Maverick Vinales continued a strong weekend for Aprilia by topping the timesheets in the final MotoGP practice session at Barcelona.
The Aprilia rider set an unbeaten time of 1:40.208 to end the session as the fastest rider ahead of Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli.
The track conditions were still far from ideal at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with the temperature remaining a low 14 degrees throughout the session.
Vinales set the early pace in the season ahead of Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez as Aprilia continued to look strong around one of its best tracks.
The championship contenders Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia looked to struggle in the session, with both riders on the fringes of the top 10.
The strongest of the Ducati riders in the morning session was Martin’s teammate Franco Morbidelli as he spent the entirety of practice inside the top five.
There were a few late improvements, but no one was able to challenge Vinales at the top of the timesheets as he finished fastest.
Morbidelli was second and ended practice as the top Ducati, narrowly clear of a late charge from Gresini’s Alex Marquez.
Fernandez was a strong fourth ahead of Pedro Acosta, as the top five were covered by a quarter of a second.
Jack Miller was sixth, mere tenths faster than Marc Marquez in seventh and Aleix Espargaro in eighth.
Brad Binder was ninth for KTM while Takaaki Nakagami continued with a strong conclusion to his MotoGP career, rounding out the top ten.
Championship rivals Bagnaia and Martin finished 11th and 12th, with both riders working on set-up before a crucial final qualifying session.
Martin also had an issue with the practice starts after the session, stalling his Pramac machine as his weekend remained a struggle.
Marco Bezzecchi was 13th ahead of the Yamaha pairing of Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins.
Miguel Oliveira was 16th on his return to action for his final weekend at Trackhouse as Enea Bastianini was a lowly 17th for Ducati.
Johann Zarco led a trio of Hondas in 18th, completing the session narrowly clear of Luca Marini and Joan Mir on the factory machines.
Augusto Fernandez was 21st in his last practice session as a full-time rider. Stand-in rider Michele Pirro took 22nd as Stefan Bradl completed the standings in 23rd.
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