56.261 | 0.224 / 0.078 |
| 8 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | LCR Honda CASTROL | 1’56.263 | 0.226 / 0.002 |
| 9 | Maverick VIÑALES | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’56.282 | 0.245 / 0.019 |
| 10 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati Team | 1’56.294 | 0.257 / 0.012 |
| 11 | Alex RINS | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’56.355 | 0.318 / 0.061 |
| 12 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | 1’56.457 | 0.420 / 0.102 |
| 13 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | 1’56.521 | 0.484 / 0.064 |
| 14 | Jack MILLER | Pramac Racing | 1’56.590 | 0.553 / 0.069 |
| 15 | Brad BINDER | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’56.730 | 0.693 / 0.140 |
| 16 | Tito RABAT | Esponsorama Racing | 1’57.031 | 0.994 / 0.301 |
| 17 | Bradley SMITH | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’57.052 | 1.015 / 0.021 |
| 18 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’57.071 | 1.034 / 0.019 |
| 19 | Alex MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | 1’57.335 | 1.298 / 0.264 |
| 20 | Stefan BRADL | Repsol Honda Team | 1’57.509 | 1.472 / 0.174 |
| 21 | Iker LECUONA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’57.569 | 1.532 / 0.060 |
