Nakagami fastest in Spanish MotoGP FP3 as Marquez suffers heavy crash

Takaaki Nakagami led the way in FP3 for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez ahead of Fabio Quartararo, while Marc Marquez suffered a heavy crash late in the session.  

Nakagami slipped well out of the top ten during the session as a slew of riders improved their best efforts one by one, the LCR Honda racer tumbling from sixth overnight down to 13^th as the session entered its twilight stages.

He had threatened to post a time threatening the top three at several points during the test, though they all ultimately fell by the wayside as he encountered traffic or tailed off.

His final gambit counted though as he fired into second overall with a 1:36.975s-a time that ultimately became the benchmark just moments later as leader Franco Morbidelli had his own lap deleted for a track limits infringement.

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Quartararo looked to be on for a improvement at the death that could deny Nakagami the top spot, though the factory Yamaha man eventually took the chequered flag 0.070s down on the leading RC213-V challenger.

Stefan Bradl was a surprise third quickest on what is his first scheduled wildcard appearance of the season on the HRC-liveried Honda, the German slotting in just ahead of Suzuki’s Joan Mir and Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.

Maverick Vinales will join the leading five in progressing directly to the pole shootout on Saturday afternoon as he bagged the sixth best effort ahead of Morbidelli, the Petronas SRT rider’s previous time enough to keep him seventh.

Friday pace-setter Francesco Bagnaia narrowly escaped having to head out in Q1 as he was shuffled back to 11^th in the closing minutes of the test, a late final flyer salvaging an automatic Q2 spot at the deference of Ducati team-mate Jack Miller, who ended up 11^th and will thus have to run in Q1.

Johann Zarco was ninth overall on the Pramac-run Desmosedici, while Alex Rins grabbed the final assured Q2 berth as he completed a top ten covered by a slender 0.193s on the second Suzuki GSX-RR.

Marc Marquez was another to miss out on a top ten spot late on after ending Friday a lowly 16^th, the six-time premier class champion having been as high as second during points of FP3.

He headed out for a final push tour in the dying moments of the session, though would fall victim to a cold front tyre as he tipped his Honda through Turn 7.

Marquez lost the front at high speed and flew straight through the grass and gravel, impacting the air fence that lines the perimeter of the circuit.

The Spaniard looked slightly dazed as he walked away from the incident, though his injured arm didn’t seem to be providing much trouble in the direct aftermath of the get-off.

Other high-profile riders to miss out on an initial Q2 passage included both factory KTM pilots-Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira ending up 13^th and 16^th respectively, the former walking away from a sizeable crash at Turn 5- while Valentino Rossi was 15^th on the second Petronas SRT M1.

Jerez de la Frontera, Saturday, May 01, 2021